As the FIA World Endurance Championship looks towards 2018, the ‘Super Season’ and the launch of privateer LMP1 entries, Leeds-based Ginetta Cars has announced the first two customers for its new premier-class prototype.
Manor Endurance Racing and TRS Racing will both campaign the new Ginetta LMP1. The engine partner will be announced ‘in due course’.
Ginetta Cars Chairman Lawrence Tomlinson was delighted to break the news, ten months after the car was launched in time for Autosport, the annual racing car show in Birmingham, England.
“I am delighted with the confirmation of the selection by TRS Racing and Manor Endurance Racing of the Ginetta LMP1 for their programme,” said Tomlinson. “The opportunities for all involved here are tremendous, for Ginetta, for the team and for their backers. To take on endurance racing at this level is one of the toughest technical challenges in the world. It’s great to have a racing partner who relishes those challenges just as much as we do.”
“I think that the LMP1 category provides a fantastic challenge for us but we can rely on a lot of experience gained over the years, in particular those spent in Formula 1, relating to the management of the design, research, testing and development processes that are so important for a successful LMP1 team.” said Manor Endurance Racing Sporting Director Graeme Lowdon.
The withdrawal of Porsche from the LMP1 category in the FIA World Endurance Championship and the possibility of Toyota Gazoo Racing running a limited programme means that the LMP1 category will revert to a largely privateer entry with the opportunity to compete for outright victories at the 2018 and 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The 2018/19 FIA World Endurance Championship opens with the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps on May 5 2018.
