GINETTA UNVEILS ‘LMP2 BEATER’

Ginetta’s new G57 sportscar is capable of being up to three seconds per lap faster than an LMP2 machine, according to company head Lawrence Tomlinson.

The Leeds firm lifted the covers off its new sportsprototype during last week’s Autosport Show. The new car is based on Ginetta’s LMP3 design, but with upgraded aero, chassis tweaks and a new 580bhp 6.2-litre Chevrolet LS7 engine.

The first cars are likely to race in the European Vdev sportscar class, with Ginetta in talks to field a works team in the championship.

Tomlinson said he saw a big future for the G57: “The G57 is a groundbreaking car for us because we always wanted to do a carbon-tubbed car and this one breaks the mould.

“We’ve put thousands of kilometres of testing onto the components already and the car feels great to drive. We’ve done the chassis, the aero, the engine – everything in-house so it shows our full range of abilities.

“We want it to be three seconds faster than an LMP2 car around the Silverstone GP circuit, and we can definitely achieve that.”

Tomlinson added that he expected the G57 not to be a limited production run. He said: “When we introduced the G50 and G55 they weren’t homologated GT3 and GT4 cars and people said what will we do with them. Now look where they are. I see the G57 growing in the same way.”