PERRINN has become the latest company to enter the LMP1-Privateer class with a prospect car that will be ready to compete in the 2018 World Endurance Championship. The class currently sees ByKolles and Ginetta with cars in development for next year’s season, and adding PERRINN to that list means that the one car class this year is certainly going to grow ahead of the 2018 season.
Last week, the British Motorsports engineering company has announced that they have received their first order for an LMP1 car to be ready to compete in the 2018 season and the 2018 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The buyer is yet to be revealed, but it has been confirmed that it is a two car order so the team will be a two car team. The buyer is a European race team that will be announced shortly.
PERRINN has already completed the design work on their 2018 LMP1 challenger and preliminary digital and crash test simulations have also been carried out and passed. The car is yet to be named but is on track to be revealed in late November and get on track for its first real track tests in December.
PERRINN is very happy with the progress of the project, and with it already being at such an advanced stage, they have announced that they would be capable of supplying more cars to other teams for 2018.
Each rolling chassis costs a competitive £1.2m and implements a clever torsion bar front suspension with coil springs over dampers at the rear in an attempt to bring the weight of the car “significantly under” the minimum limit of 830kg weight. This would allow teams running the PERRINN chassis to manipulate where the weight would be distributed throughout the car.
PERRINN is the second manufacturer to join the LMP1-Privateer campaign for next year, car designer Nicolas Perrin believes this is because of the five-year lockdown on the LMP1 regulations. There is more appeal for teams and manufacturers to get involved in the sport and the class when they know that they can build and develop their cars for five years with no regulation changes meaning they would have to start again.
Perrin went on to explain: “Increased support and stability from the FIA and ACO, coupled with programmes from other manufacturers has meant we’ve had a lot of discussions with teams seeking more freedom than the new LMP2 category. LMP1 offers a route to progress from an engineering and pace point of view.
“In just a few short months, the programme has progressed very quickly to the point where we’ll have two cars plus enough spares to build another car within six months. We have ensured we have capacity to do more should some of our other discussions develop.”
Talking about the prospects and goals for the 2018 PERRINN LMP1 car, Perrin added: “Motorsport leads the way in advanced manufacturing techniques and we are now capable of producing the car in an innovative fashion. We will nominate the best suppliers to produce parts and deliver to our subcontractors to undertake the assembly on our behalf.
“I am using open source as a way to focus resources and talents around our project. I want PERRINN to achieve success at Le Mans by becoming a much bigger organisation than it can be if we limit ourselves to a centralised closed company. Our workforce is decentralised and global. Our team is open and accessible.”
