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Le Mans / ALMS
SPA24: The Rise And Return Of Zak Brown
Once one of America's brightest young open-wheel talents, Zak Brown traded the cockpit for the board room. Now he's back with United Autosports.
Zak Brown embarks on his first Spa 24 Hours this weekend. (LAT)
View the United Autosports photo gallery.
Auto racing can be a brutal sport. One day you could be spraying champagne on the top step of the podium and the next be penniless and without a ride. Just ask Zak Brown.
As one of the brightest open-wheel talents of the early ‘90s, Brown was on the fast track to success. And he appeared to be doing everything right.
Moving to Europe to pursue his ambitions, Brown competed in the ultra-competitive British Formula 3 championship, Formula Opel Lotus before also trying his hand in Indy Lights back Stateside.
But as he worked up the ranks, both in the open-wheel and sportscar racing worlds, the California native faced the high pressure associated with achieving success.
“Towards the end of 2000, while I was racing, I wasn’t having fun any more and was really focused on business and wasn’t getting the results I wanted,” Brown says. “As such, it was no longer fun. I think I was just burned out after ten years of fighting real hard to race.”
Instead, Brown started developing his own business venture. In the matter of a decade, Indianapolis-based Just Marketing International grew into one of the leading motorsports marketing firms in the world, all while still trying to further his career as a driver.
With JMI requiring more of his time, Brown had no other choice but to abandon his racing program to put 100 percent focus on his budding business. However, he didn’t completely let go of his dreams.
Brown’s racing career was revived in 2006 after getting a phone call from his old U.K. driving instructor and longtime friend, Richard Dean, to race with him in the Britcar 24 Hours. After winning their class and finishing second overall in the twice-around-the-clock enduro at Silverstone, the result sparked a new fire in Brown to get back racing on a more regular basis.
With JMI growing into a multinational firm with over 130 employees in six offices around the world, Brown made the decision to sell a majority interest of his company in 2008. It helped finance his next big venture, which put him back behind the wheel of a sportscar.
“I decided to do what I thought I would never do, and that was spend my own money on racing,” Brown says. “Five years went by and business has been going great and built it to a point where it doesn’t need me 24/7, which it did the first ten years.
“I’ve built up a good organization of leaders. So I got the itch again and didn’t feel any pressure this time around because I wasn’t going out there to prove anything or wasn’t trying to get paid to race.”
Brown joined forces with old friend Dean to form United Autosports last year. The U.K.-based team flying the Stars and Stripes of the United States was considered a joint venture for the two, with Dean taking on the day-to-day management role of the team, and with Brown doing what does best, establishing the marketing and sponsorship side of the organization.
“I think what drove a lot of the excitement is that I’m in partnership with my best buddy Richard Dean,” Brown says. “I didn’t really have an interest in owning just a team, plus I don’t have the time or expertise to run it. So it all came together. I wanted to drive again on a part-time basis, which is perfect since the championship is only six or seven weekends a year.”
Campaigning a pair of Audi R8 LMS cars in Europe, the ambitious program made its debut in the British GT season-opener at Oulton Park in April before shifting the majority of its focus on the FIA GT3 European Championship.
For 38-year-old Brown, it marked his return to the cockpit on a regular basis, and not in the high pressure environment he was in during his days as an up-and-coming driver. With the GT3 Championship designed for gentlemen drivers and budding stars, Brown feels he’s in the perfect environment at his stage of his career.
And this time around, he’s taking all the right steps to ensure the same frustrations don’t happen again. In many ways, Brown is now leading his own destiny.
“I remember how frustrating it was to not test and not have good equipment,” Brown says of his open-wheel days. “That was all the stuff I didn’t like and knew this time around I was able to get into a situation where I would have the ‘good stuff’ - the good team, the good equipment, the appropriate budget.
“I was able to get sponsorship from Remington and LG. I knew I could do this the right way. In addition to having the itch, the ability of getting into a situation where I knew would be good was a big motivator.”
