Formula 2 Ace Ghiotto to Drive Ginetta LMP1 at Fuji

FIA Formula 2 Championship front-runner Luca Ghiotto has been added to Team LNT’s LMP1 driver lineup for next month’s 6 Hours of Fuji.

The Italian will share the No. 5 Ginetta G60-LT-P1 AER with Ben Hanley and Egor Orudzhev in the second round of the 2019-20 FIA World Endurance Championship.

Ghiotto effectively replaces Charlie Robertson in the No. 5 entry, with the Ginetta-contracted Scot moving over to the team’s No. 6 car as a substitute for Chris Dyson.

Trans-Am title contender Dyson, who missed the season-opener due to injury, is unable to travel to Japan because the event clashes with his racing commitments in North America.

Robertson will co-drive the No. 6 Ginetta with Mike Simpson and Guy Smith, forming an all-British lineup.

24-year-old Ghiotto arrives from a purely open wheel-based background, having raced in various Formula Renault series before graduating to the Formula 1 ladder.

He has raced in the second-highest tier of FIA open-wheel racing since 2016 and is currently having his best season so far, sitting third in the drivers’ championship.

Ghiotto tested the Ginetta LMP1 car during the WEC pre-season test at Circuit de Catalunya, where he set the fastest time out of the eight drivers to suit up for LNT.

“We’re delighted that Luca can join us in Japan, he’s a real talent and loved the car at the Prologue but was unable to join the team at Silverstone as he had a clashing F2 fixture,” said Ginetta chairman Lawrence Tomlinson.

“Combining his talents with those of Ben and Egor will, I’m sure, help to unlock even more of the potential of the Ginetta AER on a circuit that will suit a car with good top speed.

“And with three very good drivers in the #6 Ginetta AER too we are going to be looking for a very strong result in our very first flyaway race with the new cars.”