Ginetta, the provider of the UK’s most extensive ladder of racing opportunities from track day experiences through to world championship racing, today announced a scheme to offer an aspiring driver the chance to claim a fully-fledged professional racing contract as a factory development driver.
The opportunity to join the rarefied ranks of professional racing drivers will be by invitation to selected competitors who take up a grid slot on any of Ginetta’s 2020 championships or race a Ginetta in any other series anywhere in the world. The top 3 championship finishers in the Ginetta G55 Supercup will be guaranteed a place in the evaluation that will take place at the end of the 2020 season.
As the UK’s best-established provider of single-make racing, Ginetta annually manages 160 competitors every season contesting four single make championships in six Ginetta designed and manufactured GT car variants, while Ginetta cars annually challenge for honours in series around the globe. As the definitive pathway to motor racing success, the Ginetta’s alumni populate championships across the world, not least Formula 1 & LMP1 and today’s announcement augments the company’s deserved reputation for continuously exploring and opening new pathways into the sport.
The award will provide the selected candidate with a full-time position as a Ginetta factory development driver, with access to, and development responsibilities for the full suite of Ginetta race cars. These include the entry level G40 to Ginetta’s renowned prototypes including the company’s peerless new P3 customer car and the factory LMP1 car that currently contests the 2019/20 World Endurance Championship.
Ginetta’s Chairman, Lawrence Tomlinson, said, “Motor racing can be a difficult sport to penetrate. We firmly believe in breaking down these barriers at Ginetta and opening up more ways for people to get on track, whether for the very first time at a track day, or by providing a step-up for talented youngsters with our Junior scholarship programme. Today’s announcement overcomes another of these hurdles for progressing drivers seeking to join the elite ranks of paid, professional racers.”
The development role will be mentored by Ginetta’s two LMP1 factory drivers, Charlie Robertson and Mike Simpson, and will give the winning candidate full access to all of Ginetta’s driver development facilities that include the SIMTrack suite, providing over 100 race circuit layouts and a comprehensive array of virtual race cars from single seaters to GT cars as well as a variety of cockpit and gearbox options.
In addition to access to the simulator facilities, the development role will benefit from use of Ginetta’s own test track facilities at Blyton Park, the fast, flowing 2.57km circuit that can be configured in 10 different ways to simulate a variety of training contexts. These facilities, together with the company’s dedicated track day school, Want2Race, not only provides the essential infrastructure to improve the driving capability of the award winner, but also to provide an environment for the winner to develop their own driver coaching and mentoring skills.
The full-time salaried position includes a supported season’s drive with a Ginetta customer team for the 2021 season, with the appointment made on the strength of a series of competitive evaluations that will take place at the end of the 2020 season.