NEWS
With only two days to go to the unveiling of its brand-new Ligier JS P217 at Spa-Francorchamps at the ELMS meeting, Onroak Automotive is honoured to continue its collaboration with the Tequila Patron ESM team in the United States in the context of a DPi* programme with Nissan and Nismo.
After two seasons in the FIA WEC with a brace of Ligier JS P2s and victories in the Daytona 24 Hours and the Sebring 12 Hours early on in the year, the Tequila Patron ESM team has renewed its confidence in Onroak Automotive by choosing the French constructor for their return to the WeatherTech SportCar Championship in 2017 with two Onroak Nissan DPis.
In partnership with Nissan and Nismo, Onroak Automotive will supply the Tequila Patron ESM team with two Onroak Nissan DPis based on the Ligier JS P217 chassis and powered by the 3.8-litre V6 twin turbo engine from the GT-R Nismo GT3. In parallel to the installation of the engine, Onroak Automotive in partnership with Nissan will adapt the bodywork of the Ligier JS P217.
Yesterday while the Ligier JS P217 covered its first laps on the Magny-Cours circuit, all the Onroak Automotive teams were hard at work to respect the dates on the American calendar, which will kick off with the 55th staging of the Rolex 24 at Daytona at the end of January.
The first tests of the Onroak Nissan DPi are scheduled for December and Onroak Automotive may adapt to this model the various developments which will be trialled during the test programme between mid-September and December on the ACO version of the Ligier JS P217.
This agreement with Nissan and Tequila Patron reinforces Onroak Automotive’s presence in the United States in 2017 even more. The French company will provide a client support programme, equivalent to the one in Europe, at all the rounds of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for its teams in DPi, LM P2 and LM P3.
Jacques Nicolet, Onroak Automotive CEO: “We’re delighted to begin this Onroak Nissan DPi programme with Tequila Patron ESM, Nissan and Nismo. I’d like to thank Scott Sharp and Ed Brown who, after two years’ collaboration and success with the Ligier JS P2, have renewed their confidence with us with this new project. In addition, we’re very proud to launch this programme in partnership with Nissan and Nismo with whom we’ve already collaborated in LM P2. This programme marks a new and important step for Onroak Automotive. It adds a new model to our range of sports prototypes in the United States with the Ligier JS P2 and more recently, the Ligier JS P3, and it also reinforces our implantation in North America while enabling us to compete at the highest level in motor sport in endurance racing.”
*A 2017 IMSA DPi car is a standard ACO/FIA homologated 2017 LM P2 Prototype chassis from one of the four approved constructors (Dallara, Onroak Automotive, ORECA or Riley/Multimatic) fitted with IMSA-homologated, manufacturer-designed and branded bodywork and engines.