Gibson Technology has entered a new contract with ByKolles Racing to supply LMP1 engines for the World Endurance Championship Super Season. The privateer LMP1 team will be running a ByKolles designed and built chassis, powered by the Gibson GL458 engine. This top category of WEC includes competing in the grueling, world famous Le Mans 24 hours.
“Everyone at Gibson Technology is delighted that our engines have been chosen by yet another top-flight team,” said John Manchester, Gibson Technology’s operations director. “We are all looking forward to being part of this new phase in ByKolles Racing history, which will further enable us to develop our engine technology to compete against some of the top sportscar and engine manufacturers in world sportscar racing.”
The new LMP1 engine supplied by Gibson is based upon its LMP2 engine. Production of the GL458 takes place at Gibson’s state-of-the-art Repton facility, with the first engine being scheduled for delivery to ByKolles Racing during April for a shakedown and then competing at Spa WEC in May.
All LMP2 teams in WEC, ELMS, Le Mans 24 Hour and IMSA in the USA are currently powered by Gibson engines, with over 1.1 million kms covered so far with the GK428 engines.
“Everyone saw the tough time we suffered in recent race weekends and it’s time to move on to a new chapter,” said Manfredi Ravetto, ByKolles Team Principal. “We are very confident that a Gibson-powered ByKolles Enso will reward us with the results that our relentless work and investment deserve. It’s a massive challenge to be ready for Spa but our small and dedicated team in Greding loves these challenges as we’ve proven before in F1 and WEC.”