A 2004 Nasamax (Reynard) Judd V10 LMP1 is for Sale in the Motorsport Prospects Marketplace

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

A 2004 Nasamax (Reynard) Judd V10 LMP1 is for sale in the Motorsport Prospects Marketplace and this one is not just green in its livery. This is the first ever car to complete the 24 Hours of Le Mans using renewable fuel and while it has been converted to run on traditional fuel, it can be converted back. The car is offered for sale by Sam Hancock so you know it is in exceptional, track-ready shape.

Overview

• First and only car to complete the 24 Hours of Le Mans using 100% renewable fuel (now converted to run on traditional fuel)
• First ever LMP1 car homologated – “ACO LMP1 001”
• Based on the highly capable Reynard 2KQ-01Q chassis
• Completely rebuilt from the ground up and fitted with a brand new 5.5 litre Judd V10
• 2x Le Mans appearances, 1x Sebring 12h
• Le Mans winners, Romain Dumas and Guy Smith among former drivers, in addition to IndyCar star, Bryan Herta
• Fastest top speeds of all cars at Le Mans in 2004
• Accompanied by a vast spares package

Provenance

Nasamax chassis DM139-001 started life in 2001 as a Reynard 2QK, chassis no. 2QK-006, powered by a 4-litre Judd V10. When upgraded to the British manufacturer’s most advanced 01Q specification in preparation for the 2001 FIA Sportscar Championship it became 01Q-001.

With Le Mans-winning Bentley boy, Guy Smith, heading the driver roster for the Redman Bright racing team, the car qualified on pole position in the 1000kms of Monza*, before finishing 4th overall to secure their best result of the season.

*It is worth noting that Smith’s pole time of 1m40.474s would have qualified the car in 4th overall at the most recent Masters Endurance Legends visit to Monza.

Unraced in 2002, the car was purchased by Team Nasamax, an organisation formed in 2003 with the aim of proving that racing cars can be competitive on 100% renewable fuels.

Headed by scientist and race engineer, John McNeil, and based out of Kent in the south-east of England, their journey began by fitting the Reynard chassis with an IndyCar-derived, 2.65 litre, turbo-charged Cosworth V8 engine powered by bio-ethanol. Cosworth were extremely motivated by the prospect of renewable fuels powering their engines at Le Mans and supported the project in a works capacity.

In this guise, the car contested in the 2003 12 Hours of Sebring with IndyCar star, Bryan Herta, joining future two-time Le Mans winner, Roman Dumas, and Robbie Stirling at the wheel. After a promising qualifying, teething problems led to a non-finish in the race, and the team refocused on the first of the car’s two appearances at Le Mans.

Having qualified 20th at La Sarthe and shown impressive top speeds on the long straights of the Mulsanne, further technical problems in the race led to another retirement and the consideration of a change in engine supplier.

Seizing the opportunity to take advantage of the newly announced LMP1 regulations, the team conducted a major rebuild of the car ahead of the 2004 season to convert the chassis to the new rules and start a new engine partnership with Judd, who fitted their F1-derived, 5.0 litre V10, specially adapted to run on bio-ethanol.

Newly homologated as the first ever LMP1 car by the ACO, the unique machine was renamed Nasamax DM139 – its nomenclature inspired by the main road that runs through the town of Le Mans.

Fittingly, the Nasamax made its race debut at the 1000km of Monza, the scene of the monocoque’s first notable triumph three years prior. With Dumas, Stirling and Werner Lupberger at the wheel, the car showed strongly at the Italian circuit, finishing the race in a promising eighth position and finally leaving onlookers in no doubt about the potential of racing cars powered by renewable fuels.

With Dumas unavailable for Le Mans, the team secured the services of former MG factory driver Kevin McGarrity to partner Stirling and Lupberger at the 24-hour enduro.

This time the Nasamax excelled, qualifying 14th while clocking the fastest top speeds of all cars along the Mulsanne straight. 

In the race, DM139-001 completed 316 laps, finishing 17th overall and seventh in class. In doing so, the car became the first and, to this day, only entry to complete the 24 Hours of Le Mans on 100% renewable fuels. An extraordinary achievement that was not unnoticed by the press – the media frenzy prompting race organisers, the ACO, to conceptualise the now well-established ‘Garage 56’ entry for cars showcasing alternative technologies.

Dumas re-joined Lupberger and Stirling for the final two rounds of the 2004 Le Mans Endurance Series, finishing a strong fifth at Silverstone before a very encouraging performance at Spa was curtailed by a bizarre accident. The team was running in third place and looked set for a podium before Dumas’ racing shoe snagged on a bolt in the footwell causing him to miss his braking point. Nevertheless, the pace was obvious and the team had proven that cars running renewable fuels were more than capable of competing with those using traditional ones.

Since 2004 the car has remained in the possession of its current owner who, in 2018, commissioned the former Nasamax technicians to conduct a complete restoration. Rebuilt from the ground up, and fitted with a brand new 5.5-litre Judd GV5 S2 V10 running on traditional fuels, the car is now ready for the next chapter of its competitive career and is eligible for both Peter Auto’s Endurance Racing Legends series, as well as Masters Endurance Legends.

Specification

• Engine: 5.5-litre Judd GV5 S2 V10
• Power: circa 650bhp at 7500rpm
• Gearbox: Ricardo six speed sequential gearbox with steering-wheel mounted, pneumatic paddle operated gear shift
• Length: 4,382mm
• Width: 2,000mm
• Suspension: Fabricated steel double wishbones pushrod operated twin damper and Coil Over Spring setup
• Steering: Rack-and-pinion, power assisted
• Brakes: AP Racing 380mm carbon discs front and rear
• Weight: approximately 900kgs

Note: Should a future owner wish to revert the engine back to the Nasamax’s original biofuel specifications, Judd have confirmed their ability to make the necessary accommodations.

Spares

The car is accompanied by a vast package of spare parts, too numerous to list here. Full details are of course available on request.

Where Can I Race?

Eligible for both Peter Auto and Masters’ Endurance Legends series.

Sam Hancock Says

Throughout the eighties, nineties and early noughties, Reynard were a formidable manufacturer with an enviable record of success in everything from Formula Ford, to Formula 3000, IndyCar and Formula One. Their 2Qk chassis was highly effective in the hands of the privateers who raced it, and I remember being unsurprised at the launch of the Nasamax project that the team had opted for the British marque’s latest offering.

That they would go on to write themselves into the history books as the first car to complete the 24 Hours of Le Mans on renewable fuel was extraordinary, but to do so while clocking circa 330kph along the Mulsanne – faster than any other car on the grid – was quite incredible. As the ACO now prepares to embrace renewable fuels throughout the grid at Le Mans, it’s clear that the Nasamax was years ahead of its time.

Critically, the car proved more than a one-trick pony. Thanks to that most able Reynard chassis as its core, and propulsion by the sonorous Judd V10, it showed competence at venues other than Circuit de La Sarthe including Silverstone, Spa and Monza.

Which is why I have absolutely no doubt that it can find its way to the sharpest end of Peter Auto’s Endurance Racing Legends grid – and quite possibly that of the younger Masters Endurance Legends field also.

Factor in the whopping spares package and recently completed ground-up restoration, I believe the Nasamax offers tremendous value for anyone seeking that life-affirming Judd V10 experience!”

For More Information

You can contact the seller direct at this link.