What do Jose Maria Lopez, Alex Lynn, Gianmaria Bruni, Neel Jani, Guy Smith, Andy Meyrick, Charlie Eastwood, Louis Deletraz, Nelson Piquet Jnr, Oliver Jarvis, Ben Hanley, Paul-Loup Chatin, Malthe Jakobsen, Mathias Beche, James Allen, Nicolas Lapierre, Job Van Uitert, Juan Pablo Montoya, Paul Di Resta, Matthieu Vaxiviere, Ben Barnicoat, Tristan Vautier and Jack Hawksworth all have in common?
They currently compete in the ELMS’ astonishing 2023 LMP2 classes.
If you haven’t seen either of the two ELMS races this season, then the answer is ‘yes’, the action has been spectacular. And ‘yes’, you really should consider watching the remaining races on the schedule.
With a talent pool this deep, standing out in LMP2 has never been tougher, making it the perfect environment for a younger driver to develop his skillset. Enter Kyffin Simpson, with a victory in only his second ELMS outing last month at Paul Ricard, the Barbados-born, Chip Ganassi Racing development driver has already become a driver worth keeping an eye on.
Together with James Allen and Alex Lynn, Simpson earned his first ELMS victory in dramatic fashion when Allen took the lead in the final minutes of a topsy-turvy four hours of racing in the LMP2 class at Le Castellet.
The headlines from race day, rightly, focused on the thrilling end to the race, which saw multiple lead changes and ended with Algarve Pro Racing scoring its first-ever ELMS overall win. However, early in the race, Simpson put in a performance that was far more than simply encouraging, going toe-to-toe with COOL Racing’s Vladislav Lomko for the lead of the race before handing over the #25 ORECA to Lynn.
It played a crucial part in setting up the win. “It was really tough to catch him (Lomko) by the time I got to second place,” Simpson admitted to DSC after the race when asked about his mindset behind the wheel early in the race. “So I had to think about Alex, look after the car and how to make sure he was in the best possible position when he got in for his stint.”
After just two outings in the ELMS, it is already clear that Simpson is capable of putting in a mature performance to help keep his team in the hunt for wins, leaving the selfish mentality required to succeed in junior single-seater formulae to one side. Staying consistent and driving to the conditions are vital skills required to win races and titles while sharing a car with multiple drivers in sportscars. It appears he already has those.
However, a gaze into the metaphorical crystal ball reveals that Simpson’s future is most likely to be in high-level single-seaters rather than sportscar racing. With Ganassi, he is on the fast track to a headline seat in IndyCar.
“I’m really enjoying racing in sportscars,” he told DSC, “but my main goal is IndyCar, it was IndyCar before this and it still is.”
My main goal is IndyCar, it was IndyCar before this and it still is
His talents were spotted and quickly acted on by Ganassi last year when at the age of 17, he signed a multi-year development deal with the US racing giant. “I met with Mike Hull in Daytona,” he said, “then I got introduced to Chip (Ganassi) and it went from there.”
Since committing himself to the five-time Indy 500 winning team, he has been benefitting from engineering support, mentoring and a globetrotting race programme, which included a run in the Asian Le Mans Series earlier this year in addition to his current European campaign in LMP2. He’s getting plenty of track time and using open access to Ganassi’s engineers, mechanics, drivers and management between races to his advantage.
Simpson first came onto DSC’s radar in 2022 as part of Gradient Racing’s Acura GTD squad for the IMSA enduros, the young man playing a key role in a breakthrough class win at Petit Le Mans.
Thereafter he was invited to the 2022 Bahrain WEC Rookie Test, where he turned laps in an Algarve Pro ORECA and a few months later went on to form part of Algarve Pro Racing’s Asian Le Mans line-up. In the Middle East, he impressed almost immediately, winning on his series debut with John Falb and current ELMS teammate James Allen in Dubai.
Since then, he’s been competing in the ELMS and Indy NXT. His Indy campaign hasn’t quite gone to plan, with only two podiums from the first 10 races. However, it’s only Year 2 in the IndyCar feeder series for him and at his age, there is still much to learn. Lest we forget he is just two years detached from his dominant run in Formula Regional Americas, where he scored seven race wins and a further six podiums in 18 races en route to the title.
In addition to experiencing a handful of major European circuits for the first time during this ELMS campaign, Simpson feels that seat time in the ORECA 07, racing against proven pro drivers is helping improve his racecraft. “The Indy NXT car,” he says, “has a lot of similarities. It’s lighter and more agile, but it’s still a high-downforce car with a lot of power.”
Simpson is also benefitting from his relationship with Ganassi Cadillac WEC driver Alex Lynn, who was placed in the Algarve Pro Racing ELMS seat by Ganassi to help him grow his skillset. The partnership makes sense as they met for the first time at the Bahrain rookie test and immediately built up a rapport.
“It’s a really fun relationship,” Simpson said. “We work well together on the car. He’s got a lot of experience and has been so helpful in helping me get up to speed at these tracks that are all new to me and has given me a lot of advice to help me improve my traffic management.”
Lynn admits that it’s both strange and flattering to have been asked to take on this role with Simpson by Ganassi. Lynn of course, already has a rather impressive CV though, with race wins in GP2 and major sportscar wins at Sebring overall and in GTE Pro at Le Mans.
“It’s surreal really to be doing this, as I’m right in my prime,” he joked.
His experience driving a variety of vehicles, and navigating the increasingly saturated and competitive drivers market in pursuit of a factory seat, is seen as invaluable in helping Simpson mature as a motorsport professional.
Drivers like Kyffin are so polished and wise beyond their years. What they need is experience
So what does Lynn think of his ability and skillset?
“It’s clear that Kyffin is super talented. His lap times are really fast,” Lynn told DSC. “He’s just young, so at this stage he needs to learn. What impresses me the most is how talented young drivers coming through the ranks are these days. Drivers like Kyffin are so polished and wise beyond their years. What they need is experience.
“Kyffin is a fast learner and crucially, a great person too.”
This week Simpson and his teammates shift their focus to Motorland Aragon, where they will be part of a rare into-the-night race for the ELMS.
With only two ELMS races completed to this point due to the Imola cancellation, it’s early days. But Simpson, Lynn and Allen believe they have a real shot at more race wins and the class championship. A strong result in Spain will go a long way in proving their title credentials…
