LMP3 is the newest rung on the Le Mans ladder and is designed to give amateur drivers prototype experience on the road to the 24 Hours. But is the car right for that task?
The entire concept of LMP3 revolves around one simple basic principle - accessibility.
This new wave of 'baby' Le Mans racers has been designed to be the first step on the ladder towards top-flight sportscar racing, and the holy grail that is the 24 Hours itself.
The cars are built largely around their intended amateur drivers, which usually bolster their teams both in terms of driver gradings for the intended Pro-Am nature of the racing, and financially.
LMP3 cars therefore must be friendlier to handle than they look. They must be comfortable, controllable and not bite the driver at the first hint of an error. If they were not, what 'Am' would ever want to race one?
"Amateur drivers are a big part of endurance racing," says Richard Dean, whose United Autosports squad is the UK agent for French giant Ligier. "In classes like the European Le Mans Series, the Ams have to do the lion's share of the driving, and titles are won and lost on your bronze-graded driver. So the cars must be accessible by nature, of the formula falls over."
In an effort to prove this theory, United Autosports offered me a go at Snetterton. Me. A near-total novice. Aside from holding a National B licence and taking part in the odd production saloon, Radical or GT4 test, my experience barely qualifies me to have such a chance.
Unlike many of the top drivers currently competing in the formula, I don't have a single single-seater race on my CV, let alone a few seasons of F3 experience to call upon. Surely this would be out of my league...
Add into that the fact that after two weeks of what finally resembled summer, it was a soaking wet day in Norfolk, with pools of water clinging to the track. And I was about to handle something faster and more powerful than anything I've ever driven.
At first glance the trio of Ligier JS P3s look stunning, and highly intimidating. With the rear engine covers off exposing the five-litre 420bhp Nissan V8s, the large front dive planes and intricate splitters, and the tight confines of the carbon fibre cockpit, it really brings home the reality of the situation - as does the noise.
Engines firing in unison, the garage is a cacophony of exhaust note.
"We come to Snetterton as it's easier to get unrestricted noise testing," says Dean. "Most tracks only give you 105db, these tick over at 110."
First job: get in the thing. Second job: try not to panic.
Getting in is actually more dignified than many racing cars. You sit on the side of the chassis then rotate your legs up and into the cockpit before sliding your bum down into the seat. The Ligier uses a low-slung seating position, similar to a formula car, with your legs raised like you're in a bathtub.
The interior is far more utilitarian than luxurious, with bare carbon enveloping you in what at first feels a claustrophobic cabin. There's only a basic switchboard and some wiring for company. The steering wheel comprises an easy-to-read digital display with gear, speed and RPM information, and there's little else to distract you.
Seat fitting over, it's time for a briefing. My mentor for the day is ex-British F3 racer Christian England, who handles the car in the European Le Mans Series.
He walks me through the controls and basic prototype driving hints. That sorted, and a few hours wasted waiting for the track to dry and resemble something remotely drivable, and we're good to go.
Just before the door slams shut, a final word of what passes for encouragement from Dean: "We've only ever given one other driver their first P3 test in the wet, and he was one of our pros and came back in saying he felt in over his head, so it's OK to be shitting yourself."
For the purpose of the test day the cars are pushed out of the garage and then fired up on pit exit. As the crew gets the car rolling and I wrestle to get the Ligier lined up correctly, I'm given the signal to go. Dump the clutch, hit the green 'engine start' button and...
The Nissan VK50 V8 engine originates from the Japanese brand's top-line 4x4s, but via tuning from ORECA it is transformed from luxury cruiser to something more akin to a cruise missile. When it comes on-song the sound is glorious and the vibrations hit you right in the chest.
After the customary 'first timer' stall trying to pull away on low revs, I'm off. The nerves subside about as quickly as the garages in the mirrors.
The hulking, intimidating machine in the garage is suddenly transformed into a precise and reassuring racer by the time I've rounded Riches. On the move the car feels nowhere near as big as it looks. Instead it feels tight and connected and remarkably responsive.
"Everybody who drives the P3 for the first time can't believe the front-end on it, it's real precise, finger-tip stuff," says England. "The biggest adaption is always the brakes. You never hit them hard enough at first and it takes a while to adapt to the pressure to stop overshooting apexes."
The JS P3 is a real back-to-basics driver's car, with no ABS or traction control, leaving all of the key inputs up to the driver. A squeeze of the brakes with my left foot soon tells me I'd better stay traditional and use my right as the car doesn't scrub enough speed off into Agonstini.
I run too deep, have to turn in to avoid the grass and wait for the back end to pendulum on me, but it never happens. The front-end simply bites around the outside line and off we go. Remarkably calmly.
The front-end grip and response is unlike anything I've ever driven. Corners like Riches are taken with a slight turn of the wheel, and any movement is followed with an instant response. The Ligier makes you feel connected.
The engine is integral to the neat package. Being naturally aspirated and tuned for torque over outright power, it pulls at any stage of the rev range. Exiting Williams and getting on the power brings an adrenaline rush as the boot in the back arrives.
