Ginetta at Le Mans

PH meets a British underdog with the Bulldog spirit

By Chris-R / Thursday, 11 June 2009 / Loading comments

British sports car maker Ginetta will be making a historic first appearance at this year’s Le Mans, where it is hoping to stage an international upset with its latest racing machine - the Ginetta-Zytek GZ09S.

Lawrence Tomlinson - racer/chairman

The company’s audacious effort to mix it up with the big boys in the LMP1 category is spearheaded by a driver line-up comprising Ginetta chairman Lawrence Tomlinson, ‘global sales ambassador’ Richard Dean, and the 17 year old ‘superkid’ Nigel Moore who has recently been making his mark in the British GT4 championship after winning the Ginetta G50 Cup.

Ginetta has been building road and race cars since 1958, and in 2005 the company was bought by veteran racer Lawrence Tomlinson, owner of LNT Automotive. Tomlinson moved production to a brand new factory in Leeds - which was officially opened by Damon Hill in 2007 – and the Yorkshire-based company has become a major player on the motorsport scene in the UK.

Ginetta at Le Mans scrutineering

With three single make Championships on offer, there are opportunities for drivers in novice categories right through to professional level. A fact demonstrated by driver Nigel Moore who won the Ginetta Junior Championship at the tender age of 15 and now, just two years later has an almost unbelievable chance to shine in the Le Mans spotlight in the top LMP1 category!

Multi marque racing begins between the ages of 14 and 17 in the Ginetta Junior series through to senior level with the ever popular and affordable G20 Championship. Top-of-the range racing starts at GT level with the G50, GT4, G50Z and ultimately the Ginetta-Zytek LMP1 and LMP2 cars.

It only takes a quick dip into the PistonHeads Le Mans forum to see that hopes are riding high for a good Ginetta showing at Le Mans this weekend so, for the benefit of the army of British fans heading over to Sarthe and those left behind, we asked the man behind the company - and the wheel of the racing car – for some insights into the Ginetta campaign:

PistonHeads (PH): Lawrence, this is your 4th Le Mans – does the world’s most arduous race still induce the same excitement in you as it did in 2004?

Lawrence Tomlinson (LT): It’s a very different experience for me this year as the first time I competed I’d been racing for less than 2 years. The whole driving experience was new to me as Le Mans is a very magical place for drivers, steeped in history. But again this year I have a huge challenge on my hands in that I’ve only a driven a LMP1 car for 2 or 3 hours, and it’s a very different car from my previous GT experiences. But fabulous all the same.

PH: You recently tested the LMP1 at Silverstone –do you have any concerns about the race itself?

LT: My main concern is the weather as I’ve never driven a prototype in the wet or damp. It might seem crazy to some people that I’m here but like in 2004 you can only do the best you can do so we’ll try to keep the car out of the barriers!

PH: People are calling Team LNT for Ginetta the ‘British Underdog’. How does that make you feel?

LT: We’re certainly British - we couldn’t be any more British with a British car, British engine and British drivers, so they couldn’t be more right there. And we’re certainly at a big disadvantage to the diesel cars in terms of power so I’d agree. In the true bulldog spirit we’ll go give it our best shot!

PH: What are you hoping for at this year’s race?

LT: Of course we want a podium – who doesn’t. But I’d be very happy with a top 10 finish.

PH: How have the team prepared for this year’s Le Mans?

LT: It’s been a very last minute thing – we’ve had such demand from our new and existing customers that the Team LNT project took a back burner. In fact we only took delivery of the car a couple of weeks before SPA. So whilst it’s been very rushed we have a very strong team of people, engineers and mechanics who can adapt very easily. The car itself is designed to be easy to work on as well as being incredibly fast - remember it was on pole at Barcelona.

PH: Finally – you are the man who has given Nigel Moore arguably the biggest break in motorsport racing – how do you feel about this?

LT: Nigel has done his Ginetta apprenticeship, he won the Ginetta Junior Championship and then the Ginetta G50 Cup. He’s won GT4 races and is leading the British GT4 championship so I’d say that I recruit on talent and not age!