There will be another new name on the WEC grid in 2018 with the news that Ginetta are to build an LMP1 car.
With Audi leaving the sport and Rebellion moving down to the LMP2 class this year, the top category of the World Endurance Championship has been left looking a little thin, with only Porsche, Toyota and ByKolles fielding LMP1 entries in 2017.
That looks like being a temporary situation though, as British constructor Ginetta have announced that they will be building 10 brand-new LMP1 chassis ready to race in the WEC and at Le Mans for 2018. The cars will not be factory run efforts but will be made available for privateer teams to run, unsurprisingly, in the LMP1-Privateer class.
Ginetta is a small-volume manufacturer with its origins way back in the 1950s, but in recent years new owners have seen the brand expand rapidly throughout the motorsport world with successful GT and LMP3 programmes.
The new LMP1 cars will have aerodynamic input from Adrian Reynard, whose company was one of the most successful racing car manufacturers of all time with wins in a variety of categories (although the less said about their F1 involvement with BAR, the better).
Ginetta will join current LMP1 Privateers ByKolles, and will also be joined by Russian constructor BR Engineering, who are collaborating with Dallara to build an LMP1 car for the SMP Racing team.
With neither having support from a major car manufacturer though it looks like it’ll only be Porsche and Toyota in the expensive Hybrid class for the foreseeable future, as the current regulations there are staying the same until the end of 2019.