Richard Antony Dean is a former British Racing Driver who won the 24 Hours of Le Mans GT2 class in 2006.[1] In 2010, Richard Dean founded the sports car racing team United Autosports with Zak Brown.[2]
Racing career
Early career
Richard Dean started his competitive racing career in karts as a teenager.[3] In 1985, Richard progressed to car racing in Formula Ford 1600.[3] After multiple seasons in FF1600[4] with multiple race wins,[5] and finishing sixth in the 1987 Formula Ford Festival,[6] he moved up to contest the 1989 British F3 Championship.[4] 1990 saw a move to Formula 3000 for the next two seasons, scoring top 6 results in the International F3000 series[7] and winning the Oulton Park Gold Cup race in the 1990 British F3000 series with Cobra Motorsport.[7]
Japan
In 1992, Richard Dean moved to Japan, prompted by the offer of a test by the LeMans company in F3.[8] He stayed in Japan until 1995, racing in F3, F300, GT, and Touring Cars.[8] Following the test, Richard Dean raced with Team LeMans in the 1993 Formula 3 Japan and 1994 All-Japan GT Championship.[4] In 1994, he raced with Tomei Sport Open in the Formula 3 Macau GP and Formula 3 Japan, placing 4th.[4] In the same year, he raced with Team 5Zigen in the 1994 Formula 3000 Japan.[4] In his final year of racing in Japan, 1995, Richard Dean contested the Japanese Touring Car Championship with Trans Global.[4]Tom Kristensen, the most successful Lemans driver in history, was also racing in Japan at that time and became an acquaintance of Dean.[8]
1996-2006
After returning to Europe, Dean won the 1996 Dunlop Rover Turbo Cup[9] scoring 9 wins in 16 races and winning the title by more than 100 points.[10] In 1998 he won the British GT Championship driving an Oreca prepared Dodge Viper[11]
In 1999, Dean began racing in the American Le Mans Series – firstly in the prototype class (1999), then the GT class (2000 & 2002), LMP900 class (2001) and GT2 class (2005 & 2006).[4] Dean also raced in the European Le Mans Series in 2001.[4] In 2006, Dean came second in the GT2 team championship standings with Team LNT.[4]
24 Hours of Le Mans
The same year, in 2006, Dean won the 24 Hours of Le Mans GT2 class.[12] He was racing with fellow British co-drivers Lawrence Tomlinson and Tom Kimber-Smith as part of Team LNT.[1] Dean started the race ninth-in-class and 24 hours later took the checkered flag first-in-class.[13] Dean and the team made history that day as the only car to have beaten a Porsche in the GT2 class at Le Mans.[13]
Dean raced in the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice more, both with Team LNT. In 2007, he placed 5th in the GT class while in 2009, the team had a DNF.
United Autosports
In 2009, Richard Dean and long-term friend Zak Brown founded United Autosports,[2] an Anglo-American motorsport race team and business based in West Yorkshire, UK.[12]
In the early years, Dean and Brown raced for United Autosports.[14] The team’s first race was in the 2010 British GT Championship at Oulton Park.[14] They had a two-car entry, with Mike Guasch and Mark Patterson in the #22 car and Richard Dean and Zak Brown in the #23 car.[14]
The same year, United Autosports entered the 2010 Spa 24 Hours. Dean, together with co-drivers Zak Brown, Eddie Cheever and Mark Blundell, placed third in the GT3 class.[15]
United Autosports is now a championship-winning sports car racing team,[16] competing in sports prototype and GT categories across the world including the European Le Mans Series,[17] World Endurance Championship,[16] Asian Le Mans Series[18] and GT4 European Series.[19]
In 2020, United Autosports became the first team to win three prestigious endurance accolades in the same year – the European Le Mans Series, World Endurance Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans (LMP2 class).[20]
United Autosports also has a dedicated historic team who race in classic events around the world including the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion,[21] Silverstone Classic,[22] Velocity Invitational[23] and Estoril Classic.[24] Richard Dean has raced at a number of these events in cars from Zak Brown’s personal collection.[25]
Personal life
Richard Dean lives in Yorkshire with his wife, former professional tennis player Alice Mackenzie,[26] and dogs.[27]
He is the son of former racing driver Tony Dean[28] and he has one daughter, Ashleigh, who was born in 1992.
