Team LNT boss Lawrence Tomlinson has ruled out the possibility of the Ginetta LMP1 factory program continuing to race in the FIA World Endurance Championship after 2020.
Ginetta entered a pair of G60-LT-P1 – AERs in the WEC’s top category for the 2019/20 campaign, debuting at the 4 Hours of Silverstone. The two cars struggled to match the hybrid Toyotas and the lone car entered by Rebellion Racing, and skipped Lone Star Le Mans in February for the cars to undergo significant planned maintenance.
The team has since downsized its entry for the 24 Hours of Le Mans to a single car, and will also not compete at the upcoming Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps and the season finale in Bahrain.
When asked by Motorsport.com if Tomlinson was considering running the factory effort into 2021, he explained that he is not interested in running the factory program for a second year.
“In terms of racing the cars ourselves in the WEC, that ship has sailed,” Tomlinson said. “I do things that make me money or make me happy, and racing in the WEC does neither.”
Tomlinson went on to explain that the G60-LT-P1 has gone significant upgrades since the car last raced in Bahrain, but stated that he prioritized a test ahead of Le Mans over racing at Spa.
“The sensible thing is to do a test ahead of Le Mans to try out all the upgrades and work we have done to the car.”
“We’ve rebuilt the cars front to back and upgraded them in key areas.”
The Ginetta boss also explained why the two cars would not be appearing in Bahrain, explaining that the season finale in Sakhir ‘makes no sense.’
“Even if you come through Le Mans unscathed, the cars will have done 30 hours of running and will need a full rebuild,” Tomlinson said.
“Then you are sending them to the Middle East in November when the new season starts in mid-March next year, and you’d want to come back to Europe in between.”
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