Motoring

Ginetta Make Their Marque In Le Mans

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Ginetta hit a significant milestone in their history last week as they led a convoy of both G60s and G40s including BTCC star Tony Hughes in his brand new Ginetta G60 into the French town ahead of the 24-hour race.

Hughes and partner Vicci Schultz recently took delivery of their G60, featuring a 3.7 litre V6 engine, and became the first British customers of the exclusive car, with only one other in the world. They took their new car on a baptism of fire on the 1200 mile round trip toLe Mans.

The trip was especially moving for Ginetta Chairman Lawrence Tomlinson, who won the GT2 class at Le Mans in 2006. He led the convoy of three G60s and two G40s on the epic journey from Leeds to Le Mans. He said: “It was a very proud moment for both myself personally and the company as a whole watching the first Ginettas roll into Le Mans. It has been a culmination of two years of hard development to get to this point, and the company is now in an exceptionally strong position moving into the future.

Tony Hughes was asked to showcase his G60 as the first British owner of the car. The BTCC driver drove the car in the famous la Grande Parade des Pilotes on Friday afternoon. Partner Vicci Schultz had her first proper experience of driving the car and was surprised by the journey: “After putting just over 1000 miles on the clock on a return trip to Le Mans, I was amazed at how easy the G60 was to drive and also how comfortable it was to spend a ten-hour trip in.

She continued: “I was also pleased with how easily I could drive it in the stop-start traffic of the parade which required a lot of clutch control! I couldn’t believe how powerful the V6 is when I was on the open roads of France, but more importantly; there was enough room for five days’ worth of luggage for the two of us which is unheard of in any other two-seater supercar!

This is all the more exceptional as the car is purely focused on driving experience, offering lightweight and high power to give extremely high performance yet does not sacrifice driver comfort and build quality at all. This is only possible with the carbon-fibre construction of the supercar. Tony Hughes, who shared driving responsibilities on the road trip, added: “Considering we gave the car its first real drive to France and back, the car was extremely well behaved and an absolute pleasure to drive. I was impressed by how light and nimble the car feels around twisty back roads as well as the sheer power of the thing when you really thrash it.

The car is one of only two customer Ginetta G60s in the world, and with that Tony and Vicci have joined arguably the most exclusive supercar club around.

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