Ahead of a milestone event for McLaren, United Autosports star James Cottingham – whose car will proudly carry the colours of the Meningitis Flag at next weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans (14-15 June) – insists the battle for honours in the FIA World Endurance Championship’s LMGT3 category in 2025 is ‘still very open’.
It was announced earlier this year that innovative global healthcare company Sanofi would expand its relationship with McLaren Racing by teaming up with United Autosports – the official racing partner of McLaren Automotive – for the 93rd edition of Le Mans, in an effort to drive awareness about meningitis, which has grown in prevalence since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This unique collaboration will see the yellow, purple and blue flashes of the Meningitis Flag – a powerful global symbol of the ongoing battle against the devastating disease – emblazoned across the #59 McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo to highlight the critical importance of vaccination and early detection.
“Le Mans is the ultimate race against time – just like our fight against meningitis,” commented Thomas Triomphe, Sanofi’s Executive Vice-President of Vaccines. “We believe science is our engine, partnerships are our fuel and awareness is our finish line. By bringing the Meningitis Flag to the world stage, we’re not just backing a car – we’re supporting a movement. Because when every second counts, we choose to race for lives.”
“We hope this collaboration between Sanofi, McLaren Racing and United Autosports will spark conversation and awareness, helping us to reach millions more people with life-saving information on meningitis, its signs and symptoms, the steps we can all take to protect ourselves and why supporting survivors and their families is so important,” added Vinny Smith, Chief Executive of the pioneering Meningitis Research Foundation.
“For us, this is more than just a flag – it’s a call to action. When people see it, we want them to think fast and act fast, so lives all over the world can be saved.”
On-track, the forthcoming race holds particular significance for McLaren, marking 30 years since the famous British brand sped to an historic victory on its Le Mans debut, as the F1 GTR sensationally locked out four of the top five finishing positions.
United Autosport’s current pair of LMGT3 contenders pay tribute to that achievement in their entry numbers – with #59 and #95 representing the winning car and the year – and three decades on from that momentous weekend, the team is targeting the top step of the podium again.
The #59 720S LMGT3 Evo already came within a whisker of triumphing in the Qatar curtain-raiser back in February. While its crew has failed to score since – taking the chequered flag just 14th and 15th-in class respectively at Imola and Spa-Francorchamps – Cottingham is not unduly concerned.
“We’re very confident in the team, the car, the driver line-up and we proved at Spa how fast we can be over one, two or three stints, so we’re definitely not worried,” reflected the Bronze-graded racer, who competes alongside Grégoire Saucy and Sébastien Baud.
“A lot of people have had bad luck or penalties, so the championship is still very open and it’s very close at the front. The championship leaders didn’t score any points in the last round either. Certainly if we look at our pace in Qatar and Belgium, we go into Le Mans in a very strong position.”
Cottingham is preparing to make his second appearance at La Sarthe, and the 2023 British GT Championship runner-up believes the experience he gained both at the event and over the course of his maiden campaign in FIA WEC last year will stand him in much stronger stead 12 months on.
“The biggest lesson I’ve learned is not to worry about how fast you are in free practice!” he quipped. “I had a little ‘off’ on the Thursday, which was a bit of a knock but I put it behind me and in the race, it didn’t affect me at all.
“I think I also struggled a little bit because I was so excited. The nature of the event means you’re going to be tired by the time you start the race, but making sure you’re not completely exhausted is key – I think it’s quite easy to overlook that as being just something people say, but it really is true.
“It’s very easy to get sucked into seeing how your team-mates are getting on and looking at the screen too much, but the fact is that when you’re not in the car, you should be taking the opportunity to rest – you need to make sure you hydrate, eat and sleep to get your energy levels back up before you go again. I think that’s the most important thing.
“Last year, my guys in the office laughed because they saw me sending messages at two o’ clock in the morning to our CRM group regarding leads that I had in the paddock about people who wanted to buy cars (Cottingham’s day job is Managing Director of car restoration company DK Engineering), which was really silly because I should have been asleep!
“I seem to be one of the few ‘Bronze’ drivers in FIA WEC that goes to work every day, so juggling work life, home life and doing a full season last year was tough but this year has been so much easier, and similarly, going to Le Mans I think will be a lot easier because I now know what to expect...”
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