There's no waiting for turbos to spool, the acceleration is instant and you bang through the gears much faster than an amateur probably should on their first run, but the chassis always gives you the confidence that nothing could go wrong when you bury the throttle.
The kick in the back whenever you pull a paddle to shift a gear in the X-trac six-speed sequential gearbox is more than a little addictive and the cocktail of noise, speed and sensation is frankly a little euphoric.
Through the corners the car behaves very serenely when you're smooth, and more violently when not. It likes calm steering and throttle input, and dislikes mid-corner fiddling. More than once I got a slide on during corner exit by being a bit too keen on the loud pedal. The key is patience to avoid breaking traction.
The chassis also rides kerbs particularly well, with the suspension willing to ride the bumps. However dipping the rear-left onto the wet kerbing at Murrays isn't advisable.
The chassis gives good feedback, but in the wet the line between 'everything's fine' and 'good luck mate' is remarkably slim. It tried to break away from me once or twice with little warning, but after the initial rebellion was quite happy to play along at the second attempt.
A perfect 360 out of the final turn was relatively easy to catch before continuing knowing that even if something did go wrong, there's enough wriggle room to work your way out of it.
While the Ligier is simple to jump in and drive, finding the best lap times from it is notoriously tough. Having never raced an aero-dependant car before, learning to trust the chassis through high-speed turns takes a lot of time as you have to adjust your mind to think beyond just the basic mechanical grip sticking you to the track.
Ligier worked hard to find an optimal balance between downforce and drag, meaning the JS P3 can corner like an F3 car, and pull like a GT3 down the straights.
As the track dried the best example of this was down the Bentley Straight. Running on the Michelin wet tyres used in the ELMS, when you approach the top end of fifth gear you can feel the car beginning to bob around slightly as the aero pressure forces the tyre tread to move about. It's never unsettling, but probably time for slicks. Sadly my time was up, and all that is left is a trundle back to the pits and a debrief with Dean.
"People see a big, scary sportscar, but LMP3 has been designed with amateur drivers in mind," Dean says. "The overriding emotion with it for any driver on their first go is sheer enjoyment. Everybody loves the sensation of it, the speed of it, the fact you have power in every gear at any revs.
"It's a real prototype for sensible money and it gives drivers that buzz. It has enough aero that it that makes you want to drive it more and get closer to the limits.
"Amateur drivers love the comfort and the fact you can jump in and drive at a decent pace relatively easily, whereas the pros love the fact that getting those final tenths out of it is a real challenge."
If you dream of Le Mans one day and the experience of a real sportscar, it's tough to find a better entry point than LMP3.
LMP3 is the newest rung on the Le Mans ladder and is designed to give amateur drivers prototype experience on the road to the 24 Hours. But is the car right for that task?
The entire concept of LMP3 revolves around one simple basic principle - accessibility.
This new wave of 'baby' Le Mans racers has been designed to be the first step on the ladder towards top-flight sportscar racing, and the holy grail that is the 24 Hours itself.
The cars are built largely around their intended amateur drivers, which usually bolster their teams both in terms of driver gradings for the intended Pro-Am nature of the racing, and financially.
LMP3 cars therefore must be friendlier to handle than they look. They must be comfortable, controllable and not bite the driver at the first hint of an error. If they were not, what 'Am' would ever want to race one?
"Amateur drivers are a big part of endurance racing," says Richard Dean, whose United Autosports squad is the UK agent for French giant Ligier. "In classes like the European Le Mans Series, the Ams have to do the lion's share of the driving, and titles are won and lost on your bronze-graded driver. So the cars must be accessible by nature, of the formula falls over."
In an effort to prove this theory, United Autosports offered me a go at Snetterton. Me. A near-total novice. Aside from holding a National B licence and taking part in the odd production saloon, Radical or GT4 test, my experience barely qualifies me to have such a chance.
Unlike many of the top drivers currently competing in the formula, I don't have a single single-seater race on my CV, let alone a few seasons of F3 experience to call upon. Surely this would be out of my league...
Add into that the fact that after two weeks of what finally resembled summer, it was a soaking wet day in Norfolk, with pools of water clinging to the track. And I was about to handle something faster and more powerful than anything I've ever driven.
At first glance the trio of Ligier JS P3s look stunning, and highly intimidating. With the rear engine covers off exposing the five-litre 420bhp Nissan V8s, the large front dive planes and intricate splitters, and the tight confines of the carbon fibre cockpit, it really brings home the reality of the situation - as does the noise.
Engines firing in unison, the garage is a cacophony of exhaust note.
"We come to Snetterton as it's easier to get unrestricted noise testing," says Dean. "Most tracks only give you 105db, these tick over at 110."
First job: get in the thing. Second job: try not to panic.
Getting in is actually more dignified than many racing cars. You sit on the side of the chassis then rotate your legs up and into the cockpit before sliding your bum down into the seat. The Ligier uses a low-slung seating position, similar to a formula car, with your legs raised like you're in a bathtub.
The interior is far more utilitarian than luxurious, with bare carbon enveloping you in what at first feels a claustrophobic cabin. There's only a basic switchboard and some wiring for company. The steering wheel comprises an easy-to-read digital display with gear, speed and RPM information, and there's little else to distract you.
