Ligier Automotive strengthens its endurance network with the Ligier Junior Programme.
• Bridges between different championships to join the endurance pyramid of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO).
• A prize to join the JS P4 category in the 2025 Ligier European Series for the winner of the Junior classification in the 2024 Ligier JS Cup France.
• This award is in addition to the €250,000 offered to the JS P4 and JS2 R champions in the Ligier European Series.
• Prizes renewable each year to ensure the long-term future of the Ligier Junior Programme.
Magny-Cours (France), 2 June 2023 - Ligier Automotive, present at every level of the endurance racing pyramid, from the Ligier JS2 R to LMP2, launches the Ligier Junior Programme. The programme aims to create bridges between different championships, enabling young talent to progress in endurance thanks to a unique prize system.
The Ligier JS Cup France, the French series launched in 2019 by M3 and reserved for the Ligier JS2 R, is the first championship to integrate the Ligier Junior Programme. After five seasons with a varied line-up of young drivers, professionals and amateurs, the Ligier JS Cup France will launch a Junior classification in 2024. A Ligier JS P4 will be made available to the winner to compete for the following season in the Ligier European Series.
This award reinforces the prize system already in place in the Ligier European Series, the series launched in 2020 by Le Mans Endurance Management - which also runs the FIA World Endurance Championship, the European Le Mans Series, the Michelin Le Mans Cup and the Asian Le Mans Series.
Created as the first step in the ACO's endurance competition pyramid, in keeping with the "Spirit of Le Mans" by bringing together sports prototypes with the Ligier JS P4 and GTs with the Ligier JS2 R, since 2022, the championship has offered prize money to the champion(s) in each category to help them continue their progression up the ACO endurance pyramid: €100,000 for the JS2 R champion(s) to compete the following season in the Ligier European Series behind the wheel of a JS P4 and €150,000 for the JS P4 champion(s) to compete in the next season in the Michelin Le Mans Cup behind the wheel of a Ligier JS P320 (LMP3).
In 2022, two drivers were rewarded, and the programme is already bearing fruit. Gillian Henrion, the 2022 JS P4 Champion, won the first Michelin Le Mans Cup race at Barcelona on 22 April 2023, driving the #16 Team Virage Ligier JS P320 alongside Julien Gerbi. Meanwhile, Haytham Qarajouli, the 2022 JS2 R Champion, made a promising debut in this year's hotly contested JS P4 category, scoring his first podium finish in Barcelona on 22 April with teammate Ian Aguilera.
The Ligier JS Cup France championship will soon announce the details of the conditions for participation and the allocation of prizes in this Ligier Junior Programme.
Jacques Nicolet, President of Ligier Automotive: "For several years, we have been working to strengthen and develop the endurance sector we have created as a constructor of racing cars. The budget is often the main obstacle in the development of young drivers. The Ligier Junior Programme aims to identify young talent in championships that share the same values as our brand and to give them the means to continue to develop. The Ligier European Series is the ideal place to be discovered by seasoned endurance racing teams. And the existing prize system enables drivers to progress to the next level, the Michelin Le Mans Cup. With the creation of the Ligier Junior Programme, we are strengthening this base by creating a bridge for young drivers coming from the Ligier JS Cup France."
Benoît Abdelatif, Managing Partner of M3, Organiser of the Ligier JS Cup France: "The undeniable quality of the JS2 R, the amount of track time, both in practice and in races, and the costs optimised to the maximum, make the JS Cup France an undeniable breeding ground for the budding stars of French and international endurance racing. All that remained was to cultivate this fertile ground, to create, who knows, perhaps the new champions of tomorrow. We wanted to offer a real, affordable solution to help these young hopefuls emerge, and today we have done just that. Let's sow the seeds together!"
For more information on the Ligier JS Cup France, click here.
For more information on the Ligier European Series, click here.
For more information on the Ligier JS2 R, click here.
For more information on the Ligier JS P4, click here.
The Ligier Junior Programme in detail:
• Provision of a JS P4 for the winner of the Junior classification in the 2024 Ligier JS Cup France to take part in the 2025 Ligier European Series season (creation of the Junior classification in 2024 with the prize effective from 2024 for the 2025 Ligier European Series season).
• €100,000 for the JS2 R champion(s) to compete the following season in the Ligier European Series behind the wheel of a JS P4 (prize in effect since 2022).
• €150,000 for the JS P4 champion(s) to compete the following season in the Michelin Le Mans Cup behind the wheel of a Ligier JS P320 (LMP3) (prize in effect since 2022).