Press Release – November 8, 2019
In 2020, Ligier Automotive is launching its very first talent-spotting operation, the Ligier Scholarship Programme. Its aim: to offer drivers entered in a Ligier JS P4 in the 2020 Ligier European Series an opportunity to access professional motorsport in endurance in a sports prototype. The lucky winner will be accompanied by Ligier as well as receiving a prize equivalent to 100.000 euros to participate in the 2021 Michelin Le Mans Cup in a Ligier JS P320.
The Ligier Scholarship Programme is intended to offer a driver the opportunity to progress and break through in endurance racing. To be eligible, drivers must enter for the full 2020 season in a Ligier JS P4 in the Ligier European Series, the new one-make Ligier series created with the European Le Mans Series.
“This isn’t the first initiative we’ve taken to accompany and promote talents,” comments Jacques Nicolet, President of Ligier Automotive.
Since 2018, Ligier Automotive has been a partner of the Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year, whose aim is to spot the F1 star of the future among young British drivers. As part of the selection tests the finalists must demonstrate their skills at the wheel of a Ligier LM P3.
In single seaters with the Ligier JS F4s and Ligier JS F3s, the exclusive chassis of the F4 U.S. and F3 Americas Championships in the United States, Ligier Automotive North America has helped young drivers to hone their skills and climb the ladder in this discipline. In 2019, Dakota Dickerson, 2018 F4 U.S. Champion and winner of the F3 Americas in 2019, was offered a drive at the wheel of a Ligier JS P3 in the IMSA Prototype Challenge for 2020 with the MLT Motorsports team.
“The Ligier Scholarship Programme is a new step in our career as a constructor,” explains Jacques Nicolet. “We designed the Ligier JS P4 with a clear objective in mind: to allow drivers, gentlemen drivers and young drivers from karts or single-seaters to discover what it feels like to be at the wheel of a sports prototype, to learn the ropes and then move up the endurance ladder. When we decided to launch the Ligier Scholarship Programme, it seemed logical to start at the foot of the endurance pyramid with the Ligier JS P4.”
The Ligier European Series organised by the European Le Mans Series during the same race weekends is the ideal field for this initiative. This series has been devised with the ELMS as the first stage for drivers wishing to make a career in the world of endurance and reach the highest level, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Like the upper echelons the Ligier European Series mixes sports prototypes, the Ligier JS P4s, and GTs, the Ligier JS2 Rs.
“During their year in the Ligier European Series, drivers will benefit from the ELMS’s experience and professionalism of the teams in the organisation of such meetings,” adds Nicolet. “They will also be in close contact with the best teams and constructors in endurance.”
The eligibility criteria and selection process are simple.
To be eligible the individual has to be a driver in a Ligier JS P4 entered for the whole 2020 season in the Ligier European Series. Entries are open to everybody, all nationalities combined, men and women without any age limits.
Over the course of the season, candidates will be assessed by a selection committee. They will be judged on a range of criteria including pace, consistency and teamwork. At the end of the season up to six drivers will be selected to take part in a test session on the Magny-Cours circuit in France. The winner among the drivers in question will be chosen after tests at the wheel of a Ligier JS P4 and a Ligier JS P320, the new-generation LM P3. Their technical and strategic expertise, their career plan as well as their technical feedback on the cars will also be taken into account. There will only be one victor!
The winner will be offered a Ligier official driver contract that includes a prize equivalent to 100.000 euros to take part in the 2021 Michelin Le Mans Cup in a Ligier JS P320.
For further information and to enter for this new programme contact the following address scholarship@ligierautomotive.com
