2012 Zytek Gibson LMP2 Jann Mardenborough's Le Mans Car

To be auctioned by Silverstone Auctions on Friday 25th August at the Silverstone Festival event. 

Guide Price: £270,000 - £320,000

The Zytek Z11 SN has a long and proud race career and can trace its DNA back to the Reynard 02S, a racer designed in 2000 to compete at Le Mans in the LM P675 class. The project was eventually acquired by the motor sport arm of the engineering group, Zytek. In the following years they updated the chassis to comply with changing regulations and to improve performance, particularly in aerodynamics. The Z11 SN was the final evolution of this long serving and very successful sports prototype and in 2015, following Zyteks rebranding to Gibson Technology, the Z11SN was updated to the Gibson 015S.

This example, #008 is one of two brand new Z11 SN chassis were ordered from Zytek for the 2012 season. #007 was intended for the WEC campaign, whilst #008 was aimed at the ELMS, both prototypes to run at Le Mans. The ELMS car was funded by Nissan with inaugural PlayStation Academy winner, Lucas Ordóñez, and F2-graduate, Alex Brundle, to join reigning champion Tom Kimber-Smith for the season. The headlines were stolen by Alex’s father, Martin Brundle who was announced as being in the line-up for Le Mans in place of Kimber-Smith. At Le Mans, the car was running in the top five until a spin on Saturday evening beached the car, costing four laps in total. The drivers and team pushed hard but recovering such a deficit in a highly competitive field was never a realistic proposition and an eighth-place finish was not truly representative of the car’s potential.

2013 saw a similar ELMS campaign planned but the main focus for chassis #008 was to race at Le Mans, once more with Nissan backing. Ordóñez was back on the driver roster for the French classic, joined by up and coming star, Jann Mardenborough, another top graduate of the PlayStation Academy. Leading the team was the vastly experienced Michael Krumm, a factory driver for Nissan since 1999 and the FIA GT1 World Champion in 2011. The team had worked with Zytek to revise the aerodynamics of the Z11 SN, unlocking further performance. The LMP2 class was extremely competitive but the Greaves Motorsport team showed their true form by achieving a podium place, finishing third in the category.

#008 enjoyed further success over the next few years and its career included 21 endurance sports car races, including four times at the Le Mans 24 Hours, with three finishes at La Sarthe. A class podium at Le Mans, two outright victories and being overall winner of the 2015 ELMS Championship were the high points in the career of this outstanding race car, however, the profile of #008 has suddenly been elevated by the fact that it was co-driven by Jann Mardenborough to a third place at Le Mans. Jann is the subject of a, soon to be released, major American Movie called Gran Turismo, a biographical coming-of age sports drama directed by Neill Blomkamp, produced by Columbia pictures and starring Archie Madekwe as Jann Mardenborough, a teenage Gran Turismo player aspiring to be a race car driver.

Nissan’s revolutionary driver discovery and development programme, 'GT Academy', struck gold in 2011 when it unearthed the raw talent of Jann Mardenborough.  He was a student on a gap year when he heard about GT Academy and, whilst he knew that he was totally comfortable lapping circuits on his PS3, could his skills in the virtual world be transferred just as successfully onto a real circuit.? On his very first visit to Le Mans in 2013 and having only completed a handful of laps in the car before the event Jan finished a remarkable third in class in this very car. This result was a testament to both Jann’s talent and how fast and easy to drive the Zytek is allowing drivers to get up to speed quickly.

#008 is currently powered by a Nissan VK45, 4.5-litre V8, producing 475bhp (restricted for Le Mans but capable of 560bhp) @ 7250 rpm which was rebuilt by Judd in 2021. It has logged 2 hours running time with a further 38hous remaining before its next rebuild. The gearbox is a Ricardo LMP Transaxle with 10 Hours before the next rebuild.

Well prepared and presented, much success in the hands of some notable drivers, low-hours engine, eligible for numerous prestigious historic events world wide and about to appear on our screens as part of a major Hollywood movie, an exciting opportunity.

2012

Le Mans 24 hrs; 8th in class, 15th overall. Drivers M. Brundle, A. Bundle, L. Ordonez. Ran a steady 5th until a spin into the gravel 3 hours into the race. Lost 4 laps.

ELMS; Paul Ricard 4th, Donington Park 7th, Petit Le Mans 3rd

2013

Le Mans 24 hrs; 3rd in class, 9th overall, Drivers - J. Mardenborough. M. Krumm and L. Ordonez. Faultless run

 ELMS Silverstone  DNF, Imola 5th

2014

Le Mans 24 hrs, 11th in class, 25th overall,  Drivers – M. McMurry, C. Dyson, T. Kimber-Smith. Gearbox rebuilt during race!

ELMS  Silverstone 4th, Imola 4th, Red Bull Ring 6th, Paul Ricard DNF, Estoril 7th

2015

Le Mans 24 Hours - DNF - Alternator failure. Drivers. J. Lancaster, B. Wirdheim, G. Hirsch.

ELMS – Silverstone 1st, Imola 4th, Red Bull Ring 4th, Paul Ricard 1st, Estoril 2nd. Championship Winner

2016  WEC  Drivers. R. Gonzalez, B Junquiera, L Diaz,  Mexico 5th