James Cottingham said United Autosports differed from other teams by working closer as per their charge to front-row qualifying in Bahrain.
“I think when it came to [the 8 Hours of] Bahrain, Josh [Caygill] and I got on really well,” Cottingham told Motorsport Week.
“But we were also got each of the most out of each other because our pace was very similar.
“If you look at all our data from over the year, our pace was really, really similar in free practice and qualifying sessions.
“And it brought us on as drivers and I do genuinely think that in Bahrain, we did a much better job [in qualifying] than all the other bronzes.
“That’s down to the support that we have for the team and what we were doing as a team.
“And the way we went about it as a team, it was very much a two-car team as opposed to a team with two cars.”
United Autosports unable to match quali performace in race
At the FIA World Endurance Championship season finale, United Autosports claimed the first LMGT3 qualifying knock-out.
The new-for-2024 LMGT3 category and its regulations included a two-car mandate per manufacturer, with United Autosports assigned two McLaren 720S LMGT3s.
Bahrain hosted the final out of eight rounds in 2024 and the first for United Autosports with GT machinery since the 2015 GT Cup Championship.
Cottingham highlighted issues with adapting to the torque sensors at the beginning of the year.
United’s LMGT3 programme was formed late in the long-awaited build-up to the Qatar 1812 km season opener.
Cottingham explained they were unable to covert the strong Bahrain qualifying performance due to the tyre degredation.
Both McLarens slipped back especially into the final two hours, with the #59 finishing P6 and the #95 in P8.
Throughout the 2024 season, both United Autosports entered Hyperpole together on five occasions, including the post-disqualification for the #95 at Spa.
For comparison, both AF Corse Ferraris also entered five together whilst top-two championship finishers Manthey entered both of their Porsches on three instances.
The #59 United Autosports McLaren claimed three P4 finishes as the #95 took United’s only podium in Sao Paulo.
Read more in an upcoming interview on James Cottingham and his maiden WEC season experiences in the week beginning 18 November.
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