The last time the European Le Mans Series raced at the Red Bull Ring in Austria, Dutch driver Job Van Uitert was competing in his debut ELMS season with RLR MSport. Not only did Van Uitert win the 4 Hours of Red Bull Ring alongside Rob Garofall and John Farano, the trio went on to win the 2018 LMP3 driver and team titles.
The 2019 and 2020 ELMS LMP2 Vice Champion now returns to the Red Bull Ring at the wheel of the no32 United Autosports Oreca 07-Gibson and we caught up with Job Van Uitert to discuss that Austrian victory three years ago and what he is looking forward to during Sunday’s race.
Q: Last time we were here you were racing LMP3 with RLR MSport and you won the race on your way to the 2018 LMP3 title.What memories do you have of that race three years ago?
Job Van Uitert: “Red Bull Ring was quite a cool race from my side.I had a great battle with Mikkel (Jensen) in the first stint, I don’t think I’ve ever had such a long battle with a high-level driver like Mikkel, who is a good friend as well.It was just a lot of fun.
“It was one hour long and within a second on track.In the second stint he had to box and change (drivers) and when I did the second stint, we managed to pull off such a lead that we got a lap on everyone when the Safety Car came out.
“We did the rest of the race and John (Farano) and Rob (Garofall) finished it off nicely.I remember the second half of the race was crazy, with a lot of FCYs and Safety Cars.It makes for great racing here at Red Bull Ring, that’s for sure.”
Q: This year you will be back here in an LMP2 Oreca-Gibson with United Autosports.How different is it going to be racing here in an LMP2 car compared to LMP3?
JVU: “Today I watched the race back from 2018 and you see that with LMP2 everything much more aggressive to overtake; there is a lot of traffic here.It’s a very short track with a lot of cars on it, so traffic management from our side in a P2 is quite difficult and requires some risk management, knowing where and where you cannot overtake.For sure it will be fun.”
Q: What are your thoughts on the track here at Red Bull Ring? What is your favourite corner and why?
JVU: “I generally enjoy driving at the Red Bull Ring, I’ve been coming here since 2015 in Formula 4 and I’ve raced here every year except for the years when ELMS hasn’t been here.It’s a great track with great atmosphere. When you see the surroundings, racing in the mountains is like a dream.You don’t want a flat, boring track, you want to go up and down and that’s definitely here.
“The corners I like the most have to be the last two.They are certainly my favourite, especially the second last as the amount of speed you can carry through and it’s a bit blind, so you don’t know how you are going to end up on the exit, which makes it quite fun.”
Q: The LMP2 category is probably the strongest it has ever been in the ELMS, with some of the best endurance teams and drivers on the grid.What are your expectations for the race on Sunday and who do you see as your strongest rivals?
JVU: “I think this race will have some good competition, again from WRT, G-Drive, Panis and, of course, our teammates in the no22 car.So, any of them can be strong, we will have to see who will come out fastest from the practice sessions that we have.
“I am curious to see how we have evolved since Barcelona. The pace there was OK, but we still have some progress to make.We also saw what United Autosports did in the WEC at Spa, so the pace is very good, so hopefully we can take a bit of that here and we should be fine.”
The 2019 and 2020 ELMS LMP2 Vice Champion now returns to the Red Bull Ring at the wheel of the no32 United Autosports Oreca 07-Gibson and we caught up with Job Van Uitert to discuss that Austrian victory three years ago and what he is looking forward to during Sunday’s race.
Q: Last time we were here you were racing LMP3 with RLR MSport and you won the race on your way to the 2018 LMP3 title.What memories do you have of that race three years ago?
Job Van Uitert: “Red Bull Ring was quite a cool race from my side.I had a great battle with Mikkel (Jensen) in the first stint, I don’t think I’ve ever had such a long battle with a high-level driver like Mikkel, who is a good friend as well.It was just a lot of fun.
“It was one hour long and within a second on track.In the second stint he had to box and change (drivers) and when I did the second stint, we managed to pull off such a lead that we got a lap on everyone when the Safety Car came out.
“We did the rest of the race and John (Farano) and Rob (Garofall) finished it off nicely.I remember the second half of the race was crazy, with a lot of FCYs and Safety Cars.It makes for great racing here at Red Bull Ring, that’s for sure.”
Q: This year you will be back here in an LMP2 Oreca-Gibson with United Autosports.How different is it going to be racing here in an LMP2 car compared to LMP3?
JVU: “Today I watched the race back from 2018 and you see that with LMP2 everything much more aggressive to overtake; there is a lot of traffic here.It’s a very short track with a lot of cars on it, so traffic management from our side in a P2 is quite difficult and requires some risk management, knowing where and where you cannot overtake.For sure it will be fun.”
Q: What are your thoughts on the track here at Red Bull Ring? What is your favourite corner and why?
JVU: “I generally enjoy driving at the Red Bull Ring, I’ve been coming here since 2015 in Formula 4 and I’ve raced here every year except for the years when ELMS hasn’t been here.It’s a great track with great atmosphere. When you see the surroundings, racing in the mountains is like a dream.You don’t want a flat, boring track, you want to go up and down and that’s definitely here.
“The corners I like the most have to be the last two.They are certainly my favourite, especially the second last as the amount of speed you can carry through and it’s a bit blind, so you don’t know how you are going to end up on the exit, which makes it quite fun.”
Q: The LMP2 category is probably the strongest it has ever been in the ELMS, with some of the best endurance teams and drivers on the grid.What are your expectations for the race on Sunday and who do you see as your strongest rivals?
JVU: “I think this race will have some good competition, again from WRT, G-Drive, Panis and, of course, our teammates in the no22 car.So, any of them can be strong, we will have to see who will come out fastest from the practice sessions that we have.
“I am curious to see how we have evolved since Barcelona. The pace there was OK, but we still have some progress to make.We also saw what United Autosports did in the WEC at Spa, so the pace is very good, so hopefully we can take a bit of that here and we should be fine.”
