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Zytek's LMP2 car has been an effective solution for the past few years. With significant updates on the way for '09, it could prove a worthy challenger for ALMS customers. (Photo: Marshall Pruett) » More Photos
While the final car count is still pending, English LMP1 and LMP2 manufacturer Zytek looks set to carve its own slice of the American Le Mans pie before the 2008 season concludes in October. If all goes according to their plan, both LMP categories will feature full-time entries using the bespoke Zytek chassis and engine combination.
Like so many other English constructors that fill sportscar racing’s history books, Zytek represents a different approach to their cars. They don’t have a large American, German, or Japanese car maker paying their bills, they make do with a comparatively modest design and engineering staff, and their cars are based on a mastery of proven engineering principles.
Amongst the big auto manufacturers that field LMP entries, they’re a wildcard. In the spirit of Lotus, Spice, Lola, Argo, Tiga, and other winning British marques, sportscar racing needs a modest English challenger to upset the plans of the major manufacturers. Compared to the futuristic shapes of their rivals, Zytek’s cars are sleepers—their impressive speeds are earned while wrapped in bodywork that isn’t as adventurous as their rivals offer. They go about the business of racing in a tidy and efficient manner, and those core philosophies have the company on the verge of becoming a serious player in the ALMS.
For John Manchester, operations director of Zytek Engineering, the commitment to enter a factory effort in the final two rounds of the ALMS series for the past few seasons is now paying off. Manchester’s goal from the outset was to use the factory team as a showcase for potential buyers.
“North America is very important to us. Hence why, in recent years, we have always tried to run the last two races of the ALMS series with a works car. This has simply been to try to generate interest. We have worked hard on this for the last few seasons and it has now paid off. I can confirm that we have recently sold one car, an LMP1, to the USA and we are also in advanced discussions with another team about the sale of an LMP2 car.”
That confirmed LMP1 sale to a team in the States, and the short-term withdrawal and restructuring of Corsa Motorsports could be linked, but we'll have to wait for an official announcement from the team. Corsa has been expectedly tight-lipped on the topic. Rumors of a Forsythe-run Zytek entry still persist, but an actual sale has yet to take place.
"An opportunity was presented at the 24 Hours of Le Mans which will require a transitioning of our program," said Corsa Motorsports' owner. That could line up perfectly with Zytek’s sale of an LMP1 car to an existing ALMS team. (Photo: Marshall Pru » More Photos
With the 75,000 sq/ft Zytek Group headquarters in Fradley at their disposal and the 30,000 sq/ft Zytek Engineering facility in Repton dedicated solely to motorsports, Manchester has been hard at work insuring the company has the expanded infrastructure to support a customer base in the ALMS.
“We are very pleased we will be involved in the ALMS on full time basis; this is an area that we have always wanted to get into. Now that we have finally broken into it, hopefully it is the start of something that will expand further and further. We are taking this very seriously and we will have a full engineering support team attending all races and will be basing ourselves at the new customer team(s) in order to ensure that we can give the best possible support to the project.
“We have been speaking to a lot of people about car sales, some of this being close to conclusion, some in the early stages. We are hopeful that we will have a bigger customer base than we have seen in previous seasons. The first step was to have a customer car in the States and we have now achieved that.”
It appears that the gain of a full-time team in the ALMS will come at the expense of future factory Zytek entries at Petit Le Mans and Laguna Seca. “It was purely to showcase our product. Now we have sold our first car to the USA I see no need to continue to do this, at least for the time being. The plan now is to supply cars to customers and concentrate our effort on improving our products.”
Those improvement plans include both chassis and engine for ’09. Expect the familiar shape of Zytek’s
The use of hybrid technology is a popular topic in racing today—it’s also an area that Zytek has been involved with dating back to the famous (but unloved) Le Mans racer--the Panoz Esperante nicknamed ‘Sparky.’
“It’s an interesting question and is one I get asked many times! Obviously hybrid technology has been of interest to Zytek for many years, in fact we first introduced it at Le Mans and then Petit Le Mans in 1998 with the Panoz Q9. We showed a lot of people that we were an innovative company pushing the boundaries of technology by producing a car way ahead of its time and before any of the major manufacturers. We have always seen Q9 as unfinished business. I believe that Zytek are now firmly established as a world leader in electric drive train technology, but since Q9 the time has not been right to push ahead but I think it is now.
Use of Zytek’s engines in the A1GP series and throughout sportscar racing has been increasingly popular--the ZG348 LMP2 engine claimed victory at Le Mans in 2007. Whether it can tackle Porsche's new direct-injection motor remains to be seen. (Photo » More Photos
“Motorsport needs a greener image and it is a good way to educate people about the fuels used and hybrid technology. It is something that as a company we are very serious about and we hope to be able to announce, in the near future, that we will have a full hybrid project up and running in sportscar racing and hopefully at the 24 hours of Le Mans.”
While the sale of a P1 car is certainly a step in the right direction for the company, cracking the American LMP2 market could be a tough one for Zytek. For a customer that can afford a proven champion like Porsche’s RS Spyder, Zytek might not even be considered, but Manchester disagrees.
“Costs always come into it. If you look at the performance of our car this season, it has not been that far away from the Porsche. You have to be able to offer potential customers something that is equal to, if not better than other manufacturers. Whilst I am sure that other chassis and engine manufacturers will be carrying out big development programs over the winter, we will be doing the same and I have every confidence that we are going to take our cars onto a new level in terms of performance. We will be able to give people very good value for money in that they will be able to purchase a very fast car at a highly competitive price. The teams that bought the 07S got excellent value for money and next year with the step up in performance this will be even more so.”
Fighting words those are, but they aren’t loaded with boastful or unrealistic claims. Zytek’s P2 product has remained a constant threat, but for 2009, Manchester’s group will have its work cut out for them if matching the RS Spyder is to be achieved. With a 07S in the hands of the right team, I have no doubt the fierce LMP2 battles in the ALMS would become a three-way contest. In LMP1, displacing Audi is beyond reasonable expectations, but Zytek can surely challenge Lola’s place as the next best Audi alternative. Let the games begin!
Marshall Pruett is Automotive and Sportscar Racing Editor for SPEEDtv.com. Pruett grew up at "Pruett's Olde English Garage," his father's shelter for abused foreign cars, and spent his childhood being dragged across the West Coast to help with his dad's amateur racing exploits. Pruett spent twenty years working in various open-wheel and sportscar series, retiring from active duty in 2001. And in case you were wondering, no, he isn’t related to Scott Pruett.
He can be reached at
The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, SPEED, FOX, or NewsCorp.
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