Ginetta have made their hopes of returning to the FIA World Endurance Championship‘s LMP1 class clear, participating in a three-day Michelin tyre test last week at the Aragon Circuit.
A Ginetta LMP1 car has not run on track since the 2018 24 Hours of Le Mans and the fallout between Manor Racing, Mecachrome and them. The British manufacturer are hoping that their reliable run during the three-day test will attract attention and interest from teams, and they will be able to supply LMP1 cars again for the field of the 2019/20 season.
“We thought this test was a good chance to prove that the car is competitive and reliable,” Ginetta boss Lawrence Tomlinson said to Motorsport.com. “We want the car out there in the WEC next season and I’m prepared to offer a team or teams a very good deal to make that happen.”
When asked about the team running their own cars as a works team, Tomlinson stated that the team were constructors and had no interest in being a works team.
Ginetta factory drivers Charlie Robertson and Mike Simpson climbed aboard the G60 LMP1 during the three-day test, along with James Jakes – former IndyCar driver – and some unnamed drivers who Tomlinson said “wanted to try it.”
“We’ve run reliably and competitively: we have split SMP [with the BR Engineering BR1] and the Rebellion on time so far.” Tomlinson confirmed at the halfway point of the test.
It was also confirmed by the Ginetta boss that the reason the car would not be on track for this weekend’s 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. As race-by-race entries are not permitted in LMP1, the team would have had to have used the TRSM entry, which would have forced them to pay fines incurred for missing the last four rounds of the championship.
“I was quite happy to fund running the car, but I wasn’t prepared to pay €140,000 in fines that were nothing to do with us,” Tomlinson stated.
The Aragon test marked the second time that the Ginetta LMP1 entry had run with the AER engine.
