Ligier presents the JS P320: next generation LMP3

Ligier is the first manufacturer to present their next generation LMP3 car which will be eligible to race as from the 2020 season in the ELMS and Michelin Le Mans Cup.  The JS P320, powered by the new Nissan V8 VK56 engine went on track at Magny Cours last week for the first time.  The successor of the very succesful Ligier JSP3 will be officially unveiled on Friday June 14th at Le Mans. 

In 2015, Ligier Automotive launched the Ligier JS P3, the French constructor’s first LM P3. Easy to run, competitive and reliable, it soon attracted many clients. The Ligier JS P3 has raced all over the world and clinched no fewer than five titles in 2018: the IMSA Prototype Challenge, European Le Mans Series, LM P3 Cup, V de V Endurance Series and Asian Le Mans Series with 26 victories in 34 races. Mission accomplished for the Ligier JS P3!

In 2020, it will give way to its younger sister, the Ligier JS P320, which will race in the European Le Mans Series, the Michelin Le Mans Cup and in the Ultimate Cup Series. But the Ligier JS P3 is not retiring! It will be competing in the 2019-2020 Asian Le Mans Series, the 2020 IMSA Prototype Challenge and the 2020-2021 Australian LM P3 Cup.

The Ligier Automotive design department worked flat out to create the Ligier JS P320 after the first discussions with the Automobile Club de l’Ouest on the new LM P3 regulations.“In 2014, when we designed the Ligier JS P3, the LM P3s were not supposed to race on the 24 Hours of Le Mans circuit,” explains Nicolas Clemençon, Ligier Automotive Design Department Manager. “For the Ligier JS P320, we took this layout into account and optimised the car’s aerodynamics to make the car efficient on all the circuits. Some constructors brought out their LM P3 in 2017, three years after the Ligier JS P3. We’ve corrected the few youth weaknesses of the Ligier JS P3 and used all the knowhow accumulated with our sports prototypes in LM P2, the Ligier JS P2 and Ligier JS P217, to create an even more accomplished and competitive racer.”

With its modern hypercar look and the hollow in its nose, the Ligier trademark, the design of the Ligier JS P320 was dictated by the feedback from Ligier clients and drivers. With its 95% new bodywork, Ohlins dampers, a new more powerful Nissan V8 VK56 engine, an adapted cooling system and aerodynamics optimised for all the circuits, the Ligier JS P320’s aim is to surpass its elder sister. Olivier Jansonnie who supervised the technical direction of the project comments: “Our aim was to optimise the development of the Ligier JS P320 within the constraints of an evolution kit and a fixed budget. We focused on the fundamental parameters of performance: aerodynamic finesse, weight, cooling and damping while respecting the restrictions and freedoms imposed by the new regulations, in particular, the twin-element wing, the safety kit and the 290 km/h speed limit. We did a huge amount of work on the bodywork with the help of our partners EXA in CFD and HP Composites for the manufacturing process.”

The LM P3 teams have two options. Buy a new Ligier JS P320 for 239 000 euros excl. Taxes or transform their Ligier JS P3 into a Ligier JS P320 with the evolution kit ranging from 54 900 to 89 300 euros excl. Taxes.

The Ligier JS P320 passed the official crash test at 950 kg. It was then shaken down on the Nevers Magny-Cours circuit and did several runs with its new Nissan V8 VK56 engine last week. Additional tests are planned this week to validate some aero setups. Then it heads for the 24 Hours of Le Mans circuit where the car will be available for presentations to clients and it will be unveiled to the public on 14th June.

Richard Tur, Ligier Automotive general manager concludes: “We’re proud to present this new JS P320 with its new modern, aggressive design. Its shakedown has confirmed the quality of the huge amount of work carried out by the Ligier teams as we’ve had no problems during the track tests. We very quickly highlighted the gains we’ve made while keeping the strengths of the JS P3 that have forged its reputation, robustness and its easy running characteristics.”

Testing will continue all July and tests for prospects will take place immediately afterwards. The first deliveries are scheduled for the last three months of 2019.

Le Mans: Test Day Afternoon Session

Test Session 2

The green flag for the second session came out on time at 14:00 after a 1 hour lunch break. Within the first few minutes Kobayashi had set the fastest time thus far in the day 3:21.030 in #7 Toyota Hybrid. Meanwhile Harry Tincknell set the fastest time of the day so far in GTE Pro 3:54.032.

