(Photo: British Endurance Championship)
Arthur Simondet, the Texas-raised and currently London-resident driver, will be making his debut in the British Endurance Championship when the 2024 BEC season gets underway on the Donington GP circuit on Friday March 29th.
Simondet will be driving alongside MacG Racing Technical Director Jonny MacGregor in the team’s Ginetta G55 Supercup Class G entry. Friday’s two-hour contest will be Arthur Simondet’s first competitive outing in the distinctive black-and-yellow machine after 2023 was spent gaining familiarity with UK circuits.
Arthur Simondet began his racing career in the US where he competed in the Spec Miata series as well as in motorcycle racing. When his career in the energy industry brought him to the UK in 2023, Simondet continued his racing with two Citroen C1 programmes. Joining QE Motorsports (Queen Ethelburga’s Collegiate) for the Student Motorsport Challenge, the inter-series which forms part of the BRSCC Nankang Tyre CityCar Cup Championship, Simondet took a class podium at Croft on his way to driving the #12 car to a 4th-place finish in the Challenge class.
Simondet combined his Student Motorsport Challenge campaign with selected outings in the Silverlake C1 Endurance Series where he joined RABsport racing for a pair of top-ten finishes at Pembrey with teammates Michael Jenkin and Gary Mitchell.
For 2024, Arthur Simondet has joined MacG Racing as he looks to climb the endurance racing ladder. The Derby-based team, which, in addition to racing, specialises in car builds and preparation as well as the supply and fitting of performance car parts and suspension tuning, acquired the Ginetta G55 in 2023 for arrive-and-drive racing. Its livery mirrors that of the team’s 7-litre Taranis with which MacG Racing competed in the British Endurance Championship from 2016.
“I’m super-excited to be stepping into the car for the opening round of the British Endurance Championship,” said Arthur Simondet. “We’ve got testing planned so we should be well-prepared for the race itself. It’s my first outing in the BEC so there will be lots to learn and I want to make sure that I take away as much as I can from this weekend.
“I have an idea of what to expect but there will be procedures and other aspects of racing at this level that I’ll be experiencing for the first time. I’ll be looking to Jonny for advice and leaning on him quite a bit as someone who has competed in the British Endurance Championship.”
Jonny MacGregor is looking forward to Arthur Simondet joining MacG Racing for the 2024 season.
“I’m very much looking forward to driving with Arthur,” said Jonny MacGregor. “It’s always good to have a new driver in the car. Arthur has obviously got plenty of experience, he’s done a lot of testing in Ginettas and he’s had experience of endurance so I think it’s going to be a good driver line-up.”
“Mixed class racing is a little bit different to what he’s done before and you need to keep your wits about you because, whilst we’re in one of the lower classes, we expect to be quite a lot quicker than a number of the cars. Equally there are some very fast cars out there as well. It’s really about making sure that Arthur is aware of what is going on around him, the communication between him, the garage and the pit crew and optimising any opportunities with respect to safety cars and pit stops so we can optimise the strategy and get the best result.
“I’m looking forward to getting a strong result this weekend and hopefully through the Championship.”
Track action for the opening round of the 2024 British Endurance Championship gets underway on the Donington GP circuit at 10.25 on Friday Match 29 with a 30-minute practice session followed by qualifying at 10.55. The lights go out for the two-hour opening round at 3.00pm.
