Ginetta Pushing to Help Kickstart GT2 in North America

Photo: Andrew Miterko/SRO

Ginetta has been pushing to help grow the GT2 grid in GT America powered by AWS, having held direct conversations with rival manufacturers Mercedes-AMG and Maserati to create a concerted effort to jumpstart the platform in North America.

While GT2 has been an eligible class in SRO America’s single driver, FIA Bronze-rated-enforced sprint series for a number of years, it has seen sporadic participation from entrants, despite drivers such as CJ Moses, Dan Knox and others owning and having previously raced their GT2 machinery.

SRO’s dedicated GT2 European Series, meanwhile, has been on the rise, with a record 22-car grid at its season opener at Misano this year, prompted at least in part to the evolving nature of customer GT racing globally according to Ginetta chairman Lawrence Tomlinson.

The former class winner at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and chairman of the LNT Group has been racing his Ginetta G56 GT2 in GT America since the the third event of the season at Sebring International Raceway, in an effort to not only promote the brand but also showcase the accessibility to go racing with a GT2 car.

“I know that Stephane Ratel and the organization want to increase the number of GT2 cars globally,” Tomlinson told Sportscar365. “We’re running the project in Europe and it’s very successful.

“I think these are sort of the cars, on the GT America grid, are just amazing.

“You’ve got the SRO3s and I think the GT2 is the perfect complement. You get the Ginetta, the Mercedes, the Maserati’s here, it’s all very exciting cars for the teams to run and the fans to see.

“It makes great TV and I think it would work very well with the SRO3 grid.”

While initially aligning with Dollahite Racing to operate the car at Sebring, Tomlinson and Ginetta Motorsport CEO Mike Simpson have gone on their own in recent races, running out of a modest trailer to showcase what could be possible for potential customers.

“The GT2 car is not really as complicated as a GT3,” said Tomlinson. “These are just some guys from the factory. It’s an arrive-and-drive kind of thing. We’ve come in this [modest] trailer here with a few spare parts.

“GT2 is good because you don’t have any refueling or tire changes in session. They’re 40-minute [races], all Bronze drivers. It’s great.”

GT3’s Uncertainty Could Fuel GT2 Participation from Customers

Simpson, a former professional driver in his own right, says he feels that the uncertainty over the long-term future of GT3, amid SRO Motorsports Group founder and CEO Stephane Ratel’s recent comments on the escalation of the platform, could make GT2 the next destination for gentlemen drivers.

“There’s this feeling in Europe and the rest of the Europe that GT3 is on a verge of a decline,” he said. “The costs are going through the roof.

“Everything’s on quarter-turns for the rear-end to come off. The cars are going no quicker but you look at a 1 million Euros plus for a car.

“Stephane is always thinking more than five years [ahead]. GT4, he saw that coming, and I think he generally feels now is the time for GT2.

“It’s probably half the price of a GT3. It can easily run the same performance, if not more, and when the manufacturers start to pull back because of the automotive world or the Chinese EVs into Europe… it could be the heyday for GT2.”

Tomlinson added: “All the large German manufacturers are losing out in the Chinese market and are struggling. GT3 is a very expensive program.

“I think Stephane is looking into GT2 as a less expensive program. The cars are simpler and easier to run.

“I’m 63 next year and I’m in great form running [alongside the] GT3 cars. It’s exciting and it’s just not an overly complicated car. Teams don’t need the personnel. The Ginetta is half-a-million dollars, as opposed to a million dollars for a GT3.”

Simpson said the running costs of the Ginetta GT2 car is in line with its G56 GT4 Evo.

Ginetta Encouraging Mercedes-AMG, Maserati to Invest in GT2 in North America

While several of its GT2 cars currently compete in SRO’s dedicated GT2 European series, Simpson said he’s hopeful of finding customers for GT America, while also attracting Bronze drivers from other brands.

A total of nine models have so far been homologated for GT2 competition, including the Mercedes-AMG GT2, Maserari MC20 GT2, KTM X-Bow GT2 and Audi R8 LMS GT2, in addition to the Ginetta and recently announced Ligier JS2 RS.

Simpson said they currently have six Ginetta GT2s built, with four of them already sold.

“We’re trying to get more,” he said. “We need more cars in the U.S. To bring a car from Europe and race here, it’s an expensive program.

“You need critical mass for it to grow. I was chatting heavily at the last round of the European GT2 with Mercedes and Maserati, trying to encourage them to bring more.

“Mercedes has said they’ve sold a lot of cars but they’re not racing. We’re pushing hard to get the other manufacturers to come.

“For GT America specifically, as it’s Bronze only, the BoP can change away from the main GT World Challenge.

“If they allow GT2 and GT3 to exploit their performance and achieve a certain lap time, I think that would give them a much more diverse grid. People want that. They want diversity.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John