Seat fitting over, it's time for a briefing. My mentor for the day is ex-British F3 racer Christian England, who handles the car in the European Le Mans Series.
He walks me through the controls and basic prototype driving hints. That sorted, and a few hours wasted waiting for the track to dry and resemble something remotely drivable, and we're good to go.
Just before the door slams shut, a final word of what passes for encouragement from Dean: "We've only ever given one other driver their first P3 test in the wet, and he was one of our pros and came back in saying he felt in over his head, so it's OK to be shitting yourself."
For the purpose of the test day the cars are pushed out of the garage and then fired up on pit exit. As the crew gets the car rolling and I wrestle to get the Ligier lined up correctly, I'm given the signal to go. Dump the clutch, hit the green 'engine start' button and...
The Nissan VK50 V8 engine originates from the Japanese brand's top-line 4x4s, but via tuning from ORECA it is transformed from luxury cruiser to something more akin to a cruise missile. When it comes on-song the sound is glorious and the vibrations hit you right in the chest.
After the customary 'first timer' stall trying to pull away on low revs, I'm off. The nerves subside about as quickly as the garages in the mirrors.
The hulking, intimidating machine in the garage is suddenly transformed into a precise and reassuring racer by the time I've rounded Riches. On the move the car feels nowhere near as big as it looks. Instead it feels tight and connected and remarkably responsive.
"Everybody who drives the P3 for the first time can't believe the front-end on it, it's real precise, finger-tip stuff," says England. "The biggest adaption is always the brakes. You never hit them hard enough at first and it takes a while to adapt to the pressure to stop overshooting apexes."
The JS P3 is a real back-to-basics driver's car, with no ABS or traction control, leaving all of the key inputs up to the driver. A squeeze of the brakes with my left foot soon tells me I'd better stay traditional and use my right as the car doesn't scrub enough speed off into Agonstini.
I run too deep, have to turn in to avoid the grass and wait for the back end to pendulum on me, but it never happens. The front-end simply bites around the outside line and off we go. Remarkably calmly.
The front-end grip and response is unlike anything I've ever driven. Corners like Riches are taken with a slight turn of the wheel, and any movement is followed with an instant response. The Ligier makes you feel connected.
The engine is integral to the neat package. Being naturally aspirated and tuned for torque over outright power, it pulls at any stage of the rev range. Exiting Williams and getting on the power brings an adrenaline rush as the boot in the back arrives.
There's no waiting for turbos to spool, the acceleration is instant and you bang through the gears much faster than an amateur probably should on their first run, but the chassis always gives you the confidence that nothing could go wrong when you bury the throttle.
The kick in the back whenever you pull a paddle to shift a gear in the X-trac six-speed sequential gearbox is more than a little addictive and the cocktail of noise, speed and sensation is frankly a little euphoric.
Through the corners the car behaves very serenely when you're smooth, and more violently when not. It likes calm steering and throttle input, and dislikes mid-corner fiddling. More than once I got a slide on during corner exit by being a bit too keen on the loud pedal. The key is patience to avoid breaking traction.
The chassis also rides kerbs particularly well, with the suspension willing to ride the bumps. However dipping the rear-left onto the wet kerbing at Murrays isn't advisable.
The chassis gives good feedback, but in the wet the line between 'everything's fine' and 'good luck mate' is remarkably slim. It tried to break away from me once or twice with little warning, but after the initial rebellion was quite happy to play along at the second attempt.
A perfect 360 out of the final turn was relatively easy to catch before continuing knowing that even if something did go wrong, there's enough wriggle room to work your way out of it.
While the Ligier is simple to jump in and drive, finding the best lap times from it is notoriously tough. Having never raced an aero-dependant car before, learning to trust the chassis through high-speed turns takes a lot of time as you have to adjust your mind to think beyond just the basic mechanical grip sticking you to the track.
Ligier worked hard to find an optimal balance between downforce and drag, meaning the JS P3 can corner like an F3 car, and pull like a GT3 down the straights.
As the track dried the best example of this was down the Bentley Straight. Running on the Michelin wet tyres used in the ELMS, when you approach the top end of fifth gear you can feel the car beginning to bob around slightly as the aero pressure forces the tyre tread to move about. It's never unsettling, but probably time for slicks. Sadly my time was up, and all that is left is a trundle back to the pits and a debrief with Dean.
"People see a big, scary sportscar, but LMP3 has been designed with amateur drivers in mind," Dean says. "The overriding emotion with it for any driver on their first go is sheer enjoyment. Everybody loves the sensation of it, the speed of it, the fact you have power in every gear at any revs.
"It's a real prototype for sensible money and it gives drivers that buzz. It has enough aero that it that makes you want to drive it more and get closer to the limits.
"Amateur drivers love the comfort and the fact you can jump in and drive at a decent pace relatively easily, whereas the pros love the fact that getting those final tenths out of it is a real challenge."
If you dream of Le Mans one day and the experience of a real sportscar, it's tough to find a better entry point than LMP3.
