From the 10th to the 17th of November, Sbarta Sport flew to South Africa to test the recently developed LMP2 Bailey Car. Attending the test session were Sylvain Boulay the Sbarta team manager, Michel Disdier who races in the NASCAR series and Vincent Capillaire, a well known endurance racing driver.

Sylvain Boulay on the aim of the week in South Africa. “Since he stayed with us for the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2010, Greg has remained a friend. His ambitious project immediately attracted the curiosity and attention of the (Sbarta Sport) team. We had to test the car on a suitable circuit to see if the baby is well born. And it is!”

Bailey Cars is located in comfortable workshops on the outskirts of Johannesburg. Porsche 917 and Ford GT40 replica cars are parked all over the shop. From the time of the LMP2 being only a draft, a team of engineers and technicians have worked tirelessly for more than a year to make this project a reality. All aspects have been studied carefully and fully thought out by Greg Bailey and his team.

Finally, a car that is now complete is comparable to its main competitors: “Under a blazing sun, seeing a prototype in its latest generation carbon black livery has the effect of an apparition. Lines immediately inspire power and lightness. Once installed on board, take into account all the parameters including the dust on the circuit. But very quickly the reflexes return to the top and the pleasure of driving is an addition to that of the discovery,” says Michel Disdier.

Testing lasted several days at the Phakisa circuit in Welkom. The circuit has previously hosted the Moto GP and is a few hours drive from Johannesburg. The Sbarta Sport team was here to test calibrated parameters such as the braking, acceleration, cornering, etc rather than to see the times the Prototype was capable of.

Dialogue with engineers Bailey Cars was constant. Everyone was able to give an objective opinion on the feeling behind the wheel. The overall picture was positive for all.

“It was a lot of fun to drive this car, really nice, enclosed. It is certainly a car lab, but the car itself is already consistent. I always enjoy these phases of development. There is still work to be done but there is also potential, I am extremely motivated by the project.” says Vincent Capillaire.

So, positive results so far from this week in South Africa. The next step is to continue the development, register the car and set out the program to take the Bailey Cars LMP2 car to Le Mans in 2012. The Sbarta Sport team are looking at purchasing a Bailey Cars LMP2 Car to race in the 2012 Le Mans Series. A South African team is still in the pipeline but the initial aim is to get a Bailey Car LMP2 on the grid in 2012.

Source : Bailey Cars