The LM P3 chassis that emerged from the Onroak Automotive workshops in June has confirmed that it has the same qualities as the JS P2: namely, it’s quick and comfortable to drive.

This Monday and Tuesday the Ligier JS P3’s development programme continued on the Motorland Aragon circuit in Spain. The excellent potential of the new Onroak Automotive chassis glimpsed during the shakedown was confirmed during the test days in the hands of the very experienced Olivier Pla.

The Ligier JS P3, powered by the Nissan engine and shod with the Michelin tyres homologated by the ACO, set its fastest lap in 1m 32.28sec on the 4,926-km circuit used by the team, compared to 1m 29.1sec for the Ligier JS P2-Nissan, which was testing the same day. These times were set when the track temperature was 31°C: for comparison the Ligier JS P2-Nissan lapped in 1m 24.41sec in February when the track temperature was 9°C.

Thanks to optimised cockpit ventilation, power steering, a large bucket seat, and a reclined seating position which makes the G forces easier to absorb, the Ligier JS P3 meets all the necessary comfort criteria, very appreciated in particular by the gentlemen drivers, and at the same time it provides them with excellent driving sensations. The lack of traction control gives an exceptional feeling of the car’s reactions so the driver is able to master it better helped, in particular, by the aerodynamic package. The car has steel discs (unlike the carbon discs used in LM P2), and there were no problems with brake fade.

Jacques Nicolet, Onroak Automotive President: “We’re back from Motorland and I’m very proud of the work done by all our teams, those in the design office and those who have built the car and are running it today. After the success of the Ligier JS P2 they have continued in the same vein in brilliant fashion with the Ligier JS P3. In addition, it was great to see Olivier Pla again with whom we’ve shared so many years of work and complicity. Today, he’s a Nissan works driver and he has returned to us to develop the Ligier JS P3-Nissan. He’s an exceptional test driver and an excellent technician. At this stage of the project his work and his feedback to the engineers are crucial. I also did a few laps in our new LM P3. The car’s very easy to drive and I really enjoyed myself. While the pleasure was different it was at least as intense as what I’ve experienced at the wheel of the Ligier JS P2!”

Olivier Pla, Nissan works driver and development driver for the Onroak Automotive Ligier JS P3: “These two days have been very positive in the development programme of the Ligier JS P3. We covered a large number of kilometers – more than 700 – and we didn’t run into any problems. As we already saw during the Magny-Cours tests last month the car has no defects and very easy and pleasant to drive. The Ligier JS P3, which complies with the strict LM P3 regulations in every aspect, is very quick as proved by the times set over the last two days. We did a lot of work on optimising the balance to be in a position to supply future clients with the maximum amount of data to help them get the best out of the car.”

Benoît Bagur, Onroak Automotive technical director: “The programme is advancing in keeping with our expectations. The car’s reliable and we’ve done a good job on its aerodynamic setup. This makes it very easy to drive which is one of the major assets of this LM P3 aimed at gentlemen driver in particular. The performance objective is to place the Ligier JS P3 between the LM P2s and the GTs. Although we haven’t yet got all the parameters for comparison, the times set at Motorland Aragon lead us to believe that it’ll be the case. The car’s well balanced, quick and reliable, and we still have of course a bit of fine tuning to do to achieve the final setup. It should make its racing debut in the opening round of the Asian Le Mans Series at Fuji on 10th October.”