Ligier JS P217

Ligier JS P217
Category	Le Mans Prototype 2
Constructor	Onroak Automotive
Designer(s)	Nicolas Clémençon
Predecessor	Ligier JS P2
Technical specifications
Chassis	Carbon fibre monocoque
Suspension (front)	Double wishbones with pushrod and torque rod-activated dampers
Suspension (rear)	Double wishbones with spring-activated dampers
Length	4,745 mm (186.8 in)
Width	1,900 mm (75 in)
Height	1,050 mm (41 in)
Wheelbase	3,010 mm (119 in)
Engine	Gibson GK-428 4.2 litre V8; longitudinal mid-mounted configuration
Transmission	Hewland TLS-200 6-speed sequential gearbox magnesium casing sequential manual transmission
Power	603 hp (450 kW)
Weight	Appr. 930 kg (2,050 lb)
Fuel	Various
Lubricants	Various
Tyres	Michelin, Dunlop, or Continental
Competition history
Notable entrants	Algarve Pro Racing; EuroInternational; IDEC Sport Racing; Inter Europol Competition; Larbre Compétition; Panis Barthez Competition; CEFC Manor TRS Racing; PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports; Visit Florida Racing; Tockwith Motorsports; United Autosports; ARC Bratislava; RWR Eurasia; CD Sport; Sean Creech Motorsport; ;
Notable drivers	Tom Kimber-Smith; José Gutiérrez; Mike Guasch; R. C. Enerson; Will Owen; Marco Bonanomi; Kenton Koch; Ryan Lewis; Olivier Pla; Nicholas Boulle; David Ostella; Julien Canal; Marc Goossens; Renger van der Zande; René Rast; Jonathan Bomarito; Fernando Alonso; Philip Hanson; Lando Norris; Paul di Resta; Bruno Senna; Hugo de Sadeleer; Alex Brundle; Sebastián Saavedra; Gustavo Yacamán; Roberto González; Austin Dillon; Sven Müller; Cody Ware; Salih Yoluç; Fabien Barthez; Timothé Buret; Nathanaël Berthon; Matt McMurry; Andrea Pizzitola; Andrea Roda; Patrice Lafargue; Paul Lafargue; David Zollinger; Paul-Loup Chatin; Filipe Albuquerque; Nigel Moore; Wayne Boyd; Will Stevens; Tacksung Kim; Mark Patterson; Ate De Jong; Erik Maris; William Cavailhes; Nicolas Minassian; Aurélien Panis; Paul di Resta; Ryan Cullen; René Binder; Konstantin Tereshchenko; Léonard Hoogenboom; Stéphane Adler; Dani Clos; Léo Roussel; Jakub Śmiechowski; Adrien Tambay; Lukas Dunner; Sam Dejonghe; Matevos Isaakyan; Karun Chandhok; Erwin Creed; Romano Ricci; Thomas Dagoneau; Yoshiharu Mori; Keiko Ihara; Enzo Guibbert; Gunnar Jeannette; Nick Foster; Roberto Merhi; Nobuya Yamanaka; Christophe d'Ansembourg; Miro Konôpka; Tom Jackson; Darren Burke; Oliver Webb; Daniel Gaunt; Masataka Yanagida; Nick Cassidy; Shane van Gisbergen; Aidan Read; John Corbett; Nathan Kumar; Mitchell Neilson; Danial Frost; James Winslow; Neale Muston; ;
Debut	2017 24 Hours of Daytona
First win	2017 4 Hours of Silverstone
Last win	2022 ESET Cup GT Sprint Race 2
Last event	2024 IMSA SportsCar Weekend
Teams' Championships	0
Constructors' Championships	0
Drivers' Championships	0

The Ligier JS P217 is a Le Mans Prototype built by Onroak Automotive and named in a partnership with French racing driver Guy Ligier. The Ligier JS P217 was built to meet the 2017 FIA and ACO regulations for 2017 for the LMP2 category in the FIA World Endurance Championship. The car also meets the regulations for the International Motor Sports Association’s (IMSA) WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for the Prototype class. It was active in both of these championship series as well as the European Le Mans Series^[2] and Asian Le Mans Series. The prototype made its racing debut at the 2017 24 Hours of Daytona and its FIA World Endurance Championship debut at the 2017 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.

Development

The Liger JS P217 was conceived in 2016 in preparation for the FIA and ACO's new regulation changes in 2017. Onroak Automotive built a brand new chassis from scratch and focused on improving the mechanics of the car from the Ligier JS P2. Onroak and technical partners focused on the air cooling of the engine radiators and brakes and cockpit air conditioning. The mechanical features of the car that were concentrated on was the implementation of a new axle, nut, and rim to lessen the time of tire changes, the efficiency of the axles, weight distribution, accessibility of mechanics at the front of the cockpit, aerodynamic efficiency, LMP1 style power steering, and a limited number of chassis pieces. The driver's comfort, space, controls accessibility, and visibility also was paid attention to as well.^[2]

The car was unveiled at Spa-Francorchamps publicly in September 2016. It also performed tests at Magny-Cours in September 2016 and Daytona International Speedway in November 2016 for preparation for the 24 Hours of Daytona.^[4]

Nissan Onroak DPi

A variation of the prototype, the Nissan Onroak DPi, also known as the Ligier Nissan DPi, was created for the IMSA's WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Prototype class under the DPi regulations. The car was developed in partnership with Nissan and Nismo. The powerplant of the vehicle is a 3.8 litre V6 twin-turbo engine from the Nissan GT-R GT3. Other alterations from the P217 include a large front panel and revised side panels.^[5] Onroak Automotive supplied Tequila Patrón ESM with two prototypes for the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.^[3] ESM ran the DPi until closing due to a lack of sponsorship in late 2018.^[6] CORE Autosport would purchase the ESM DPis and run them for the 2019 season. The program would not continue due to the retirement of team owner Jon Bennett.^[7]

Ligier JS PX

Revealed in 2021, the Ligier JS PX is an unrestricted track-day special based on the JS P217.^[8] Seemingly an evolution of the Onroak DPi, the JS PX utilizes a 3.8 liter V6 twin-turbo engine, yet developed to 825 hp. The chassis, suspension, and transmission are identical to the P217, though Ligier optimized ABS, TC, and ECU systems using input from Olivier Pla.^[9] A similarly large front panel to that of the Nissan DPi is utilized, with an extended nose and a copycat element directly under it. The PX retains single canards on each side like the P217, in place of the DPi's dual-canard setup on each side. While the enlarged cooling duct from the DPi used to cool the NISMO VR38DETT is present, the side panels see simplification in the form of removal of a turning vane.

The car would be featured as the main protagonist's Le Mans entry in the 2023 film Gran Turismo, complete with a racing livery with PlayStation and NISMO sponsorship, further proving relevance to the DPi racecar.^[10]

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

Results in bold indicate pole position. Results in italics indicate fastest lap.


Year	Entrant	Class	Drivers	No.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Points	Pos
Year	Entrant	Class	Drivers	No.	SIL	SPA	24H	NUR	MEX	COTA	FUJ	SHA	BHR	Points	Pos
2017	Tockwith Motorsports	LMP2	Nigel Moore	34		Ret	9	Ret						0	NC
			Philip Hanson			Ret	9	Ret
			Karun Chandhok			Ret	9
				No.	SPA	24H	SIL	FUJ	SHA	SEB	SPA	24H		Points	Pos
2018 - 2019	Larbre Compétition	LMP2	Erwin Creed	50	6	6	6	5	6	4	6	4		85	5th
			Romano Ricci		6	6	6	5	6	4	6	4
			Julien Canal		6
			Thomas Dagoneau			6
			Yoshiharu Mori				6
			Keiko Ihara					5
			Enzo Guibbert						6
			Gunnar Jeannette							4
			Nicholas Boulle								7	4
				No.	SIL	FUJ	SHA	BHR	COTA	SPA	24H	BHR		Points	Pos
2019 - 2020	Eurasia Motorsport	LMP2	Nick Foster	35						8	14			0	NC
			Roberto Merhi							8	14
			Nobuya Yamanaka							8	14
	Inter Europol Competition		René Binder	34							17			0	NC
			Matevos Isaakyan								17
			Jakub Śmiechowski								17
	EuroInternational		Christophe d'Ansembourg	11							Ret			0	NC
			Erik Maris								Ret
			Adrien Tambay								Ret
				No.	SPA	POR	MON	24H	BHR	BHR				Points	Pos
2021	ARC Bratislava	LMP2	Miro Konôpka	44	Ret	11	11							2	11th
			Tom Jackson		Ret	11
			Darren Burke		Ret
			Oliver Webb			11	11

Complete European Le Mans Series results

Results in bold indicate pole position. Results in italics indicate fastest lap.


