After a topsy turvy and ultimately abortive 2018/19 WEC campaign for the CEFC TRSM effort with the originally Mecachrome-powered Ginetta LMP1, the whole programme could have gone away entirely.
Instead, alongside the Toyota Gazoo Racing TS050s and a single Rebellion Racing R-13, the UK-designed, built and now operated cars, now fitted with the latest AER P60C turbo V6 engines, now stand as the only two-car LMP1 non-hybrid effort.
Better still the cars impressed even some of the cynics at the WEC Prologue in Barcelona a week or so ago.
No fewer than eight drivers ran in the two Ginetta AERs over the two-day test, and others have already sampled the car in a whistlestop testing tour in the off-season, the team is coming together at a rapid pace.
Both cars ran quickly, and the faster of the two split the best efforts of the pair of Rebellions present and came within tenths of the Toyota Hybrids.
But after a season that saw utter domination by the Toyotas last time around, there is a lot to do to persuade some interested onlookers of the viability of the class that accommodates the fastest sportscars on the planet right now.
The announcement of a heavily-revised EoT, effectively dispensing with the disadvantages doled out to the non-hybrids, and clarifying the proposal of a system of success ballast into a season-long system, goes a long way towards closing the gap. It effectively guarantees that Toyota has to run perfectly against a perfect non-hybrid run, to finish ahead.
DSC meanwhile, took time at Barcelona to talk to Ginetta Cars CEO (and Team LNT team principal) Lawrence Tomlinson in search of the answers to some of the burning questions of the day for the new effort from the team:
Are you confirming a full-season two-car team in the FIA WEC?
“We have paid and accepted entries for two cars. Our full plans for the season will be announced in due course. We have eight drivers to test here at the Prologue.
“Announcements will be made in due course on the driver line-ups for both cars. The team are in active negotiations with a significant number of drivers, many of whom have high level experience and success in endurance and single seater racing. Some are here in Barcelona, some are not!”
What is your objective for the season, what does success look like?
“We’ll race hard with a pair of fast and reliable cars. If we maintain our testing form on both of those fronts we expect to be highly competitive and are looking for opportunities to win races if the opportunity arises.”
Is there any point in a privateer team entering LMP1?
“The current breed of LMP1 non-hybrid cars are amongst the fastest ever seen on the world’s race tracks. Any ambitious team or driver, keen to experience and succeed in a world-class Championship would relish campaigning such a car.
“The FIA WEC is a World Championship, we value competing on a world stage with the Ginetta brand, to show what we can produce at the cutting edge of racing technology.
“The changes made now to the Equivalence of Technology process make this a very different game in LMP1, Toyota have to run faultlessly to use the edge that their hybrid drive gives them in the races.
“With the performance advantage from our car to a leading LMP2 for a broadly similar budget, why would you NOT want to be in a Ginetta?”
Do you think you can beat Toyota?
“We believe we have the fastest non-hybrid LMP1 in the world.
“If the regulations allow us to run as fast and reliably as we are able, and if we can produce a perfect race, then the pressure is on Toyota to perform without issues. If they falter, we will be closer to them than ever.”
If Rebellion doesn’t stay, will you continue?
“We intend to race and try to beat, any opposition in our class, and in the races and championship as a whole. The decision of a single team is not a factor in our reckoning of the value to the Championship to Team LNT, or to Ginetta.”
Are Team LNT a factory Ginetta Team?
“Team LNT was a successful, race and title-winning race team long before I acquired Ginetta.
“We took the only ever international race win for TVR, we won at Le Mans in GT with Panoz and beyond that, we campaigned Ginetta Zytek and Ginetta machinery as a team too across Europe.”
Where are the cars based?
“The cars are currently based at the Ginetta factory in Garforth, West Yorkshire UK where they were built.
“We will be moving the team to a standalone facility, still in Garforth (this the soon to be ex United Autosports facility as Richard Dean’s outfit moves later this year to a new and larger facility).”
Algarve Pro supported the team at the Prologue, will they be a part of Team LNT throughout the season?
“Algarve Pro has done a great job supporting us here. They agreed to stay on after their ELMS race weekend with their pit set-up and kit to help Team LNT’s transition to running a two-car LMP1 effort here for the first time.
“As for how the full season will be handled, we’ll make an announcement in due course.”
What is the status of each driver here at the test?
“All are here to test the cars – some are looking at potential full-season programmes, others to limited or future programmes.
“None are yet guaranteed a seat for the coming season. We’ll make our decisions, and an announcement, very shortly.”
What is your feeling on the Eot/BoP situation in LMP1?
“It has to be better from a spectators point of view to have multiple cars and manufacturers challenging for a win, not just for the WEC, but at the Le Mans 24 Hours too. We need to see some close racing, that’s why people pay the money at the turnstiles.
“Whilst there’s a lot of speculation about dominance nobody knows where the cars are until the flags drop at Silverstone. In F1, right here (in Barcelona), we saw that Ferrari was dominant in testing but Mercedes dominated in the race, somehow! We don’t want that for WEC and Le Mans.”
Have you developed/produced/tested a low downforce kit for the current G60?
“Design work has been completed on a low drag package, we don’t expect to need it for some time yet! Our current aero package is, in any case highly efficient, with great feedback from the drivers here at the Prologue.”
Are there any prospective customers for car sales for the G60?
“We continue to talk to a wide variety of potential customers and partners about this and many other motorsport programmes. That includes potential partners within this current season’s WEC programme and next.
How quickly can you produce another car, is there a spare?
“Yes. We could have a third Ginetta out at Silverstone if any full-season entrant wanted to step up. I fully intend to ask for a third entry at Le Mans next year if the programme goes to plan.”
Beyond this season, will Ginetta enter Hypercar?
“We are a small company with a proven history of taking up significant challenges in the industry and in motorsport. We will campaign the current LMP1 car for as long as it is competitive, and will keep a watching brief on the marketplace. There has been no decision whatsoever beyond that.
“We are though actively looking for partners to develop a hypercar. We have shown that we can rise to very significant challenges and can do so rapidly and with great results, Hypercar is a natural progression for the technical team and skillsets that we have.
“Ginetta has done work for a number of OEMS and specialist EV racing operations, much of which nobody outside our team knows about. We’d be delighted to do more.”
Pics copyright Jakob Ebrey Photography