While the team has certainly been on an steep learning curve this season, Brown has been pleased with the rate of progress made in the opening races.
From initial struggles at Silverstone and Brno, where both cars were not on pace to its Audi rivals, to encouraging runs at Jarama and the last GT3 round at Paul Ricard, where 20-year-old Matt Bell qualified 8th, Brown feels the team is on the upswing.
“It’s a brand-new team, so as much as it seems like we have the right stuff on the surface... Just ask a Formula One team, a NASCAR team or another GT3 team, it takes time to gel,” Brown says.
“We’ve now been going from the one of the slowest Audis in the races to the fastest Audi in one of the qualifying sessions. We feel like we’re now on top of the car, so hopefully we can get some results.”
All of the lessons learned from the team’s early season races culminates with this weekend’s Spa 24 Hours, where United Autosports makes its endurance racing debut. But despite the team’s general lack of 24-hour racing experience, Brown is not ready to go down without a fight.
He’s assembled a star-studded driver lineup for his two Audis, led by former Formula One standouts Stefan Johansson, Eddie Cheever and Mark Blundell. Brown, Dean, veteran GRAND-AM pilots Mark Patterson and Emil Assentato as well as Frenchman Alain Li complete the eight-driver squad.
But Spa is only the first of many world-renowned sportscar classics that Brown is aiming to tackle. In facts, with hopes of expanding his operation into the GT1 World Championship and GRAND-AM by 2012, United Autosports could become one of the first true global sportscar racing organizations.
“Ideally, I’d like to put together a global sportscar team that could come over to Sebring and Petit Le Mans and do Macau, maybe do the Dubai 24 Hours too,” Brown says. “Taking a global view of our racing team is something that a lot of sponsors want and we hope to get there.”
While Brown is surely aiming high for a team that has yet to complete its first full season of GT3 racing, his track record in the boardrooms of multi-billion dollar companies speak for themselves.
Given a good result is achieved here this weekend, the sky may be the limit for Zak Brown and United Autosports.
View the Wednesday Spa 24 photo gallery.
View the Thursday Spa 24 photo gallery.
Auto racing can be a brutal sport. One day you could be spraying champagne on the top step of the podium and the next be penniless and without a ride. Just ask Zak Brown.
As one of the brightest open-wheel talents of the early ‘90s, Brown was on the fast track to success. And he appeared to be doing everything right.
Moving to Europe to pursue his ambitions, Brown competed in the ultra-competitive British Formula 3 championship, Formula Opel Lotus before also trying his hand in Indy Lights back Stateside.
But as he worked up the ranks, both in the open-wheel and sportscar racing worlds, the California native faced the high pressure associated with achieving success.
“Towards the end of 2000, while I was racing, I wasn’t having fun any more and was really focused on business and wasn’t getting the results I wanted,” Brown says. “As such, it was no longer fun. I think I was just burned out after ten years of fighting real hard to race.”
Instead, Brown started developing his own business venture. In the matter of a decade, Indianapolis-based Just Marketing International grew into one of the leading motorsports marketing firms in the world, all while still trying to further his career as a driver.
With JMI requiring more of his time, Brown had no other choice but to abandon his racing program to put 100 percent focus on his budding business. However, he didn’t completely let go of his dreams.
Brown’s racing career was revived in 2006 after getting a phone call from his old U.K. driving instructor and longtime friend, Richard Dean, to race with him in the Britcar 24 Hours. After winning their class and finishing second overall in the twice-around-the-clock enduro at Silverstone, the result sparked a new fire in Brown to get back racing on a more regular basis.
With JMI growing into a multinational firm with over 130 employees in six offices around the world, Brown made the decision to sell a majority interest of his company in 2008. It helped finance his next big venture, which put him back behind the wheel of a sportscar.
“I decided to do what I thought I would never do, and that was spend my own money on racing,” Brown says. “Five years went by and business has been going great and built it to a point where it doesn’t need me 24/7, which it did the first ten years.
