Ginetta boss: EVs aren’t built for racing

Lawrence Tomlinson is a man who knows a thing or two about motor racing. And cars. And cars that go motor racing. He won the GT2 class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2006, just one year after acquiring Ginetta, before masterminding the featherweight G50 racer to pave the way for hundreds of careers in professional racing. 

Now he's finally decided to try his hand at a road car. It certainly has the numbers - 600bhp and 1.2-tonne kerb weight - but beyond just that, what makes the Akula worth talking about? First up, let’s get the awkward question out of the way.

TopGear.com: It’s been five years since the concept was previewed. Why the hold-up?

Lawrence Tomlinson: We spent a lot of time redesigning the car, so the shape is quite different to the concept. We chopped the A-pillars and roof; everything externally. The positioning of the engine, fuel tank, exhausts and so on are still a nod towards the low moment of inertia at the centre of the car, allowing us to have the longer wishbones and so on. But it takes time when you’re working with a small team, and we wanted to get it right. The concept was rushed, but I’m happy with how the final thing has turned out. 

Why offer a six-speed manual gearbox as an option?

Gordon Murray’s T.50 has a six-speed manual and it is so well received. Porsche has also gone back to the stick shift, as some would call it, to result in a purer driving experience. The concept had a bespoke sequential, but I didn’t particularly like it when we took it testing. It felt rough. This six-speed H-pattern is much nicer to use, especially when you heel and toe.

But it is still important for us to offer a two-pedal car in some markets, so we’re developing that option too with a dual-clutch transmission. There are not many people now who like to use manual gearboxes, and this car is designed for those who really like to drive. But we know this may not be for everyone. 

What can we expect behind the wheel?

I think the thing that’s dramatic about the Akula is how it rotates at low speed. In a normal car, you think, “I must be reaching the grip limit now”, and so you’re a bit more delicate with the steering wheel as you’re nearing that point before breaking away. With this, you reach that point and you almost feel like you can steer again. It’s awesome. 

Slightly off-topic, but what did it feel like to win at Le Mans?

Very tiring. It’s obviously a massive relief when you do win, despite me being the worst of the three drivers in our team! But we had a strategy, which was to do a set lap time and stay out of the pits, and though we ended up in a big battle with Porsche towards the end, we came out on top.

I actually drove at Le Mans 23 months after gaining my race licence in a TVR, and then two years later I got into the GT2 car and that happened. It certainly feels better than coming fifth, which is what we did the year after.

What do you think are the biggest hurdles facing entry-level racers now, and how are you working on closing up the barriers?

Motorsport is expensive. But if you win the ultimate prize, like Lando Norris, you’re a multi-millionaire and you’re a global phenomenon. It’s like a lot of sports where you start at a low level and go through. If you’re a Premiership footballer you earn a s*** tonne of money, but if you’re in the third division you struggle a bit. 

From our point of view, we want to make racing as close and fair as it can be so talent shines through. And if you look at the people who have come through our junior grids, anyone who finishes in the top 10 becomes a world-class driver. Over 1,200 people have passed through our academy during my ownership, and it makes me very proud.

We can’t solve the whole problem, but we do have a fairly fixed price. If you’re looking for sponsorship as a driver, you know what your cost is for the season and you know what your budget is, so we try and keep things level. We also police our championships a lot, so the top three on the podium, their cars will go onto rolling roads so we can check power and dampers and so on. We’re very serious about that stuff.

What does the future hold for you and Ginetta?

We’re just going to continue what we’ve been doing so far. We’re standardising our product range and have announced the lineup of cars for the next five years. That’s great for all our customers because it means if they buy one of our new cars tomorrow, they’ll get at least four to five years’ worth of racing from them.

In the long term, as more OEMs go hybrid or EV - which aren’t particularly easy to race - I think the future is pretty bright for us. We’ll still be manufacturing cars specifically for racing, which EVs aren’t. We’ve got light cars that people enjoy driving, so that’ll continue to be our future. We aren’t looking to go electric, but we are always looking at options.