United Autosports gunning for top-5 finish at Daytona - Brown

Zak Brown says his United Autosports entries will be aiming for a final spot among the top five in this weekend's Rolex 24 at Daytona.

It's race week in Florida where teams are gearing up for the classic endurance event. Brown's sportscar team will field Fernando Alonso in its #23 entry, with McLaren junior Lando Norris and Phil Hanson, while Paul di Resta, Bruno Senna and Hugo de Saedeleer will steer the outfit's second entry.

Based on their speed during the ROAR test weekend, the United Autosports squad is facing a tall order at Daytona with its Ligier LMP2, but the challenge isn't unsettling Brown's ambitions.

"We’re heading to Daytona aiming for a top-five race finish," Brown said.

"It’s a long and very hard race with a quality 50-car entry. Most teams have many years of Rolex and Daytona race experience to help them.

• Norris out to prove his mettle to Alonso at Daytona

"We’ll need everything aligned to achieve that kind of result and while we’ve quickly achieved success in Europe, Richard [Dean - United Autosports co-owner] and I are under no illusion it’s going to be a very tough weekend.

"But that’s what all of us at United thrive on and we’re all very excited to be racing in the Rolex at the weekend."

As for Fernando Alonso, the two-time F1 world champion reiterated his joy to include some real racing in his usual pre-season training program.

"It's a way of preparing yourself," Alonso said Tuesday.

"I'm used to spending January and February preparing physically for the season, doing training camps ... training the neck with weights, with elastics.

"Now I have the opportunity to train those muscles and to get into the racing spirit in the car and racing some of the best racers in the world.

"It's a nice preparation and nice warm-up of the season in F1."

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