Henri Richard joins United Autosports for the 2010 FIA GT3 European Championship season

A fourth driver has joined the two-car United Autosports team for the 2010 FIA GT3 European Championship season, it was announced today. Franco American Henri Richard, a resident of California, USA, joins previously announced Americans Zak Brown, Michael Guasch and Argentina’s Pablo Perez Companc on the U.S.-owned, U.K.-based team.

All four will co-drive 2010 Audi R8 LMS race cars currently under build at Audi Sport in Germany. Brown and Companc will share one entry, while Guasch and Richard will pilot the other. With Brown, Companc and Guasch all previously signed to the team and the Audi R8 winning the 2009 FIA GT3 series in its debut season, there was high interest from around the World in the remaining driver spot. United Autosports team co-owners Zak Brown and Richard Dean had multiple choices of talented drivers from various international racing series with Henri Richard ultimately being their choice.

“We are very pleased that Henri has joined United Autosports,” Dean said. “His experience on and off the track will prove beneficial. Both he and Michael (Guasch) are a good match in talent and temperament, having known each other for quite some time, which should pay dividends in sharing the same Audi race car.”

The Californian’s diverse racing pedigree has seen him compete since a young age in many forms of motorsports around the world. More recently, Henri Richard has competed extensively in the North American Ferrari F430 Challenge including as a teammate of Brown in 2009, as well as entering his Porsche GT Cup in GRAND-AM series races. He will soon add the 2010 Rolex Daytona 24 hour race to his CV.

Matt Bell”Henri is an accomplished and well-rounded driver, as well as a successful business executive,” said Brown. “We were past teammates in the Ferrari Challenge, and I’m glad we’ll be driving on the same squad again. One of the things I respect most about Henri is his serious pursuit of race craft. He is quite scientific in his approach and always looking to improve, the exact same approach he takes in his business endeavors.”

Brown, 38, is hardly a stranger to international motorsports. He raced his way across Europe in multiple open-wheel series during his twenties. He has since become a renowned international racing insider as the founder and CEO of U.S.-based Just Marketing International (JMI), the world’s leading motorsports-exclusive marketing agency. United Autosports’ on-track efforts are supported with JMI’s full-service resources, applied principally to promoting the team’s sponsors on both sides of the Atlantic.

The team’s 2010 FIA GT3 European Championship campaign commences May 2, 2010 at Britain’s famed Silverstone road course.

– oneighturbo.com