The United Autosports team believe that their performance during the fourth round of the British Touring Car Championship at Oulton Park shows that they are making progress in their debut season in the series.
The weekend provided the newcomers with their biggest haul of points to date in the championship, with Glynn Geddie recording the team’s best result with 12th place in the third race of the weekend and James Cole setting the team’s first fastest lap in the same encounter, after switching to slick tyres after the circuit dried out.
The weekend also marked the first time that the team’s two cars completed every race, with the pair taking their Toyota Avensis’ to the flag six times between them.
Southport-born Cole was also able to score his first outright points finish since the season-opening weekend at Brands Hatch, and was certain that the weekend marked a definite step forward for the Anglo-American outfit.
“We’ve ended the weekend with many positives,” said the 25-year-old. “Glynn and I have finished all three races for the first time, we’ve scored some points and I set the fastest lap in the third race. So all of these factors underline that we’re moving forward with every outing.”
Geddie meanwhile was adamant that the team weren’t able to reveal the full extent of their progress, although he believed that provided them with something to take to the next round of the championship at Croft.
“We’ve made progress but unfortunately bad weather and red flags didn’t allow us to show it all,” he said. “The pace is improving and that’s a good thing to take to the next races at Croft.”
And Team Owner and Managing Director Richard Dean echoed the views offered by his two drivers, and believed that competitive showing were something that the team can now expect regularly.
“We have certainly made some progress this weekend with the Toyotas and James and Glynn are feeling more positive leaving Oulton,” said Dean. “Once again, we ran out of luck at certain points during the weekend with red flags and the weather, but our early qualifying pace shows we can now aim to be in the top half of the grid.
“We are looking forward to the next round at Croft, which is technically our home race so fingers crossed for luck to be on our side.”
United Autosports weekend results
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME/GAP | BEST | GD |
| 19 | 20 | I | James COLE |  |
United Autosports | Toyota Avensis | 12 | 29.123 | 1:45.133 | 18 |
| 21 | 21 | I | Glynn GEDDIE | |
United Autosports | Toyota Avensis | 12 | 36.254 | 1:45.342 | 20 |
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME/GAP | BEST | GD |
| 15 | 20 | I | James COLE | |
United Autosports | Toyota Avensis | 14 | 13.343 | 1:44.435 | 19 |
| 24 | 21 | I | Glynn GEDDIE | |
United Autosports | Toyota Avensis | 14 | 49.456 | 1:43.758 | 21 |
| POS | NO | CL | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME/GAP | BEST | GD |
| 12 | 21 | I | Glynn GEDDIE | |
United Autosports | Toyota Avensis | 13 | 22.785 | 1:54.733 | 24 |
| 20 | 20 | I | James COLE | |
United Autosports | Toyota Avensis | 13 | 36.689 | 1:48.378 | 15 |