Tycoon and racing car enthusiast Lawrence Tomlinson is today unveiling a new speedster – and aims to boost British exports.

The Batley-born businessman’s Ginetta car manufacturing company has developed a new track car for 2016, the Ginetta G57.

It follows the success of Ginetta sports cars in the inaugural Le Mans Series driver and teams championship – in which Ginetta has been the dominant force in the LMP3 class, taking a clean sweep of class victories.

Lawrence Tomlinson, who has been appointed to the board of directors of the British Racing Drivers Club

The G57 – equipped with a 580bhp Chevrolet engine – has been designed with a view to increasing exports of the British brand, which already stands at about 50% of all sales. The car has been developed to be eligible for sports car competition across the globe.

Mr Tomlinson, chairman of Ginetta, said: “European Le Mans Series provided the perfect platform to further introduce the Ginetta brand to the European marketplace and we worked closely with the ACO (Automobile Club de l’Ouest) to ensure both the car and the series was a success.

“As a business, we must now continue towards our goal of increasing exports, which inevitably means creating a new and significantly faster car which is eligible for competition on a number of different global platforms.”

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Lawrence Tomlinson and Laura Tomlinson
Lawrence Tomlinson and Laura Tomlinson

Ewan Baldry, Ginetta technical director, said: “We’ve had a great season with European Le Mans, but Team LNT had only ever planned to contest one full season.

“For 2016, we will continue to support our customers who remain within the series, but as a manufacturer our attentions now turn to the Ginetta G57.”

The new Ginetta has already been accepted for competition in VdeV endurance racing and various open sports car championships. Mr Tomlinson, whose accolades include an honorary doctorate from Huddersfield University, trained as an engineer at Huddersfield Technical College and worked at turbocharger firm Holset during his early career.

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He is chairman of Leeds-based LNT Group, which comprises Ideal Care Homes, LNT Construction, LNT Software, LNT Solutions and Ginetta.

Ginetta has been building road and race cars since 1958 and is one of the few remaining British sports car manufacturers. Since its purchase by Lawrence Tomlinson in 2005, the company has grown to become one of the most significant players in motorsport, producing about 200 hand-built cars a year for customers worldwide.