LMP3: Four manufacturers announced for next gen LMP3 cars

Since it's introduction in 2015, the LMP3 class has been a huge succes story with over 150 cars that have been built up to today. The goal of the LMP3 series waswas to facilitate access to the discipline with affordable cars and enable drivers and teams to progress to gain a footing on the endurance ladder. French talent Thomas Laurent is has excelled in this, moving from LMP3 in 2016 to LMP1 in 2018. 

The main objective for the next generation of LMP3 cars remains the same; to act as a springboard to attain the pinnacle of the ACO Endurance pyramid.  From the first 5 cars in the opening race of the 2015 European Le Mans Series, now LMP3 cars can be seen in a dozen different series, all over the globe. Among them are the European Le Mans Series, Asian Le Mans Series, Michelin Le Mans Cup, Road to Le Mans, LMP3 British Cup, V de V, lMSA Prototype Challenge, Gulf 12 Hours and the FRD LMP3 Series.

When LMP3 was introduced back in 2015, a precise set of specifications were submitted to the candidate manufacturers. For the second generation from 2020 to 2024, selection has focused on cost control, driver-friendly operation, modernisation, guaranteed service to the teams and closer competitiveness between the various models. Four manufacturers have been chosen: Onroak Automotive - Ligier, Duqueine Automotive - Norma, Ginetta and Adess.

The future LMP3s will be based on existing cars equipped with a kit chiefly designed to improve engine power and driver safety in the cockpit, while leaving room for some body modifications. The cost of a new car and the kit will be published shortly. The future of LMP3 begins today. The future of endurance too.

Compared to the selected manufacturers for the first generation LMP3's, Ave/Riley and Dome aren't selected anymore.  Ave/Riley only managed to get one car to race in the IMSA Prototype Challenge, the Dome never made it any further than the drawing board.  For Ginetta it's a bit of a return to the series, as they stopped production ... after some hick-ups with Oreca in the past. 

Pierre Fillon, President of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest: “To ensure continuity, we needed to form solid foundations and build up a talent pool of new drivers with a feeder series that enables novices to take their first steps in endurance, and gain race experience without breaking the bank. LMP3 seemed an obvious solution. And it has proved to be a sound decision.”

ELMS 2017: Norma presents the M30 LMP3

After months of hard work in the conception of the brand new LMP3, the Norma M30, the car was on track last week at French race tracks Pau and Nogaro, two circuits close to the Norma Auto Concept factory in the South of France.

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As announced, French Endurance World Champion and winner of the last 24 Hours of Le Mans with Porsche LMP1, Romain Dumas was the very first driver to take the wheel and complete the very first tests of the Norma M30 LMP3. These ended up being very successful and clearly responding to the ambitious requirements of Norbert Santos (Norma Auto Concept Founder) and his team.

A first Norma M30 LMP3 was sent to Florida (USA), where it will prepare Sebring on different racetracks. Within a few days, additional other Norma M30's will be delivered to the teams preparing European races and championships, such as VdeV Championship and European Le Mans Series.

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Norbert Santos was happy and proud to finally see his new car on track: "Most of all I am proud of the full Norma team that worked so hard in the last months and also happy for our partners who are engaged in that great project from the beginning." The car was supposed to be finished by the end of 2016, but only came on track for the first time last week. "When you build a brand new car from scratch, you have to be precautionary and respect the objectives of quality you have set to start with. Ours were very important. Yes, we are a little late compared to our initial calendar, but we did respect our ambitious objectives. At Norma Auto Concept, we have always privileged quality, performance and safety to quantity of cars to be sold. It’s true, we wanted to put the car on track earlier, but our will to reach the highest level of performance and reliability and to offer a car that rapidity suits the exigencies of the teams was stronger. Romain Dumas completed the first test sessions, and it clearly looks like we are on the right path to obtain competitiveness and consistency, thus matching our goals, in the very near future."

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Demands are high for the new LMP3 prototype, with more orders than production capacity in the short term. The priority for Santos and his team is to deliver the cars that have been ordered first. So far, more than ten cars have to be delivered by the end of April.  Norma will be present on eacht ELMS and VdeV race to support their clients. At the end of the day, the goal is to see the Norma M30 on the podiums in all the championships on every continent. For other championship all teams can count on a well organised assistance to supply a quality service to them.

Romain Dumas tested the car in France on the Nogaro and Pau racetracks in the South of France last week: "These tests were great and very positive, I can’t say any other way. The car’s reliability is just exemplary and impressive. We run without any stops in order to find possible youthful mistakes. In addition, even if I knew the full project and the ambitions of Norma, I was really impressed and surprised to see the high quality of finish of the car."

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"I was stunned about how the car feels. The front-end of the M30 reminded me the one of the LMP2s a few years ago. It has a wonderful mechanical grip and we did not experience any traction issues, whether with new or old tires." "I am very very happy to have been able to discover Norbert’s car. He has said so much about it, and we have talked it over and over, that I feel very close to it too. Now it's here and I am sure the car will have the success it deserves.

The Norma M30 LMP3’s first official race will take place in Sebring, Florida (USA) and soon after in Barcelona Spain on the first VdeV championship and the European Le Mans Series in Silverstone.

Kristof Vermeulen.