Big Comebacks for AERO™ Sustainable Paint Technology Teams in Shanghai and Sebring

Shanghai, China (12 November 2019) – The third round of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) was staged at the Shanghai International Circuit for the four hours of Shanghai this weekend, and AERO™ Sustainable Paint Technology was once again well represented with United Autosports making an incredible comeback to the podium with a third place finish on Sunday.

Starting from third, the trio of Filipe Albuquerque, Phil Hanson and Paul di Resta experienced issues in their No. 22 AERO-liveried LMP2 early on which set the team back and on an off-sequence pit strategy.

Once diagnosing the issue, the team and drivers went on full attack to make up lost ground.  With the racing having moved to a four hour format from the traditional six, the timing was all the more critical. Albuquerque, who was 80-seconds off of the leader handed the car to Hanson who moved up to sixth. Di Resta closed the gap to just 11-seconds with with one hour to go.

Coming down to the wire, di Resta brought home the No. 22 LMP2 machine third, only  five second shy of claiming second place. This is the second World Endurance Championship podium in three races for AERO Paint and the United Autosports team.

“Fantastic to get another podium, but also feeling disappointed as we could have won here,” said Hanson. “I got in the car and we were nowhere because of the issues at the beginning. My first stint was good and we opted to change just one tyre for my second, the tyre degradation was massive and I really struggled. In the end a great recovery and we’ll come back stronger again for Bahrain.”

It wouldn’t be a race weekend without AERO Paint making multiple appearance across the globe. While United Autosports fought to the WEC podium in China, K2R Motorsports just nearly missed out on a podium finish at the Michelin IMSA SportsCar Encore at Sebring International Raceway.

The Encore, which is a stand alone, four hour event, saw LMP3, GT3 and GT4 machines all competing in the second edition of the all-Michelin event. The unique event brings together champions and regulars alike to claim bragging rights at the famed Sebring circuit.

Jim McGuire, Matt Bell and Kay van Berlo shared driving duties in the No. 26 K2R Ligier JSP3 machine for the Sebring event as the trio looked to add another chapter of success together. The team is coming off of a big IMSA Prototype Challenge season, finishing eighth in the overall standings. The striking AERO livery was ready for some forward progress from ninth on the LMP3 grid on Sunday.

Slicing through the field and utilizing the lightweight and aerodynamic AERO advantage, the No. 26 machine moved up the order and just nearly missed out on a podium finish, coming home fourth after four hours of hard fought racing as a pair of cautions late in the race kept the team from making more forward progress.

Sameer Gandhi and Tom Dyer continued the amazing 2019 IMSA season that CarBahn with Peregrine Racing has had, as the championship-winning team closed out the year with a run to second place in the GT4 class with the AERO ™-liveried No. 93 Accel / Menlo Audi R8 coming home with some hardware after 95 laps of hard fought racing.

As the 2019 racing season continues to push forward at an unrelenting pace, there are still trophies to be fought for as the World Endurance Championship stages its next round in Bahrain on December 12th, while the Gulf 12 Hours will take place at Abu Dhabi on the 14th of December. IMSA will launch the 2020 season at Daytona once again when the Prototype Challenge season launches in January during the Roar Before the 24.