Pato O Ward to race with United Autosports at 24 Hours of Daytona
“I’m really happy to get a deal done with Zak [Brown] and Richard [Dean],” says Pato. “It’s something I’ve been bugging them about for a while, so Daytona 2024 was a complete no brainer!”
The ultra-talented 24-year-old Mexican will kick off his racing season in Florida, the traditional ‘curtain raiser’ for the motorsport season, before embarking on his seventh consecutive NTT INDYCAR SERIES season - his fifth with Arrow McLaren - with an impressive running total of four race wins and 21 podiums to date.
In IMSA, Pato’s track record is equally as strong. In 2017 - his one and only full season - he set records as the youngest driver to win the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring at just 17 years old, going on to claim the Prototype Challenge Championship after a phenomenal run of seven victories and one third place in the eight-race season … putting Pato at a 100% podium success rate. On his most recent Daytona appearance in 2022, he celebrated another victory, taking first place in the LMP2 class.
“We have been trying to get Pato in a United Autosports car for a while now,” says Richard Dean, United Autosports CEO. “After a few false starts, finally we have our man. Pato brings experience as a Daytona race winner and is just plain fast in everything he drives! I would like to thank everyone at the Arrow McLaren IndyCar Team for helping make this happen.”
In January 2024, Pato will join Ben Keating, Ben Hanley and recently announced Nico Pino (read more) in the #2 United Autosports LMP2 ORECA 07 – with Mission Foods as the headline sponsor for that car throughout the Daytona event and Pato’s sights set on a third 24 Hour victory.
“We want some shiny Rolexes on our wrists when we’re done with that race weekend!” says Pato.
Pato is not the first McLaren contracted driver to race for United at Daytona. In 2018, then McLaren Young Driver and current Formula 1 hot-shot Lando Norris competed for the Anglo-American squad alongside double F1 World Drivers' Champion Fernando Alonso.
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