Ligier has introduced their endurance-focused JS2 RS and this week’s Racecraft & Race Cars Roundup has all the details. I also have more racecraft tips, a GT3 testing opportunity, changes to GT2 and much more!
Racecraft Tips & Techniques
On-Track
Scott Mansell from Driver 61 joins Samir Abid from Your Data Driven for a packed Episode 7 of his podcast. In it you will learn how you can apply some of the driving secrets that sit behind his exclusive racing driver masterclasses. You can listen here.
Grassroots Motorsports asks, are you prepared to do a bailout? “Pretty much every major high-profile racing series has a minimum standard stating how quickly drivers must be able to exit a race car. These standards are enforced via actual tests where drivers must demonstrate the ability to extract themselves from the car in under a predetermined time while fully geared, fully belted and essentially in competition-ready condition.” Read more here.
Terence Dove explains why racing drivers see life differently. “I reckon we’ve all had these kinds of experiences, Senna famously got right into it and talked about his transformational experience of being close to God at Monaco. I think we all instantly relate to that too, even if you don’t buy into religion at all, we all know exactly what he’s going on about.”
Off-Track
FlowRacers discusses female racing driver fitness and provides an accompanying workout program. “The physiological makeups of male and female drivers are largely the same for the purpose of creating training plans. This means you can create programs according to a standard set of physiological tests, and the training exercises do not need to be sex specific. What is often a more important consideration is the planning of the training of adolescent female drivers, as full physiological growth has not yet been achieved.”
Race Car & Series Developments
Creventic and Porsche have unveiled a new partnership initiative, presenting the fastest drivers competing in the second edition of the Michelin 992 Endurance Cup powered by Porsche Motorsport with a GT3 test opportunity. Announced last Wednesday, the opportunity is available for any drivers racing in the event on Sept. 9 that have not previously participated in any driver development or factory program with Porsche or any other manufacturer.
“This initiative is about creating real opportunities”, said Christoph Hewer, Specialist One-Make Series at Porsche Motorsport. “We want to help young drivers make the leap from promising talent to professional athletes, and connecting with Porsche Motorsport allows the young drivers to showcase themselves.”
Slashgear asks the question, is the Mazda Miata the most-raced car in the world? “Mazda’s ongoing support of these Miata-focused grassroots racing series, along with the generous prize money that it has provided, has helped the Spec Miata and MX-5 Cup series to attract a steady stream of up-and-coming drivers from around the U.S. and Canada, where the races take place.”
Stephane Ratel is hopeful SRO Motorsports Group’s overhaul of the GT2 European Series for next year, which will introduce a Silver class and also permit Gold and Platinum-rated drivers for the first time, will provide a significant boost to the grids.
After enforcing the series to Bronze-rated drivers only, and selected Silver-rated pilots in a Pro-Am class, SRO will permit Gold and Platinums, paired with an Bronze, as well as the launch of a Silver class for 2026.
It will also be part of the SRO GT Academy program, where the fastest Silver-rated driver racing a Maserati MC20 GT2 or a Mercedes-AMG GT2 will be awarded with a full season GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup drive in a Mercedes-AMG GT3 customer team.
Seven years on from the unveiling of the Ligier JS2 R, Ligier has taken the wraps off a new iteration of the concept: the JS2 RS, designed for endurance racing and extreme track work. ““With the Ligier JS2 RS, we wanted to take performance further while keeping what made the JS2 R successful—an affordable, reliable, and fun car to drive for all enthusiasts, especially gentleman drivers.” – Jacques Nicolet, President of Ligier Automotive.
ORECA boss Hugues de Chaunac has welcomed the fact that the recently-announced next-generation LMP2 rules will feature multi-marque competition, with Ligier joining the firm as one of the two licensed constructors. “Now it’s two manufacturers, but the target is still to do the best car. LMP2 is good for us because ORECA likes competition. We like fighting against somebody, like we do in LMDh.”
Ferrari incorporated several aerodynamic-related changes needed for its car to comply with LMGT3 regulations into its new 296 GT3 Evo. The Italian manufacturer, which took the wraps off its updated GT3 challenger last week at Spa-Francorchamps, confirmed that its aim with the Evo package was to produce a single-specification 296 GT3 Evo that could compete across all GT3-eligible championships.
Meanwhile, Ferrari has released video of the test drivers recounting development of the new GT3 race car.
Competitors aiming to contest the inaugural running of the FIA TCR World Ranking Final event can register as of 3 July, 2025, with applications open until 30 October for the event taking place from 21 – 23 November at Italy’s Autodromo Vallelunga Piero Taruffi. Go here for more information.
2026 Calendars
WSC president Marcello Lotti has confirmed that the 2026 FIA TCR World Tour calendar will maintain a similar structure to the current season, with eight to ten race weekend planned across four continents. More details will be made available after the draft has been submitted to the FIA, with the next FIA World Motor Sport Council taking place in October in Texas.
Maintaining a roster of all-star tracks with events that support both the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship as well as INDYCAR weekends, the 2026 Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup schedule changes only slightly from the 2025 version, as the series makes a return to the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway in September, displacing a return to Barber Motorsports Park. Full details can be found here.
Ligier Automotive and Le Mans Endurance Management have announced the renewal of their partnership for the Ligier European Series for the next three seasons. Launched in 2020, the series continues to grow and has established itself as a key platform for drivers and teams beginning their endurance racing careers.
From the Sim Racing Roundup
How Prema Racing prepares their drivers for the track using simulators is just one of the things you will learn in last week’s Sim Racing Roundup. You will also find out how BMW Motorsport put their sim racers through their paces in an alpine bootcamp, find out how iRacing helped create the layout for NASCAR’s Chicago street race and so much more!
Track Days
James Fisher of Country Life magazine had the opportunity to take part in Goodwood’s ProDriver Experience and he absolutely loved it. “These cars are formidable and they are fast. But one of the interesting things about fast cars is that, when you drive them fast, you don’t have time to remember that you are anxious. You are too busy concentrating on being fast and avoiding walls.”
Siemens Digital Industries Software has announced that Briggs Automotive Company (BAC) will use the Siemens Xcelerator software portfolio to develop the next-generation Mono, its single-seater, road-legal race car.
Safety Fast: Driving Aston Martin’s Formula 1 Safety Car “While individual safety cars change for each event, the driver does not. Bernd Mayländer has been the FIA’s official safety-car pilot for more than a quarter of a century, a third of the entire history of the F1 championship.”
Racing & Testing Opportunities
The Winfield Racing School has released a number of European single-seater test dates. Full details can be found here.
The Yacademy Winter Series have revealed their 2026 dates. Get all the details here.
Author: Mark Boudreau
Mark is the publisher of Motorsport Prospects. As a lawyer, he applies his legal background and research skills to assist race drivers by showcasing the resources they need to make their motorsport careers happen.
