Ligier JS P217 explained

The Ligier JS P217 is a Le Mans Prototype built by Onroak Automotive and named in a partnership with French racing driver Guy Ligier. The Ligier JS P217 was built to meet the 2017 FIA and ACO regulations for 2017 for the LMP2 category in the FIA World Endurance Championship. The car also meets the regulations for the International Motor Sports Association’s (IMSA) WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for the Prototype class. It was active in both of these championship series as well as the European Le Mans Series and Asian Le Mans Series. The prototype made its racing debut at the 2017 24 Hours of Daytona and its FIA World Endurance Championship debut at the 2017 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.

Development

The Liger JS P217 was conceived in 2016 in preparation for the FIA and ACO's new regulation changes in 2017. Onroak Automotive built a brand new chassis from scratch and focused on improving the mechanics of the car from the Ligier JS P2. Onroak and technical partners focused on the air cooling of the engine radiators and brakes and cockpit air conditioning. The mechanical features of the car that were concentrated on was the implementation of a new axle, nut, and rim to lessen the time of tire changes, the efficiency of the axles, weight distribution, accessibility of mechanics at the front of the cockpit, aerodynamic efficiency, LMP1 style power steering, and a limited number of chassis pieces. The driver's comfort, space, controls accessibility, and visibility also was paid attention to as well.

The car was unveiled at Spa-Francorchamps publicly in September 2016. It also performed tests at Magny-Cours in September 2016 and Daytona International Speedway in November 2016 for preparation for the 24 Hours of Daytona.[1]

Nissan Onroak DPi

See main article: Ligier Nissan DPi.

A variation of the prototype, the Nissan Onroak DPi, also known as the Ligier Nissan DPi, was created for the IMSA's WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Prototype class under the DPi regulations. The car was developed in partnership with Nissan and Nismo. The powerplant of the vehicle is a 3.8 litre V6 twin-turbo engine from the Nissan GT-R GT3. Other alterations from the P217 include a large front panel and revised side panels.[2] Onroak Automotive supplied Tequila Patrón ESM with two prototypes for the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. ESM ran the DPi until closing due to a lack of sponsorship in late 2018.[3] CORE Autosport would purchase the ESM DPis and run them for the 2019 season. The program would not continue due to the retirement of team owner Jon Bennett.[4]

Ligier JS PX

Revealed in 2021, the Ligier JS PX is an unrestricted track-day special based on the JS P217.[5] Seemingly an evolution of the Onroak DPi, the JS PX utilizes a 3.8 liter V6 twin-turbo engine, yet developed to 825 hp. The chassis, suspension, and transmission are identical to the P217, though Ligier optimized ABS, TC, and ECU systems using input from Olivier Pla.[6] A similarly large front panel to that of the Nissan DPi is utilized, with an extended nose and a copycat element directly under it. The PX retains single canards on each side like the P217, in place of the DPi's dual-canard setup on each side. While the enlarged cooling duct from the DPi used to cool the NISMO VR38DETT is present, the side panels see simplification in the form of removal of a turning vane.

The car would be featured as the main protagonist's Le Mans entry in the 2023 film Gran Turismo, complete with a racing livery with PlayStation and NISMO sponsorship, further proving relevance to the DPi racecar.[7]

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

Results in bold indicate pole position. Results in italics indicate fastest lap.

Year! rowspan="2"
EntrantClassDrivers123456789Points

SIL

SPA

24H

NUR

MEX

COTA

FUJ

SHA

BHR
2017 Tockwith MotorsportsLMP2 Nigel Moore34Ret9Ret0NC
Philip HansonRet9Ret
Karun ChandhokRet9

SPA

24H

SIL

FUJ

SHA

SEB

SPA

24H
Points
2018 - 2019 Larbre CompétitionLMP2 Erwin Creed5066656464855th
Romano Ricci66656464
Julien Canal6
Thomas Dagoneau6
Yoshiharu Mori6
Keiko Ihara5
Enzo Guibbert6
Gunnar Jeannette4
Nicholas Boulle74