There was a Safety Car period at 14:20 due to the LMGTE Pro Rizi Competizione #89 Ferrari 488 driven by Oliver Jarvis that had stopped at the second chicane on the Mulsanne Straight. The procedure meant that most cars went back to pitlane. By the time the Green flag came out at 14:35, the air temperature had risen to a toasty 30.6 Centigrade

At 14:40 Cairoli in the #88 Dempsey Proton Porsche went into the gravel at exit of Mulsanne corner bringing on a slow zone for a few minutes .

At 14:45 Alonso brought down the overall fastest time again with a lap of 3:20.881.

At 14:56 Fastest lap in GTE Am for Fisichella with 3:57.862 in #54 for spirit of race Ferrari. Meanwhile there was improvement for both Toyotas. 3:20.426 for Alonso in Toyota Hybrid #8 and 3:20.586 for Kamui Kobayashi in Toyota #7.

At 14:57 there was a short Full Course Yellow to allow marshals to retrieve debris from the track.

At 15:10 the fastest non-hybrid P1 time 3:23.064 was set by Vandoorne in #11 SMP.

At 15:12 Ruberti in the #4 ByKolles pulled over and stopped at Porsche Curves.

At 15:36 the ByKolles #4 was back in pitlane and was pushed back into the garage.

At 15:37 René Binder in the #23 Ligier JS P217-Gibson fielded by Panis Barthez Compétition ran into gravel at the first chicane on the Mulsanne Straight, bringing out a local slow zone.

At 15:40 Olivier Pla in #66 Ford GT hit the tyre barrier at Tertre Rouge causing a local slow zone.

At the two hour point Tereschenko in the ARC Bratislava #49 Ligier went off at Indianapolis, but managed to rejoin the track without outside intervention. Meanwhile Nico_Lapierre in the #36 Signatech Alpine set the fastest LMP2 time 2:29.829. At this halfway stage of the session, the #7 @Toyota_Hybrid TS050 driven by López, Kobayashi and Conway had covered 84 laps, two more than the #8 sister car at the top of the time sheets. 

Status at half way:

16:10 Track temp 34.4C - Air temp 31.2

P1: #8 Toyota TS050, Toyota Gazoo Racing  3:20.426

P2: #36 Alpine A470-Gibson, Signatech Alpine Matmut  3:29.829

GTE Pro: #67 Ford GT, Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK  3:54.032

GTE Am: #54 Ferrari 488 GTE, Spirit of Race  3:58.334 

At 16:14 Oliver Gavin in the #64 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R set a time of 3:54.838, moving him up to fourth in the LMGTE Pro time sheets, just behind the #63 car. The top six in class were within a second of each other.

At 16:25 Buemi improved the time for the Toyota #8, setting a lap time of 3:20.068. After a brief Full Course yellow at 16:32 there were two significant improvements, a time of 3:29.462 fastest in LMP2 for Richelmi in #38 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca and 3:56.682 fastest time in GTE Am for Vilander in #62 WeatherTech Ferrari. Then at 16:49 Rockenfeller set the fastest time in GTE Pro 3:54.001 in the #63 Corvette.

With 1 hour remaining the track temperature had continued to rise, reaching 36.7 Centigrade. The Safety Cars were launched at 16:56 to allow recovery of the High Class Racing #20 Oreca 07 that crashed out at the Porsche curves with Andersen at the wheel. The nose of the car looked damaged. The SC period also allowed the recovery of the #77 Dempsey Proton Porsche that had stopped on the Mulsanne Straight. The slow zone at Porsche curves remained in place for some time to allow for barrier repairs until 17:22. The #20 was repaired and was seen back on track in the final half hour.

At 17:31 with less than 30 minutes to go Buemi broke 3:20 for the first time today with a time of 3:19.440 on the 99th lap of the #8 Toyota Hybrid, this remained the fastest time of the day.

There was a slow zone at Mulsanne Corner in the closing minutes for Tracy Krohn who stopped with tyre failure in #99 Dempsey Proton Porsche. The slow zone was lifted at 17:49.

At 17:52 Lotterer took the Rebellion #1 to the top of non-hybrid LMP1 field with a time of 3:21.323. 

