Wolf Racing Cars and Gibsons Technologies have withdrawn their proposals for a 2017 LMP2 license after initially submitting an expression of interest.
Gibson Technologies announced major revisions to its existing Zytek Z11SN LMP2 car in December last year with the British manufacturer finishing second in class with JotaSport at Le Mans this year.
Gibson’s operation director, John Manchester told Daily Sportscar that forwarding a proposal wasn’t “going to be financially viable within our (Gibson’s) business plan” and was waiting on details of a single-engine tender before proceeding.
Likewise, Wolf Racing Cars have pulled their Tornado LMP2 project out of the running after the Italian squad made their European Le Mans Series debut with their Wolf GB08 at Silverstone this year.
Wolf’s rationale for their 180 degree turn was that any potential bid from large chassis manufacturer Dallara would render smaller bids from compatriot companies ineffectual.
Despite Wolf Racing’s reservations, no formal submission has been made by Dallara or Honda Performance Development (HPD); which planned to run their s ARX-04b coupe with ESM before the team switched to Ligier.
HPD’d chief concern revolved around a clause in the rules that may exclude outfits with direct links to a major manufacturer; i.e. Honda.
Wolf and Gibson pull the plug on LMP2 tender