SIL

FUJ

SHA

BHR

COTA

SPA

24H

BHR
Points
2019 - 2020 Eurasia MotorsportLMP2 Nick Foster358140NC
Roberto Merhi814
Nobuya Yamanaka814
Inter Europol Competition René Binder34170NC
Matevos Isaakyan17
Jakub Śmiechowski17
EuroInternational Christophe d'Ansembourg11Ret0NC
Erik MarisRet
Adrien TambayRet

SPA

POR

MON

24H

BHR

BHR
Points
2021 ARC BratislavaLMP2 Miro Konôpka44Ret1111211th
Tom JacksonRet11
Darren BurkeRet
Oliver Webb1111

Complete European Le Mans Series results

Results in bold indicate pole position. Results in italics indicate fastest lap.

Year! rowspan="2"
EntrantClassDrivers123456Points

SIL

MON

RBR

LEC

SPA

POR
2017 Panis Barthez CompetitionLMP2 Fabien Barthez23975496417th
Timothé Buret975496
Nathanaël Berthon95496
Algarve Pro Racing Matt McMurry25RetRetRet8Ret114.513th
Andrea PizzitolaRetRetRet8Ret11
Andrea RodaRetRetRet8Ret
IDEC Sport Racing Patrice Lafargue2889Ret1110108.512th
Paul Lafargue89Ret111010
David Zollinger8
Olivier Pla9Ret11
Paul-Loup Chatin1010
United Autosports Filipe Albuquerque32161542982nd
William Owen161542
Hugo de Sadeleer161542
Tockwith Motorsports Philip Hanson34511912.510th
Nigel Moore5119

LEC

MON

RBR

SIL

SPA

POR
Points
2018 United AutosportsLMP2 Philip Hanson2212103Ret11544th
Bruno Senna12
Filipe Albuquerque103Ret11
Wayne Boyd329111510632310th
William Owen911151063
Hugo de Sadeleer911151063
Panis Barthez Competition Timothé Buret23871063245.56th
Julien Canal8710632
Will Stevens8710632
Algarve Pro Racing Tacksung Kim251613171113103.2518th
Mark Patterson161317111310
Ate De Jong1613171110
Matt McMurry13
IDEC Sport Racing Patrice Lafargue27Ret12161.2519th
Erik MarisRet121614
William CavailhesRet12
Nicolas Minassian1614
Aurélien Panis14

LEC

MON

CAT

SIL

SPA

POR
Points
2019 United AutosportsLMP2 Philip Hanson22647Ret714th
Paul di Resta6
Filipe Albuquerque47Ret
Alex Brundle321238837.58th
Ryan Cullen12388
William Owen388
Panis Barthez Competition René Binder2310915719.511th
Julien Canal109157
Will Stevens109157
Timothé Buret24Ret7Ret5Ret82010th
Konstantin TereshchenkoRet7Ret5Ret8
Léonard HoogenboomRet7Ret
IDEC Sport Racing Stéphane Adler27Ret161413Ret13218th
Erik MarisRet16Ret
Patrice LafargueRet161313
William Cavailhes1413Ret13
Inter Europol Competition Dani Clos341513Ret217th
Léo Roussel15
Jakub Śmiechowski1513Ret1212Ret
Adrien TambayRet12
Lukas Dunner12
Sam Dejonghe12Ret
Mathias Beche12Ret

LEC

SPA

LEC

MON

POR
Points
2020 Inter Europol CompetitionLMP2 René Binder34711612Ret15.512th
Matevos Isaakyan711612Ret
Jakub Śmiechowski711612Ret

Complete Asian Le Mans Series results

Results in bold indicate pole position. Results in italics indicate fastest lap.

