The
pair of Ginetta – AER LMP1s were on the pace all weekend. Prior to the race
they beat the two factory Toyotas to second and third on the grid, making for
the first-ever front-row start in a World Championship race for Ginetta with
the #6, piloted by factory drivers Charlie Robertson and Mike Simpson.
At the start of the race, the Ginettas drove away from the Toyotas and
Rebellion the #6 driven by Charlie Robertson gapping the non-Ginettas by almost
20 secs before the first pit stop. Ben Hanley meanwhile, driving the sister #5
car, sat in a solid second place behind.
During the first hour the Ginettas set
the fastest & second fastest lap times of the race. Robertson, with a
1:48.428 on lap 2, went almost 1.3 seconds faster than the best lap from the Rebellion
and over 1.7 seconds faster than the fastest lap achieved by any of the
Toyotas.
Ben Hanley in the sister #5 Ginetta,
his 1:49.235 lap on lap 4, was also well clear of anything achieved elsewhere
in the field. Both Ginettas showing they had the race pace to win.
The Ginettas continued
to fight at the front after the first pit stops but drive-through penalties
into the second hour for both cars saw them become part of the chasing pack
thereafter.
At the end
of the 4 Hours of Shanghai the #5 Ginetta of Ben Hanley, Egor Orudzhev and team
debutant Jordan King would come home fourth overall, just ahead of the sister
#6 car of Charlie Robertson, Mike Simpson and Guy Smith that completed the top
five.
Ginetta Cars Chairman
Lawrence Tomlinson said:
“Ginetta have proven our on-track race
speed and reliability again in China with both cars.
“Team LNT have been
working hard playing catching up, this is race 3, season 1 for us, and there is
still lots to learn as a team … for others, they’ve finished the whole box
set including season 8!
“We’ve been concentrating on the
cars’ performance and reliability, we have that now and can work on the in-race
performance of the team itself. I’m incredibly proud to have both Ginettas lead
1 & 2 in the highest level of sportscar racing and both set the races
fastest laps.
“Congratulations to the
Rebellion-Gibson & Hugues (de Chaunac), they ran a faultless race.
Norman Nato’s start now looks like a stroke of genius. Hopefully we can
start from pole next time and return the favour!
“We’ll take the time before the next
race in Bahrain to look carefully at what we can do to translate our pace and
reliability into even better race results.”
The next race for the
Team LNT Ginettas is the 8 Hours of Bahrain on 14 December, round four of the
2019/20 FIA World Endurance Championship.