Year	Entrant	Class	Drivers	No.	1	2	3	4	5	6	Points	Pos
Year	Entrant	Class	Drivers	No.	SIL	MON	RBR	LEC	SPA	POR	Points	Pos
2017	Panis Barthez Competition	LMP2	Fabien Barthez	23	9	7	5	4	9	6	41	7th
			Timothé Buret		9	7	5	4	9	6
			Nathanaël Berthon		9		5	4	9	6
	Algarve Pro Racing		Matt McMurry	25	Ret	Ret	Ret	8	Ret	11	4.5	13th
			Andrea Pizzitola		Ret	Ret	Ret	8	Ret	11
			Andrea Roda		Ret	Ret	Ret	8	Ret
	IDEC Sport Racing		Patrice Lafargue	28	8	9	Ret	11	10	10	8.5	12th
			Paul Lafargue		8	9	Ret	11	10	10
			David Zollinger		8
			Olivier Pla			9	Ret	11
			Paul-Loup Chatin						10	10
	United Autosports		Filipe Albuquerque	32	1	6	1	5	4	2	98	2nd
			William Owen		1	6	1	5	4	2
			Hugo de Sadeleer		1	6	1	5	4	2
	Tockwith Motorsports		Philip Hanson	34	5	11	9				12.5	10th
	Tockwith Motorsports		Nigel Moore	34	5	11	9				12.5	10th
					LEC	MON	RBR	SIL	SPA	POR	Points	Pos
2018	United Autosports	LMP2	Philip Hanson	22	12	10	3	Ret	1	1	54	4th
			Bruno Senna		12
			Filipe Albuquerque			10	3	Ret	1	1
			Wayne Boyd	32	9	11	15	10	6	3	23	10th
			William Owen		9	11	15	10	6	3
			Hugo de Sadeleer		9	11	15	10	6	3
	Panis Barthez Competition		Timothé Buret	23	8	7	10	6	3	2	45.5	6th
			Julien Canal		8	7	10	6	3	2
			Will Stevens		8	7	10	6	3	2
	Algarve Pro Racing		Tacksung Kim	25	16	13	17	11	13	10	3.25	18th
			Mark Patterson		16	13	17	11	13	10
			Ate De Jong		16	13	17	11		10
			Matt McMurry						13
	IDEC Sport Racing		Patrice Lafargue	27	Ret	12	16				1.25	19th
			Erik Maris		Ret	12	16		14
			William Cavailhes		Ret	12
			Nicolas Minassian				16		14
			Aurélien Panis						14
					LEC	MON	CAT	SIL	SPA	POR	Points	Pos
2019	United Autosports	LMP2	Philip Hanson	22	6	4	7	Ret			71	4th
			Paul di Resta		6
			Filipe Albuquerque			4	7	Ret
			Alex Brundle	32	12	3	8	8			37.5	8th
			Ryan Cullen		12	3	8	8
			William Owen			3	8	8
	Panis Barthez Competition		René Binder	23	10	9	15	7			19.5	11th
			Julien Canal		10	9	15	7
			Will Stevens		10	9	15	7
			Timothé Buret	24	Ret	7	Ret	5	Ret	8	20	10th
			Konstantin Tereshchenko		Ret	7	Ret	5	Ret	8
			Léonard Hoogenboom		Ret	7	Ret
	IDEC Sport Racing		Stéphane Adler	27	Ret	16	14	13	Ret	13	2	18th
			Erik Maris		Ret	16			Ret
			Patrice Lafargue		Ret	16		13		13
			William Cavailhes				14	13	Ret	13
	Inter Europol Competition		Dani Clos	34	15	13	Ret				2	17th
			Léo Roussel		15
			Jakub Śmiechowski		15	13	Ret	12	12	Ret
			Adrien Tambay				Ret	12
			Lukas Dunner					12
			Sam Dejonghe						12	Ret
			Mathias Beche						12	Ret
					LEC	SPA	LEC	MON	POR		Points	Pos
2020	Inter Europol Competition	LMP2	René Binder	34	7	11	6	12	Ret		15.5	12th
			Matevos Isaakyan		7	11	6	12	Ret
			Jakub Śmiechowski		7	11	6	12	Ret