Final top times of Test Day:

LMP1: 1st #8 Toyota Hybrid 3:19.440 2nd #7 Toyota Hybrid 3rd #1 Rebellion  

LMP2: 1st #38 Jackie Chan DC Racing 3:28.504 2nd #31  DragonSpeed  3rd #36 Signatech Alpine 

GTE Pro: 1st #63 Corvette 3:54.001 2nd #67 Ford GT 3rd #64 Corvette

GTE Am: 1st #62 WeatherTech Ferrari 3:56.862 2nd #61 Clearwater Ferrari 3rd #54 Spirit of race Ferrari 

Test day results after session 2

Dave Davies
Pictures: Kristof Vermeulen & JellyBaby.Media

Le Mans: Test Day morning session

Le Mans 2019: Test Session 1

The Test Day opened on Sunday morning under a clear blue sky and perfect conditions. It was a comfortable 20C air temperature at 9am as the light turned green a pit exit and the first cars took to the 13.626 Kilometres of the Le Mans circuit. Drivers were faced with a very 'green' track surface, particularly on the public road secions of the circuit. At the 30 minute mark the two Toyotas (predictably) topped the timing screens with relatively leasurly times of 3:23.438 for #7 and 3:27:138 for #8. 

At the one hour mark it was the #31 Dragonspeed quickest in LMP2 3:32.518 by Pastor Maldonardo. Driver of #31 Anthony Davidson: "It's more about getting the drivers up to speed and leaning how the tyres work ... in P2 it's a bit more conventional. You are working on the mechaical balance and the tyre balance. There is a lot to learn, I know the car of course buy not this car on this track ... hopefully the car will hit the ground running... the car went well last year and we have rolled those settings into today."

As Anthony pointed out, the goal of test day isn't necessarly to score bragging rights of fastest time, but to refine car settings and get drivers back in the groove. 

Will Stevens, driver of Panis Barthez Ligier #23, expected the track to improve during the day. "By this afternoon the track should be good ... today is a very important setup day".

A 4 minute Full Course Yellow was announced at 1 hour 30 into first session. As there appeared to be no cars off track, we had to assume it was a rehearsal of the FCY procedure. 

As we approached the two hour point, lap times continued to drift slowly down, with Kobayashi in #7 Toyota setting a time of 3:22.027, SMP Racing quickest non hybrid LMP1 #17 3:24.529 and most of the GTE Pro grid slipping under the 4 minute mark. 

At 10:46 there appeared to be problems for Jordan King in the #37 Jackie Chan DC racing Oreca. It was seen going slowly at the exit of the second chicane then staggered around to Arnage. There was a red flag at 10:55 that we presumed was to allow for recovery of #37 but the #95 Aston Martin was also showing as stopped on circuit after all other cars had returned to the pits. We went back to green at 11:07. The #95 Aston Martin was back in pitlane at 11:15 but not under its own power. 

By 11:20 the air temperature has risen to 24.8 Centigrade.

Our roving photographer Kristof reported that Konopka in the #49 ARC Bratislava Ligier was going slowly between 2nd chicane and Mulsanne corner. The car managed to come back to pitlane after a 23 minute lap.

At 11:49 Paul Loup Chatin in the #48 Idec Sport Oreca went off into the tyres art Indianapolis bringing out a local yellow. Chatin managed to make it back to the pits.

In the first few minutes of the final hour of the first session, Conway and Alonso traded fastest lap times with Conway putting in a lap of 3:22.027 in #7 Toyota and Alonso doing an almost identical 3:22.078.

With 45 minutes remining, Jeff Segal in the #84 JMW Motorsport Ferrari set the fastest time in GTE AM with a lap of 3:59.455.

At the top of LMP2 times at 12:30 was the 3:32.292 of Jonathan Hirschi in the Graff Racing #39 Oreca. In GTE Am it was 3:59.455 fastest lap for Jeff Segal in the #84 JMW Motorsport Ferrari.

The #10 Dragonspeed car was dogged by suspension (shock absorber) problems and only did a few laps in the session. The #37 Jackie Can DC Racing Oreca was not seen on track again in the session after its early problems.

Buemi posted the overall fastest time of 3:21.875 in Toyota #8 with 15 minutes remaining. By the end of the session at 1pm, the air temperature had reached 28.8 Centigrade.

At the chequered flag in LMP1 the Toyota Hybrid #8 was fastest with 3:21.875 from #7 Toyota and #3 Rebellion with the fastest non-hybrid time 3:23.926. In LMP2 the #22 United Autosport was fastest with 3:32.242 from #31 DragonSpeed with #39 Graff Racing in 3rd. In GTE Pro the #63 Corvette was fastest with 3:55.704 from #66 Ford & #91 Porsche. In GTE Am it was #54 Spirit of Race Ferrari fastest with 3:58.478 from #61 Clearwater Ferrari with #84 JMW motorsport Ferrari 3rd.

Morning session results

Dave Davies
Pictures: Kristof Vermeulen