[WEC] Ginetta LMP1

[DinkLv]

Originally Posted by Irie

So it appears the effort is funded entirely by Ginetta now? Only the #6 on the entry list for Fuji

It's funded fully by TRS right now. #5 only registers for Shanghai and Sebring for the rest of the season but the #6 will be present to all races. If it's funded by Ginetta then they must have the Ginetta drivers on the car, but they're not.

[S griffin]

So there should be one Ginetta at Fuji. That's good, at least they still have things in place to run at least one car for now

[Irie]

Originally Posted by DinkLv

It's funded fully by TRS right now. #5 only registers for Shanghai and Sebring for the rest of the season but the #6 will be present to all races. If it's funded by Ginetta then they must have the Ginetta drivers on the car, but they're not.

According to sportscar365 Simpson is now in the #6 together with Rowland and Brundle. Isn't he the Ginetta factory driver?
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/ginetta-lmp1-returns-in-35-car-fuji-entry-list/

[Juntos]

There is a lot of enthusiasm around an entry that is not 100% granted to take part of the event. We saw what happened at Spa. Most people think it is “see to believe” but, in WEC nowadays, it is actually “believe to see”. In science, eye witness evidence is the poorest form of proof...they tell us.

Originally Posted by DinkLv

It's funded fully by TRS right now.

Like it were supposed to be both cars in the season start and we know the end of the story. The real one, not what some media tried to lecture us.

[peebee2]

Originally Posted by DinkLv

It's funded fully by TRS right now.

Lol, of course it is. For one second at 7.03 am would empty their coffers for sure.

[sceptic]

Originally Posted by Irie

According to sportscar365 Simpson is now in the #6 together with Rowland and Brundle. Isn't he the Ginetta factory driver?
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/...ji-entry-list/

If it were all Ginetta though, wouldn't they put both of their factory drivers (Charlie Robertson being the other one) in the car?

[TF110]

Within all this talk, I really hope they have a decent race and result. Only Le Mans is on the car's record so far and it wasn't really something to write home about. Maybe the new engine helps the car but I'm not expecting miracles. If they're in contention with the Dragonspeed car I would say that's a reasonable success.

[S griffin]

I hope they get a respectable result in the next round too, just to show their efforts weren't in vain

[Irie]

Originally Posted by sceptic

If it were all Ginetta though, wouldn't they put both of their factory drivers (Charlie Robertson being the other one) in the car?

Ah didn't know about Robertson.

[TF110]

Autosport reporting that Manor has no dealing with the car now.

[DinkLv]

Originally Posted by TF110

Autosport reporting that Manor has no dealing with the car now.

Interesting.

[Akrapovic]

Let's be honest...it's not a huge surprise.

I think there's a lot of weird and unanswered questions right now, that may not get shaken out. The engine saga was blamed on the customer - Ginetta said the arrangement was a customer choice, not a Ginetta choice (although they then publically slated the engine anyway). So now Manor isn't in the picture, are TRSM calling the engine shots, or are Ginetta?

This also explains why we're down to one car. They said they were ready for Silverstone but denied an entry for what amounted to admin reasons. So you'd expect them to be ready with two cars for Fuji, but only one has turned up. Seems that the switched effort has cost them a car.

That car better perform or the project is pretty doomed. They wanted to sell 10 cars, but now it's essentially a factory effort, and they've already swapped to an engine that's known to perform well (although it does have a habit of exploding). So if the car is off the pace then I can't see many customers opting for it.

[TF110]

We'll have to watch for the branding and advertising on the car at Fuji. Maybe get a clearer picture of who's funding this effort.

[TheMightyM]

The most interesting part of the Autosport story is probably this:

A pair of Ginettas were entered in the opening three rounds of the WEC, although it has now emerged that the two-car entry was only confirmed with the series for Spa, Le Mans and then Silverstone.

That explains why a single G60-LT-P1, to be driven by Oliver Rowland, Alex Brundle and Mike Simpson, is on the entry for the Fuji 6 Hours on October 14.