Complete Asian Le Mans Series results

Results in bold indicate pole position. Results in italics indicate fastest lap.

Year	Entrant	Class	Drivers	No.	1	2	3	4	Points	Pos
Year	Entrant	Class	Drivers	No.	SHA	BEN	SEP	CHA	Points	Pos
2019 - 2020	Eurasia Motorsport	LMP2	Daniel Gaunt	1	Ret	Ret	Ret	4	13	7th
			Nobuya Yamanaka		Ret			4
			Masataka Yanagida		Ret		Ret
			Nick Cassidy			Ret	Ret	4
			Shane van Gisbergen			Ret
			Nick Foster	36	2	2	2	5	65	3rd
			Roberto Merhi		2	2	2	5
			Aidan Read		2	2	2	5
	Inter Europol Competition		John Corbett	33	5	4	6	6	38	4th
			Nathan Kumar		5	4	6	6
			Mitchell Neilson		5	4
			Danial Frost				6	6
			Mathias Beche	34	4	Ret	5	7	28	5th
			Jakub Śmiechowski		4	Ret	5	7
			James Winslow		4	Ret	5	7
					DUB 1	DUB 2	YMC 1	YMC 2	Points	Pos
2021	EuroInternational - Ojets	LMP2 - Am	John Corbett	11	2	Ret			18	2nd
2021	EuroInternational - Ojets	LMP2 - Am	Neale Muston	11	2	Ret			18	2nd
					DUB 1	DUB 2	YMC 1	YMC 2	Points	Pos
2022	ARC Bratislava	LMP2 LMP2 Am	Miro Konôpka	44	4	4	5	4	51	4th
			Neale Muston		4	4	5	4
			John Corbett		4	4	5	4	63	3rd

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

Results in bold indicate pole position. Results in italics indicate fastest lap.

Year	Entrant	Class	Drivers	No.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Points	Pos
Year	Entrant	Class	Drivers	No.	DAY	SEB	LBH	AUS	BEL	WGL	MOS	ELK	LGA	ATL		Points	Pos
2017	PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports		Tom Kimber-Smith	52	9	7	5									237	7th
			José Gutiérrez		9	7		9		4		7	7	10
			Mike Guasch		9	7
			R. C. Enerson		9
			Will Owen				5
			Marco Bonanomi					9
			Kenton Koch						10
			Ryan Lewis						10
			Olivier Pla							4		7	7	10
			Nicholas Boulle								8
			David Ostella								8
			Julien Canal											10
	VisitFlorida Racing		Marc Goossens	90								5	1	7		233	8th
			Renger van der Zande									5	1	7
			René Rast
			Jonathan Bomarito											7
					DAY	SEB	LBH	MOH	BEL	WGL	MOS	ELK	LGA	ATL		Points	Pos
2018	United Autosports		Fernando Alonso	23	13											18	19th
			Philip Hanson		13
			Lando Norris		13
			Paul di Resta	32	4	5				4						82	15th
			Bruno Senna							4
			Will Owen		4
			Hugo de Sadeleer		4
			Philip Hanson			5				4
			Alex Brundle			5
	AFS/PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports		Sebastián Saavedra	52	12	11	11	6	8	9	9	13				211	12th
			Gustavo Yacamán		12	11	11	6	8	9	9	13
			Roberto González		12	11
			Nicholas Boulle		12
			José Gutiérrez
			Will Owen							9
					DAY 1	DAY 2	SEB	MOH	BEL	WGL 1	WGL 2	ELK	LGA	LBH	ATL	Points	Pos
2021	RWR Eurasia	LMP2	Austin Dillon	51		4										0	NC
			Sven Müller			4
			Cody Ware		8	4
			Salih Yoluç		8	4

