Grégoire Saucy and Marino Sato will join United Autosport for the upcoming FIA World Endurance Championship aboard the team’s new McLaren 720S GT3 EVO.
Grégoire started karting at three years old, but it wasn’t until he was 16 that he moved to single seaters. He has achieved several victories and podiums in his career, took the title of Formula Regional European champion after dominating the 2021 season, and celebrated numerous podiums in the ultra-competitive FIA Formula 3 series in 2022-’23.
“I am so excited to join McLaren and United Autosports,” said Saucy, “making my debut in the FIA World Endurance Championship and taking on the challenge of the McLaren 720S GT3 EVO.”
Now, with his experience in single seaters, Formula Regional and FIA Formula 3, the 23-year-old driver is preparing for his professional sports car debut.
“We are delighted to have Grégoire join our WEC programme,” said Richard Dean, United Autosports CEO. “He has been very impressive and is a proven winner in some of the toughest championships in Europe. This is a big move for him to change from single seaters to sportscar, but he has impressed the team with his focus and determination and it is clear he will do what it takes to be successful in the WEC.”
Sato will also form an integral part of United Autosports’ efforts next season.
The 24-year-old former Formula 2 racer impressively finished the season as LMP2 Pro vice-champion in the European Le Mans Series with United Autosports on his maiden LMP2 sports-prototype campaign.
“Marino really deserves this chance in the WEC with McLaren,” said Dean. “He has done an amazing job for United in LMP2 this year. Not only is Marino a great personality to have around the team but he has been fast and reliable on his way to winning three races out of six in his debut sports car season.”
Marino, together with co-drivers Oliver Jarvis and Phil Hanson, missed out on the championship title after scoring three wins in the six-race series (4 Hours of Aragon, 4 Hours of Algarve and 4 Hours of Portimao).
Now, the recently upgraded FIA Gold-rated driver has another new venture on the horizon.
“It will be a challenging season for sure,” says Marino, “but I’m very much looking forward to a lot of big races in the calendar, especially the 6 Hours of Fuji which will be my first car racing in Japan!”