Ligier Automotive | |
Foundation: | 2012 |
Founder: | Jacques Nicolet |
Location City: | Le Mans |
Location Country: | France |
Key People: | Nicolas Clémençon |
Industry: | Auto racing |
Parent: | Everspeed |
Ligier Automotive, formerly Onroak Automotive, is a French company which designs, manufacturers, and sells racing cars, specifically sports prototypes for various international series. Onroak was founded in 2012 by Jacques Nicolet who split the design, manufacturing, and sales divisions of his OAK Racing team into an independent company.[1] Onroak has since formed an agreement with Philippe Ligier to develop new cars under the Ligier title. On 31 December 2018, it was announced that Onroak Automotive would be rebranded to Ligier Automotive as part of a rebranding and reorganization of Everspeed's automotive assets.[2]
Onroak's roots can be traced to December 2009 when OAK Racing reached an agreement with Pescarolo Sport to take over their manufacturing arm, specifically the continued construction and co-development of the Pescarolo 01 Le Mans Prototype that had been designed in 2007. OAK, while under their previous title of Saulnier Racing, had been a Pescarolo customer since 2008, campaigning two cars in the European Le Mans Series.[3] OAK eventually became the sole developer of the 01 design when Pescarolo went into receivership, and campaigned and sold the cars under the OAK-Pescarolo moniker.
In 2012 new regulations for Le Mans Prototypes required teams to replace existing cars with new designs or alter them to meet the regulations. Onroak was created to develop a new design for the existing Pescarolo chassis as well as to pursue sales of the car to other teams seeking cars meeting the new regulations. Onroak then formed a partnership with Morgan Motor Company to brand the LMP2 class variant of their new design as the Morgan LMP2,[4] while the LMP1 version retained the OAK-Pescarolo title.
During 2013 Onroak formed a partnership with Guy Ligier to assist in the development and sales of an evolutionary version of the Ligier JS 53 Group CN prototype before designing a closed-cockpit variant known as the JS 55 in 2014.[5] [6] This agreement extended to naming rights for a new LMP2 car designed and constructed entirely by Onroak in early 2014, the Ligier JS P2. Onroak and Ligier followed the JS P2 with the JS P3 intended for the LMP3 class which debuted in 2015.[7]
In October 2016, Onroak bought the motorsports arm of American manufacturer Crawford Composites.
Onroak was selected as one of the four LMP2 manufacturers for the 2017 regulations. The Ligier JS P217 has competed in the LMP2 class in European Le Mans Series, IMSA SportsCar Championship and the FIA World Endurance Championship. Its chassis was also used by the Nissan Onroak DPi which competed in the DPi class of the IMSA sportscar championship.[8]
In September 2017 Onroak Automotive acquired Tork Engineering. Tork Engineering had many years of experience building racing cars. The French company was responsible for the closed cockpit Bioracing Series sportscar. In 2007 Tork was contracted by Mitjet Series to build the Yamaha powered Mitjet 1300.[9] In 2012 the Renault powered 2.0L version was launched. The car was available with four body types resembling BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi and Bugatti.[10] In 2015 Tork Engineering also built the tube framed racecar for the relaunched French Supertouring Championship. The car is powered by a 3.5L V6 engine made by Nissan.[11]
2004 | Ligier JS47 | Various 2.0L I4 | Formula 3 | |
---|---|---|---|---|
2007 | Mitjet 1300 | Yamaha 1.3L I4 | Mitjet 1300 | |
2008 | Tork BRS 4.0 | Sodemo-Nissan 4.0L V6 | Bioracing Series | |
2009 | Dacia Duster Glace | Nissan VQ30 3.0L V6 | Trophee Andros Silhouette | |
2010 | OAK-Pescarolo 01 | Judd DB 3.4L V8 | Le Mans Prototype 2 | |
2011 | Dacia Lodgy Glace | Sodemo 3.0L V6 | Trophee Andros Silhouette | |
2011 | Dacia Duster No Limit | Sodemo-Nissan VR38DETT 3.6L V6 | PPIHC Unlimited | |
2012 | Morgan LMP2 | Judd HK 3.6L V8 | Le Mans Prototype 2 | |
Nissan VK45DE 4.5L V8 | ||||
2012 | Mitjet 2.0L | Renault 2.0L I4 | Mitjet 2.0L | |
2013 | Mini Countryman | Sodemo-Nissan VR38DETT 3.6L V6 | PPIHC Unlimited | |
2013 | Ligier JS53 Evo | Honda K20A 2.0L I4 | Group CN | |
2014 | Ligier JS55 | Honda K20A 2.0L I4 | Group CN | |
2014 | Ligier JS P2 | Nissan VK45DE 4.5L V8 | Le Mans Prototype 2 | |
Judd HK 3.6L V8 | ||||
2015 | Morgan LMP2 Evo | Honda HR28TT 2.8L V6 | Le Mans Prototype 2 | |
Nissan VK45DE 4.5L V8 | ||||
2015 | Ligier JS P3 | NissanVK50VE 5.0L V8 | Le Mans Prototype 3 | |
2015 | Mitjet Offroad | Chevrolet LS3 6.2L V8 | Group T1 | |
2015 | Mitjet V6 ST | Nissan 3.5L V6 | FFSA Supertourisme | |
2016 | Crawford F4-16 | Honda K20 C2 | Formula 4 | |
2017 | Ligier JS P217 | Gibson GK428 4.2L V8 | Le Mans Prototype 2 | |
Nissan VR38DETT 3.8L V6 | Daytona Prototype International | |||
2018 | Ligier JS F3 | Honda K20C1 2.0L I4 | Formula Regional | |
Ligier JS F3-S5000 | Ford Coyote 5.0L V8 | Australian S5000 Championship | ||
Ligier JS P4 | Ford 3.7L V6 | Group E | ||
2019 | Ligier JS2 R | Ford 3.7L V6 | Ligier European Series | |
2020 | Ligier JS P320 | Nissan VK56DE 5.6L V8 | Le Mans Prototype 3 | |
2024 | Lamborghini SC63 | Lamborghini 3.8L V8 | Le Mans Daytona h | |
Ligier JS F422 | Ligier Storm 1.65L V4 | Formula 4 | ||
2025 | Ligier JS P325 | Toyota Twin-turbo 3.5L V6 | Le Mans Prototype 3 | |
Legend | ||
---|---|---|
Green | built by Tork Engineering | |
Blank | built by Onroak Automotive |