“I’ve built up a good organization of leaders. So I got the itch again and didn’t feel any pressure this time around because I wasn’t going out there to prove anything or wasn’t trying to get paid to race.”
Brown joined forces with old friend Dean to form United Autosports last year. The U.K.-based team flying the Stars and Stripes of the United States was considered a joint venture for the two, with Dean taking on the day-to-day management role of the team, and with Brown doing what does best, establishing the marketing and sponsorship side of the organization.
“I think what drove a lot of the excitement is that I’m in partnership with my best buddy Richard Dean,” Brown says. “I didn’t really have an interest in owning just a team, plus I don’t have the time or expertise to run it. So it all came together. I wanted to drive again on a part-time basis, which is perfect since the championship is only six or seven weekends a year.”
Campaigning a pair of Audi R8 LMS cars in Europe, the ambitious program made its debut in the British GT season-opener at Oulton Park in April before shifting the majority of its focus on the FIA GT3 European Championship.
For 38-year-old Brown, it marked his return to the cockpit on a regular basis, and not in the high pressure environment he was in during his days as an up-and-coming driver. With the GT3 Championship designed for gentlemen drivers and budding stars, Brown feels he’s in the perfect environment at his stage of his career.
And this time around, he’s taking all the right steps to ensure the same frustrations don’t happen again. In many ways, Brown is now leading his own destiny.
“I remember how frustrating it was to not test and not have good equipment,” Brown says of his open-wheel days. “That was all the stuff I didn’t like and knew this time around I was able to get into a situation where I would have the ‘good stuff’ - the good team, the good equipment, the appropriate budget.
“I was able to get sponsorship from Remington and LG. I knew I could do this the right way. In addition to having the itch, the ability of getting into a situation where I knew would be good was a big motivator.”
While the team has certainly been on an steep learning curve this season, Brown has been pleased with the rate of progress made in the opening races.
From initial struggles at Silverstone and Brno, where both cars were not on pace to its Audi rivals, to encouraging runs at Jarama and the last GT3 round at Paul Ricard, where 20-year-old Matt Bell qualified 8th, Brown feels the team is on the upswing.
“It’s a brand-new team, so as much as it seems like we have the right stuff on the surface... Just ask a Formula One team, a NASCAR team or another GT3 team, it takes time to gel,” Brown says.
“We’ve now been going from the one of the slowest Audis in the races to the fastest Audi in one of the qualifying sessions. We feel like we’re now on top of the car, so hopefully we can get some results.”
All of the lessons learned from the team’s early season races culminates with this weekend’s Spa 24 Hours, where United Autosports makes its endurance racing debut. But despite the team’s general lack of 24-hour racing experience, Brown is not ready to go down without a fight.
He’s assembled a star-studded driver lineup for his two Audis, led by former Formula One standouts Stefan Johansson, Eddie Cheever and Mark Blundell. Brown, Dean, veteran GRAND-AM pilots Mark Patterson and Emil Assentato as well as Frenchman Alain Li complete the eight-driver squad.
But Spa is only the first of many world-renowned sportscar classics that Brown is aiming to tackle. In facts, with hopes of expanding his operation into the GT1 World Championship and GRAND-AM by 2012, United Autosports could become one of the first true global sportscar racing organizations.
“Ideally, I’d like to put together a global sportscar team that could come over to Sebring and Petit Le Mans and do Macau, maybe do the Dubai 24 Hours too,” Brown says. “Taking a global view of our racing team is something that a lot of sponsors want and we hope to get there.”
While Brown is surely aiming high for a team that has yet to complete its first full season of GT3 racing, his track record in the boardrooms of multi-billion dollar companies speak for themselves.
Given a good result is achieved here this weekend, the sky may be the limit for Zak Brown and United Autosports.
View the Wednesday Spa 24 photo gallery.
View the Thursday Spa 24 photo gallery.
Monterey
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