Ginetta G60 LMP1 Prototype Revealed

[Paul Jeffrey]

Ginetta Cars have revealed the brand new G60-LT-P1 LMP1 machine coming to the World Endurance Championship during the 2018-19 'superseason'.

Designed and built by the rapidly expanding British Ginetta operation, the new LMP1 machine made a striking debut at the Autosport International Show today as the Leeds based outfit confirmed several teams have expressed an interest in running the new car in the coming WEC season, with former Formula One outfit Manor already nailing their colours to the mast with the British manufacturer.

Powered by a 3.4l V6 Mecachrome engine producing around 650bhp, Ginetta have created the most powerful and technically advanced car in the 60 year history of the company, and nothing short of a tilt at the 2018-19 WEC championship will do for the manufacturers first foray into the world of LMP1 prototype racing.

Lawrence Tomlinson, Chairman of Ginetta, said:

“I’m delighted to finally be able to unveil our latest machine to the motorsport industry, and what better time than at the start of our 60th year of manufacturing. Ginetta has a long history of international success in with the G55 GT4, LMP3 and G57. The LMP1 will be a strong contender in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) and at Le Mans. We have a great team of Design Engineers in Leeds, have worked with some excellent partners on the project, and can’t wait to show you what the LMP1 is made of out on track.”
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A further three as yet undisclosed teams are thought to have secured pre-orders on the new car, with the capacity for the team to build further examples should more interest be established by parties keen to take part in what is very quickly becoming a reborn World Endurance Championship category.

"We’ve got huge interest in the car," added Tomlinson. "We will be doing 10 chassis, six cars - hopefully three two-car teams.

"In terms of performance, we know the car is going to be right at the front. Toyota did a 3m14s qualifying lap [at Le Mans], so we’ve designed the car to be competitive with them.

"The target is outright victory at Le Mans and in the WEC.”
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Do you think Ginetta can seriously challenge the might of Toyota this season? What are your thoughts on the new car? Let us know in the comments section below!

 

[Matheus Machado]

In terms of performance, we know the car is going to be right at the front. Toyota did a 3m14s qualifying lap [at Le Mans], so we’ve designed the car to be competitive with them.

"The target is outright victory at Le Mans and in the WEC.

 

[samcar304]

Great looking car...

 

[ME9Swe]

lets hope this car will actually be competitive, not like the more recent teams like Bykolles or Rebellion...

 

[Craig Dunkley]

From that view the car looks gorgeous ...she would defiantly have my hand in marriage

A huge investment, I really hope it pays off for them

 

[CC]

Some awesome looking kit right there , lets hope she can do some damage!

 

[Grand Tourist]

650hp for a 850kg car is a lot, but haven't got the Toyota's 900hp at their disposal?

 

[Patrik Marek]

that looks great!

 

[Celestiale]

650hp for a 850kg car is a lot, but haven't got the Toyota's 900hp at their disposal?

It doesn't have 650hp period. It's only the engine. Toyota TS050 engine has only around 500hp, so in that respect it will stomp it. That's quite a lot of leeway for their chassis, electrical engine etc. Toyota have to be quite a bit better in all other parts if they want to be at the same pace

 

[RichardHessels]

Hope it's fast, not a real good looker. Pure function over shape. Can't see anything Ginetta specific shapes back in it.

 

[Patrick van der Meulen]

Hope it's fast, not a real good looker. Pure function over shape. Can't see anything Ginetta specific shapes back in it.

I think they design with function over form. Not a real beauty (though a great livery can make even ugly cars very reasonable) but hopely a good reboot for the LMP1 (non hybrid) cars.

And I don’t remember the specifics, but if I remember correctly the Toyota LMP1-H gets some kind of BoP (or it was the non hybrids gets some technical benefits over the hybrids).

 

[Andrew Harper]

650hp for a 850kg car is a lot, but haven't got the Toyota's 900hp at their disposal?

Yes that's the issue. The Hybrids this year had max power of around 1100Bhp. As mentioned above the electrical energy once used up means the car will be back to around 500/600bhp. Their trump card is of course out of corner acceleration. If you've ever watched the onboards you'll know what I mean. They are into top gear seriously quickly.

A LMP1 with a "normal" engine will be lapping around the pace of a faster Kolles car, no quicker.

If any of you have watched these cars from trackside you'll know what I mean, when they pull alongside another prototype, their acceleration is other worldly.

From what I understand the ACO/FIA want to hinder the Hybrids enough to make the new privateer LMP1's more competitive, in my view they should just keep them separate from one another, rather than artificially slowing down the LMP-H cars.

It's a bit like trying to slow down an F1 car so a GP2 car can keep up. Extreme example but it's what the ACO want to do.

However, lots of new cars are great news. Ginetta look like they are trying to do this from a customer point of view and thereby not putting their heads on the financial chopping block. I was a bit worried when they said they would be building an LMP1 chassis but it looks like they've done it in such a way that they will not risk the company in doing so

 

[Andrew Harper]

I think they design with function over form. Not a real beauty (though a great livery can make even ugly cars very reasonable) but hopely a good reboot for the LMP1 (non hybrid) cars.

Yeah it looks ok. I think over time we get used to what modern race cars looks like now, and then I peer over at my Toyota GT-ONE and Peugeot 905 in their display case and you realise how pretty race cars could be.

I just wish the ACO regs allowed the anti-lift board to be a little more curvy in profile! lol

 

[Grand Tourist]

Yeah it looks ok. I think over time we get used to what modern race cars looks like now, and then I peer over at my Toyota GT-ONE and Peugeot 905 in their display case and you realise how pretty race cars could be.

I just wish the ACO regs allowed the anti-lift board to be a little more curvy in profile! lol

There's some good news or good intentions on the way in terms of esthetics for LMP1 cars, just on a side note : https://www.autosport.com/wec/news/133020/lmp1-rules-could-move-towards-road-car-looks

 

[Andrew Harper]

There's some good news or good intentions on the way in terms of esthetics for LMP1 cars, just on a side note : https://www.autosport.com/wec/news/133020/lmp1-rules-could-move-towards-road-car-looks

Yes, it seems they've taken a leaf out of the IMSA books with regards to corporate looks on the next generation of LMP cars. An interesting idea.

I think there's different ways of looking at it. I like/liked all the LMP1-H cars. The Audi just looked so aggressive even standing still, whereas the Porsche looked more graceful. The old Panoz LMP1 roadster wasn't what you would call a looker I suppose but it was a well loved race car

However the LMP1-H cars all have their own personality design wise and I suppose from that point of view it's great and nice to see.

Of the current IMSA cars the Mazda is easily my favourite prototype.

I been watching some of the old Group C videos on IMSA YouTube recently, and you kind of have the same issues as now, some of the cars are stunning and some are not quite so pretty...

 

[JPL083]

If they really have designed the car to be faster than Toyota, only question is, can it hold itself together? Then they have a chance. Great looking car for sure!

 

[el chasco]

Let's go! **** to the hybrid cars!

 

[Nick Gregory]

Since Toyota can't race at Le Mans without some kind of catastrophic failure, Ginetta has a legitimate chance to win.

 

[pjlee1998]

Great looking car... Definitely more of a looker than the boxy LMP3 car...

The P3 car is a beauty, I pass one every day in work. The 2015 ELMS winner that is.

 

[samcar304]

The P3 car is a beauty, I pass one every day in work. The 2015 ELMS winner that is.

Yep, I'm an idiot... Just realised i had the Ginetta and the Riley P3 car confused. Take what i said about the Ginetta back. I was thinking it looked like this...

My Mistake.