Do we forget about Ginetta? It may sound a silly question, but perhaps with its ubiquitous presence on the UK motorsport scene we in a strange way adapt ourselves to it, in a similar way that – it is said – fish don’t know they’re in water.
Its head of motorsport Mike Simpson doesn’t underestimate the manufacturer’s significance though. “Ginetta, for me, is the complete backbone of British motorsport,” he tells Motorsport News as we sit in Ginetta’s impressive and busy facility in Garforth near Leeds.
To demonstrate the point, we can start with Ginetta’s race categories, which in 2023 are the Ginetta Junior championship for 14-17 years olds, the entry-level Ginetta GT Academy and the Ginetta GT championship. Ginetta over time has put on well over 1000 races across its one-make domestic championships, and in 2023 can count 79 races and 70 drivers raced, across almost 2200 miles of racing.
Then there are its drivers. The list of those who got an early sample of car racing in a Ginetta is led by Lando Norris, and also includes Tom Ingram, Jake Hill, Seb Priaulx and Billy Monger, ranging through to this year’s Amateur driver British GT champion Darren Leung who started in GT
