Greaves Motorsport stays with Zytek for 2012 Le Mans challenge
Mikko Jalonen, Le Mans/WEC Correspondent
#41 Greaves Motorsport Zytek Z11SN - Nissan: Karim Ojjeh, Tom Kimber-Smith, Olivier Lombard
Daniel James Smith
LM P2 champion team to run 2012 Zytek chassis as they aim to defend their titles
Greaves Motorsport, the winning LM P2 team at the 2011 24 Hours of Le Mans, while finishing eighth overall in the prestigious endurance June classic event, is set to win more races with Zytek as they announced today they will keep their winning combination.
The team secured the Le Mans Series LM P2 class championship this year while their drivers also took home the Le Mans Series drivers’ championship. Today the team has announced they will continue their partnership with Zytek, Dunlop and Nissan. They were looking at other chassis manufacturers but elected to stay with their proven combination for the 2012 season.
We are looking forward to going racing once again with Zytek in 2012.
Team Manager, Jacob Greaves was extremely happy and pleased to continue the partnership with Zytek Motorsport. “We spent a lot of time and effort in examining all the potential candidates but it soon became clear that continuing the partnership with Zytek was the best course of action, particularly in view of our programme for 2012. We have a lot of experience with the basic package and feel that Zytek will be best placed to optimise the effects of the proposed chassis and aerodynamic rule changes that have been mandated by the ACO. We are looking forward to going racing once again with Zytek in 2012.”
At the 2012 Le Mans 24 hours race the team will run two cars to defend the LM P2 win and they will run a single entry to defend their Le Mans Series championship crown. Adding to their plans for next year, the team will participate in the FIA (Federation Internationale de L’Automobile) World Endurance Championship; which is a takeoff of the former Intercontinental Le Mans Cup managed by the ACO (Automobile Club de L’Quest). The two organizations formed their new partnership this past June for the future of sportscar endurance racing. The WEC’s first race will be the Twelve Hours of Sebring in March of 2012.
The team has also announced to continue its long term run with the Ojjeh family. While Mme Renate Ojjeh was pleased to confirm her long term support of the Greaves Motorsport and endurance sportscar racing by purchasing the new LM P2 chassis of Zytek. The new chassis will be used by Greaves Motorsport in their campaign next year for the Le Mans challenge and the WEC events. Greaves Motorsport also acquired the 2011 Zytek and two Nissan engines from Mme Renate Ojjeh. Karim Ojjeh, the team driver for many years announced his retirement earlier this season, which made it a nice gift for for the team that the Ojjeh family will still support their racing efforts. The team will use the 2011 car for its test programme and to support the team’s race schedule in 2012.
Jacob Greaves was obviously delighted for the decision of Renate and Ojjeh family to support Greaves Racing. “I am delighted that Renate has decided to continue to go racing with Greaves Motorsport in 2012. She has been an important part of the team over the past two seasons and certainly has been a factor in our success. We look forward to building on our 2011 results and repeating them, if possible, in 2012.”
Greaves Motorsport, formerly known as Team Bruichladdich, was able to taste the championship for the first time this season starting with their first wins before they took the Le Mans 24 Hour victory. Earning the Le Mans Series championship has given them the desire to continue their current programme. The team was running the Radical SR9 in 2009 with mixed results and changed to Ginetta-Zytek the next year. However, the 2010 was a mixed year as well with Acura ARX01s and Lola B08/80s mostly outpacing the Ginetta-Zytek. This year the team hit the jackpot and only the future will tell what is going to happen but it definitely looks very bright for the Greaves Motorsport team.
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