‘The Unaffordability of F1 is Off-putting. Young Drivers Now Dream of Gt Racing'

What to do next when you’ve built a successful sports car company? Battle Porsche at the very top of endurance racing.

- Lawrence Tomlinson

LAWRENCE TOMLINSON HAS the calm, confident air of the man who backed the right horse. Actually, he didn’t just back it, he also bred it, trained it, selected the jockey and organised the race. Tomlinson, the owner of Ginetta since 2005, is a hugely successful man. None of that success seems to be down to luck.

So now that he’s announced that Ginetta is stepping up into the biggest league in his chosen sport, you need to take him seriously. From 2018, three teams will be competing in LMP1, the top class of the World Endurance Championship and the Le Mans 24 Hours, in Ginettas.

‘This Thursday, we’re watching engines on the dyno,’ says Tomlinson of the project’s progress. ‘Then to the wind tunnel. Track testing should start in August. The target is podiums in year one. There aren’t that many cars in LMP1, and there are a lot of factors: the weather, the mechanics, the drivers.’