UK car overpowers field to snatch victory in final minutes

Spectators at the 4th round of the Le Mans Endurance Series at Nurburgring, Germany were treated to six hours of thrilling racing this weekend that culminated in a dramatic victory for the factory Zytek 04S, driven by the youngest partnership on the grid: Tom Chilton (20) and Hayanari Shimoda (21).

The Zytek demonstrated during qualifying that it had the speed to make an impact on the race, with a pole-setting lap time of 1min 44.275sec. The team’s start was not to be as smooth as anticipated, however, the car failed a stall test during post-qualifying scrutineering and was stripped of its leading time and put to the back of the grid for the start of Sunday’s race.

With 43 cars to pass, the Zytek faced a formidable challenge, but Shimoda demonstrated from lap one that the team had the determination to overcome the obstacles in front of it. A blistering opening series of laps saw the car reach the top ten by lap 11, 36 seconds behind the race leader.

By 40 minutes into the race, following a pit stop and a stop-go penalty, Shimoda had taken the Zytek up to fourth position and by the two hour mark third place was secured. Shimoda handed over to Tom Chilton who maintained the Zytek’s position until a pit stop saw the car drop back to fourth.

At four hours, back in third position, Shimoda took the wheel again for the final two hours of the race and quickly began to set lap times that showed the Zytek could be in contention for victory. Shimoda’s 142nd lap was the race’s fastest at 1min 46.042secs and, after a final pit-stop, the Zytek was less than half a minute down on the leading Audi.

With ten laps to go, the gap had narrowed to less than two seconds and at the beginning of lap 187 Shimoda took the lead at the first corner and held it for the final six minutes of the race to win by 11 seconds from Allan McNish in the Audi.

“It was very difficult to win coming from the back and it was only in the last dozen laps that I really believed it was possible,” said victorious driver Hayanari Shimoda. 

“We overcame some quite serious mishaps to win this race,” said Zytek team boss Trevor Foster. “It’s testament to the skill and commitment of the drivers, the expertise of the team and the speed and reliability of the car that we could win in such challenging circumstances.”

Zytek’s customer car run by Team Jota also ran a successful race to finish in sixth position, placing them sixth in the championship.

Zytek now leads the LMES constructors’ championship and Shimoda heads the drivers’ table. The final race of the series takes place in Istanbul on 11 November.

About ZytekZytek was formed in 1982 to design, develop and manufacture electronic products for motorsport applications.

Today, the Zytek Group comprises five highly-focused divisions which together are able to provide a true single-source for both individual motor racing teams and for one-make racing series.

Zytek Systems develops and supplies road and race-car engine management systems, and control systems software and engineering for vehicle systems integration and dynamic control applications.

·         MZT is dedicated to the development of advanced road car powertrain control systems solely for Motorola’s Automotive Group.

·         Zytek Electric Vehicles supplies one of the world’s highest power density electric traction motors and integrates electric and hybrid powertrain systems for concept and production vehicles.

·         Zytek Engineering Engine Technology Division designs, develops and manufactures high-performance engines for motorsport applications. The company is the sole supplier of engines for Formula 3000 worldwide and undertakes all mechanical engineering development for the other Zytek Group companies.

·         Zytek Engineering Vehicle Technology Division specialises in motorsport chassis design and development, providing turnkey solutions for any racing formula. It calls on the expertise within the Zytek Group to integrate electronic systems, engines and harnessing as required by each customer.

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