WEC: Ginetta announces privateer P1 program

British road and racecar constructor Ginetta has confirmed its entry into the World Endurance Championship's LMP1 class for privateers in 2018.

Designer Paolo Catone, who penned the Le Mans-winning Peugeot 908 among other prototypes, will be involved in the car's creation, and renowned designer and former open-wheel and sports car constructor Adrian Reynard has been recruited to handle the Ginetta's aerodynamics.

Multifaceted engine supplier Mechachrome has been tabbed to produce an engine for the car and Xtrac has been identified as the preferred gearbox vendor. The car will add to the existing line of Ginetta G57 and LMP3 prototypes available for purchase.

"I'm hugely thankful to the ACO for the opportunity to run at the front and challenge for overall podiums," said Ginetta chairman Lawrence Tomlinson. "The Ginetta design team's ability has already been proven by the class dominating Ginetta LMP3 and G57. With Adrian and Paolo on board, the performance of the Ginetta LMP1 is going to be amazing. We are now offering a genuine ladder for our customers all the way from first race to Le Mans which is incredibly exciting for me."

The new Ginetta is expected to bolster the WEC's depleted P1 class. With Audi Sport's recent withdrawal from the top P1 Hybrid tier, only four cars – two each from Porsche and Toyota – are expected to appear at every round this year. The shift by P1 privateer champions Rebellion Racing to LMP2 has further reduced the car count, leaving the byKolles team as the only existing privateer entrant likely to answer the bell.

"More great news for endurance racing!" ACO President Pierre Fillon said of the upcoming influx of P1 privateer entries. "Ginetta has proven its expertise in creating successful high performance chassis in G57 and Ginetta LMP3 categories and entering LMP1, the top tier category of endurance racing, appears now to be an obvious move for Ginetta as it moves forward. The valued expertise of Ginetta's partners for this program is also very promising for the 2018 FIA World Endurance Championship."

A production run of 10 cars is planned and testing is expected to begin after the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June. Two Ginetta customers have expressed interest in joining the P1 privateer fray, including PRT Racing and ARC Bratislava.

"After competing for many years in worldwide GT racing, Ginetta gave me the opportunity to move into prototypes with their LMP3," said ARC Bratislava team owner Miro Konopka. "We are incredibly excited about this new chassis which will allow me to expand my motorsport platforms to include the WEC and every team and driver's ambition, to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans."