2015 and three years in to world championship racing, it's a new dawn at KCMG. Firstly for those of you new to my blog, welcome! I'm a driver, driver coach and motorsport fan and a highly opinionated one at that. I'll frequently share my views on racing in general, I'm not especially known for my tact or ability to keep things brief, so you've been warned! For this post I'll concentrate on LMP2 and KCMG which should get you familiar with my world. I've been with Hong Kong-based KCMG since they began as a team in Asian F3 in 2007 where we runner-up in the championship, onto several years of Japanese F3 2011-2012 and into FIA WEC and their first Le Mans start in 2013. I'm the first generation KCMG 'development' driver, current team-mate Richard Bradley and previous team-mate Alex Imperatori also came through the system and we all survived Asia's corruptions (well mostly..). Alex now drives for Rebellion in LMP1 and together with Richard we are multiple winners in the LMP2 class in FIA WEC and led the Le Mans 24 Hour convincingly in 2014 before a suspension failure forced us into retirement. It would seem then that the system works...


So 2014 was the year KCMG truly arrived. Third place in the FIA WEC LMP2 championship with three wins in the USA, bahrain and Brazil aboard the Oreca 03R marked us as one of the championship's leading teams. It also means 2015 is about unfinished business, not to mention KCMG still hasn't made the chequred flag at a Le Mans 24 Hour. 19 hours in 2013 and 6 hours in 2014 means this year is all about delivering on promise. We want the world championship, and we want that LMP2 win at Le Mans. With Alex moving on myself and Richard (the orignal racing trainspotter) continue, welcoming Porsche LMP1 star (and Nascar-hick fan) Nick Tandy, along with French racing legend (and all-day, anywhere for no reason karaoke singer) Nicolas Lapierre to share the season with us. That means everywhere we go we have a formidable driver line-up. No team personnel changes, we continue with the excellent 4.5 V8 Nismo-tuned Nissan and maintain our relationship with Dunlop. But our win in Sao Paulo, Brazil at the end of last season was to be a victorious farewell to our beloved Oreca 03R.


Probably the biggest news of 2015 for KCMG was the move to the brand new and Oreca 05 coupe. A car which just so happens to be a breathtakingly gorgeous stone-cold fox! Designed with the 2017 regulations in mind, it solidified our excellent partnership with Oreca and has given us drivers and my engineer Greg Wheeler the chance to get stuck in to some proper development, with a manufacturer and car that mean business. Greg was a designer in the 90s and 2000s in BTCC, Endurance racing and Formula 1 so he's used to new machines every season. For me it was a fresh challenge to run a car which had never turned a wheel and be part of making it go fast. And fast it goes. Very fast! It is a good step forward on the 03R straight out of the box, and with more development is proving to be miles ahead in potential. Stephane Sarrazin dropped in from Toyota to be team-mate for the shakedown and the car performed perfectly, giving excellent straight line speed immediately and proving to be much kinder to it's tyres. It was initially strange driving with a roof and a windscreen, but you quickly adapt and we have wipers and a heated screen to keep things clear in the rain. We haven't done much testing, but every time the car runs it takes leaps forward, so everything you see now is just the beginning. It's only going to get better, and better....


When you look at the opposition it damn well has to be. LMP2 is a 'customer' class, budgets are similar and the winning comes from getting the best out of your chassis and tyres, the rest down to drivers and team performing on the day over 6 or 24 hours. That's mega racing..2015 sees an excellent field of LMP2s, Orecas, Ligiers and Morgans, with the Dome thrown in for good measure. LMP2 now also has many top line drivers, ex-LMP1, GP2 and Indycar racers as well as the best drivers from GTs joining us established up-and-comers in trying to make a mark in Endurance racing. These teams and drivers set a very high level. KCMG's main rivals in 2014 G-Drive-Ligier are as strong as ever and still the benchmark, but Signatech, Morand and ESM can all win races. The first official test at Prologue, Paul Ricard showed the KCMG Oreca 05 would certainly be a force to reckon with, but heading to into Round 1 at Silverstone, the Ligier showed just how big a fight LMP2 is going to be this season..




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