YearEntrantClassDrivers1234Points

SHA

BEN

SEP

CHA
2019 - 2020 Eurasia MotorsportLMP2 Daniel Gaunt1RetRetRet4137th
Nobuya YamanakaRet4
Masataka YanagidaRetRet
Nick CassidyRetRet4
Shane van GisbergenRet
Nick Foster362225653rd
Roberto Merhi2225
Aidan Read2225
Inter Europol Competition John Corbett335466384th
Nathan Kumar5466
Mitchell Neilson54
Danial Frost66
Mathias Beche344Ret57285th
Jakub Śmiechowski4Ret57
James Winslow4Ret57

DUB 1

DUB 2

YMC 1

YMC 2
Points
2021 EuroInternational - OjetsLMP2 - Am John Corbett112Ret182nd
Neale Muston2Ret

DUB 1

DUB 2

YMC 1

YMC 2
Points
2022 ARC BratislavaLMP2

LMP2 Am
Miro Konôpka444454514th
Neale Muston4454
John Corbett4454633rd

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

Results in bold indicate pole position. Results in italics indicate fastest lap.

YearEntrantClassDrivers1234567891011Points

DAY

SEB

LBH

AUS

BEL

WGL

MOS

ELK

LGA

ATL
2017 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Tom Kimber-Smith529752377th
José Gutiérrez97947710
Mike Guasch97
R. C. Enerson9
Will Owen5
Marco Bonanomi9
Kenton Koch10
Ryan Lewis10
Olivier Pla47710
Nicholas Boulle8
David Ostella8
Julien Canal10
VisitFlorida Racing Marc Goossens905172338th
Renger van der Zande517
René Rast
Jonathan Bomarito7

DAY

SEB

LBH

MOH

BEL

WGL

MOS

ELK

LGA

ATL
Points
2018 United Autosports Fernando Alonso23131819th
Philip Hanson13
Lando Norris13
Paul di Resta324548215th
Bruno Senna4
Will Owen4
Hugo de Sadeleer4
Philip Hanson54
Alex Brundle5
AFS/PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports Sebastián Saavedra5212111168991321112th
Gustavo Yacamán121111689913
Roberto González1211
Nicholas Boulle12
José Gutiérrez
Will Owen9

DAY 1

DAY 2

SEB

MOH

BEL

WGL 1

WGL 2

ELK

LGA

LBH

ATL
Points
2021 RWR EurasiaLMP2 Austin Dillon5140NC
Sven Müller4
Cody Ware84
Salih Yoluç84

Race Victories

!Year!Series!Race!Circuit!Team!Specification
2017ELMS4 Hours of Silverstone Silverstone Circuit United AutosportsLMP2
ELMS4 Hours of Red Bull Ring Red Bull Ring United AutosportsLMP2
IMSAContinental Tire Road Race Showcase Road America Tequila Patron ESMNissan DPi
IMSAAmerica's Tire 250 Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca VisitFlorida RacingLMP2
IMSAMotul Petit Le Mans Road Atlanta Tequila Patron ESMNissan DPi
2018IMSAMobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Sebring International Raceway Tequila Patron ESMNissan DPi
IMSAContinental Tire Monterey Grand Prix WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca Tequila Patron ESMNissan DPi
ELMS4 Hours of Spa Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps United AutosportsLMP2
ELMS4 Hours of Portimao Algarve International Circuit United AutosportsLMP2
2022ESET CupGT Sprint Race 1 Slovakia Ring ARC BratislavaLMP2
ESET CupGT Sprint Race 2 Slovakia Ring ARC BratislavaLMP2

Notes and References

  1. Web site: PR1 Ligier JS P217 Headlines November Daytona Test Entry . John . Dagys . 9 November 2016 . Sportscar365.com . 19 June 2017.
  2. Web site: Ligier JS P217 . Racecar Engineering . 19 June 2017.
  3. News: Dagys . John . ESM Shutters Operations . 28 September 2020 . Sportscar365 . December 1, 2018.
  4. News: Lloyd . Daniel . Bennett Announces Retirement; CORE DPi Program to End . 28 September 2020 . Sportscar365 . August 22, 2019.
  5. Web site: Ligier JS PX . 2023-08-15 . Ligier Automotive . en-US.
  6. Web site: Elsa . 2021-12-07 . Ligier Automotive enters the sphere of unique and exceptional models with the Ligier JS PX . 2023-08-15 . Ligier Automotive . en-US.
  7. Web site: Elsa . 2023-01-13 . The Ligier JS PX stars in Gran Turismo film! . 2023-08-15 . Ligier Automotive . en-US.