It was always planned that the additional car for the first three races would be funded by Ginetta.

This whole situation is clear as mud, but it sounds like Ginetta was secretly paying for the second car in hopes that someone would step up and fund it for the rest of the season and/or Ginetta could sell more cars based upon its performance.

Of course, this also raises the question why the Ginetta-funded car didn’t race at Spa…

[gert]

Originally Posted by TheMightyM

The most interesting part of the Autosport story is probably this:

This whole situation is clear as mud, but it sounds like Ginetta was secretly paying for the second car in hopes that someone would step up and fund it for the rest of the season and/or Ginetta could sell more cars based upon its performance.

Of course, this also raises the question why the Ginetta-funded car didn’t race at Spa…

Good point. They could have parked the other car citing "mechanical issues of some sort / new car gremlins" and still have raced their own car. That wouldn't have hurt their credibility or their performance at Le Mans.

[FormulaFox]

Originally Posted by gert

Good point. They could have parked the other car citing "mechanical issues of some sort / new car gremlins" and still have raced their own car. That wouldn't have hurt their credibility or their performance at Le Mans.

If they were trying to keep this arrangement out of the public eye(highly likely since were bother were still entered under the Manor name), it makes sense to park the car they funded as well; It maintains the cover regarding them funding one of the cars.

The real question is WHY engage in this ruse? Nobody's going to question a manufacturer running their own car in an effort to prove it's worth to prospective customers, but parking both cars for the cover-up reason provided can easily make their product look bad(Regardless of actual quality).

[TF110]

If Ginetta was going to fund the second car for the first 3 races, maybe they figured since the car didn't get to feature at all until Le Mans they wanted to show their product to make it sell in the future. This is possibly why they decided to continue on with their funding for just the one car the rest of the season. I think they should put their best efforts forth with the single entry to appeal to anyone looking to run it in a team.

[S griffin]

So will Ginetta now take full control of the team?

[TheMightyM]

Originally Posted by S griffin

So will Ginetta now take full control of the team?

Apparently yes and no.

Yes: It would seem that Ginetta will be the entity responsible for actually running the car.

No: Per Autosport:

The WEC entry for the TRSM CEFC Racing team is held by a company called TRSM China Motorsport, of which [Manor sporting director Graeme] Lowdon is the sole director.

Manor was contracted to run the car(s).

And:

Lowdon is understood to have handed over his responsibilities as TRSM's official representative with the WEC to a TRS employee.

TRS is a Chinese promotion company that is responsible for getting the funding to run the full-season car. So even if Ginetta decided to run a car full-season, they seemingly don’t control the WEC entry. It's also uncertain to what degree the entry going forward is contingent upon Chinese (or other non-Ginetta) money.

[TzeiTzei]

I just don't see the logic in this.

[Bcarr6]

Originally Posted by TzeiTzei

I just don't see the logic in this.

It’s all nuts, but Ginetta have clearly realised they have two options-

1- run and fund the car themselves
2- don’t run the car and waste every penny they have invested in the programme so far.

If they can’t show their performance soon they have no chance of selling cars

[S griffin]

I think it’s now or never in Fuji then

[TF110]

Fuji and Shanghai. They're so close together and the Asian market could be a good place to shine since the sponsor or investors home market is in the area.

[Columbus]

Met an ex-Ginetta insider at a motorsport event last weekend who reckons the LMP1 dream was doomed from the start and the penny (several hundred million of them) has finally dropped at Ginetta HQ. Key sales, marketing and PR personnel have departed since Le Mans and the LMP1 has virtually disappeared from Ginetta’s website and social media.

Sadly, I fear the Ginetta LMP1 is more likely to join LMP3 and GT3 in the company mausoleum than race again in WEC.

[LC2guy]

Sadly, i totally agree with this sentiment. As the entire WEC grid was Containered up and shipped straight after Silverstone, if Ginetta are to be present at Fuji, they'd have needed to arrange Air Freight after their initial testing in the UK, so even more expense. A real shame.