Race Victories


Year	Series	Race	Circuit	Team	Specification
2017	ELMS	4 Hours of Silverstone	Silverstone Circuit	United Autosports	LMP2
	ELMS	4 Hours of Red Bull Ring	Red Bull Ring	United Autosports	LMP2
	IMSA	Continental Tire Road Race Showcase	Road America	Tequila Patron ESM	Nissan DPi
	IMSA	America's Tire 250	Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca	VisitFlorida Racing	LMP2
	IMSA	Motul Petit Le Mans	Road Atlanta	Tequila Patron ESM	Nissan DPi
2018	IMSA	Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring	Sebring International Raceway	Tequila Patron ESM	Nissan DPi
	IMSA	Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix	WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca	Tequila Patron ESM	Nissan DPi
	ELMS	4 Hours of Spa	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps	United Autosports	LMP2
	ELMS	4 Hours of Portimao	Algarve International Circuit	United Autosports	LMP2
2022	ESET Cup	GT Sprint Race 1	Slovakia Ring	ARC Bratislava	LMP2
2022	ESET Cup	GT Sprint Race 2	Slovakia Ring	ARC Bratislava	LMP2

References

^ Pruett, Marshall (24 January 2017). "IMSA 2017 Prototype Tech Profile: Ligier JS P217". Racer. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Ligier JS P217". Onroak Automotive. Archived from the original on 25 May 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
^ ^a ^b "Onroak Nissan DPi". Onroak Automotive. Archived from the original on 25 May 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
^ Dagys, John (9 November 2016). "PR1 Ligier JS P217 Headlines November Daytona Test Entry". Sportscar365.com. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
^ "Ligier JS P217". Racecar Engineering. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
^ Dagys, John (December 1, 2018). "ESM Shutters Operations". Sportscar365. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
^ Lloyd, Daniel (August 22, 2019). "Bennett Announces Retirement; CORE DPi Program to End". Sportscar365. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
^ "Ligier JS PX". Ligier Automotive. Retrieved 2023-08-15.
^ Elsa (2021-12-07). "Ligier Automotive enters the sphere of unique and exceptional models with the Ligier JS PX". Ligier Automotive. Retrieved 2023-08-15.
^ Elsa (2023-01-13). "The Ligier JS PX stars in Gran Turismo film!". Ligier Automotive. Retrieved 2023-08-15.

External links

Media related to Ligier JS P217 at Wikimedia Commons

Official website

[1] Pruett, Marshall (24 January 2017). "IMSA 2017 Prototype Tech Profile: Ligier JS P217". Racer. Retrieved 21 January 2023.

[Onroaktechdev-2] "Ligier JS P217". Onroak Automotive. Archived from the original on 25 May 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2017.

[Onroaktechdevdpi-3] "Onroak Nissan DPi". Onroak Automotive. Archived from the original on 25 May 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2017.

[Onroakp217test-4] Dagys, John (9 November 2016). "PR1 Ligier JS P217 Headlines November Daytona Test Entry". Sportscar365.com. Retrieved 19 June 2017.

[Onroakdpipic-5] "Ligier JS P217". Racecar Engineering. Retrieved 19 June 2017.

[sc12012018-6] Dagys, John (December 1, 2018). "ESM Shutters Operations". Sportscar365. Retrieved 28 September 2020.

[sc08222019-7] Lloyd, Daniel (August 22, 2019). "Bennett Announces Retirement; CORE DPi Program to End". Sportscar365. Retrieved 28 September 2020.

[8] "Ligier JS PX". Ligier Automotive. Retrieved 2023-08-15.

[9] Elsa (2021-12-07). "Ligier Automotive enters the sphere of unique and exceptional models with the Ligier JS PX". Ligier Automotive. Retrieved 2023-08-15.

[10] Elsa (2023-01-13). "The Ligier JS PX stars in Gran Turismo film!". Ligier Automotive. Retrieved 2023-08-15.

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