The Zytek Z11SN is an

LMP2 A Le Mans Prototype (LMP) is a type of sports prototype race car used in various races and championships, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA SportsCar Championship, European Le Mans Series, and Asian Le M ...

-class racing car built by

Zytek Engineering Gibson Technology is an automotive and motorsport company based at Repton, Derbyshire, England. It was founded by Bill Gibson and Brian Mason as Zytek Engineering in 1981. Ownership history In 1981 Gibson and Mason founded the Zytek Group wit ...

since 2011. Powered by a 4.5-litre

Nissan is a Japanese multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the ''Nissan'' and ''Infiniti'' brands, and formerly the ''Datsun'' brand, with in-house ...

V8 engine, it is an evolution of the

Zytek 07S The Zytek 07S is a sports prototype race car, designed, developed and built by British manufacturer Zytek Engineering, Zytek, to compete in the Le Mans Prototype, LMP1 class in sports car racing, in 2007. It is the successor of the Zytek 04S. The c ...

and the Zytek 09SC, updated for the new

Le Mans Prototype A Le Mans Prototype (LMP) is a type of sports prototype race car used in various races and championships, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA SportsCar Championship, European Le Mans Series, and Asian Le M ...

regulations that were introduced in 2011. It was predominantly used in the

European Le Mans Series The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the fo ...

and the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...

, and a

Greaves Motorsport Greaves Motorsport is a British auto racing, racing team, currently competing in the European Le Mans Series and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 2006, Greaves Motorsport, founded and run by Tim Greaves, entered the Le Mans Series (LMS) for the fi ...

-entered Z11SN won the LMP2 categories of both contests in 2011. In 2014,

Jota Sport Jota Sport is a British sports car racing team. Founded as Team Jota by Sam Hignett and John Stack, Jota Sport is part of the Jota Group which is owned by Sam Hignett and David Clark. The team is based in Tunbridge Wells in England. Jota Sport h ...

won the LMP2 category of the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a Z11SN. In 2015, following Zytek's rebranding to Gibson Technology, the Z11SN was updated to the Gibson 015S.

History

For

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, the

rules were changed to reduce costs. As a result, the

Ginetta-Zytek GZ09S The Ginetta-Zytek GZ09S was a LMP1-class Le Mans Prototype race car, built by Zytek Engineering following their partial merger with Ginetta. It was an evolutionary update of the Zytek 07S, with the bodywork altered for the 2009 LMP regulations. T ...

became obsolete, and the Zytek 09SC, previously an

-class car, became an LMP1-class car. In response to this,

Zytek Gibson Technology is an automotive and motorsport company based at Repton, Derbyshire, England. It was founded by Bill Gibson and Brian Mason as Zytek Engineering in 1981. Ownership history In 1981 Gibson and Mason founded the Zytek Group wi ...

developed the car into the new Z11SN, and signed a deal with

NISMO , abbreviated as Nismo, is a division of Nissan Motorsports & Customizing focused in motorsport and performance-oriented car models for Nissan. Nismo was initially a company, , formed in 1984 as a result of a merger of two motorsport departmen ...

to use the

Nissan GT-R The Nissan GT-R (''Gran Turismo–Racing''; model code: R35; Japanese: 日産・GT-R; ''Nissan GT-R'') is a series of cars built by Japanese marque Nissan from 2007 to 2025. It has a 2+2 (car body style), 2+2 seating layout and is considered b ...

Super GT Super GT (stylized as SUPER GT) is a sports car racing series that began in 1993. Launched as the , generally referred to as the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC), the series was renamed to Super GT in 2005. It is the top level of ...

's Nissan VK45DE engine. This was a 4.5 litre

naturally-aspirated A naturally aspirated engine, also known as a normally aspirated engine, and abbreviated to N/A or NA, is an internal combustion engine in which air intake depends solely on atmospheric pressure and does not have forced induction through a turboc ...

V8 engine A V8 engine is an eight- cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. Origins The first known V8 was the Antoinette, designed by Léon Levavasseur, a ...

, producing approximately in LMP2 specification.

were the only team to enter a Z11SN in its first season, with their chassis having originally been a

. The car was immediately successful, with a debut class victory (and third overall) at the

6 Hours of Castellet The 4 Hours of Castellet is a Blancpain Endurance Series sports car race held at Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet, France. The race began in 1970 as a round of the European 2-Litre Sportscar Championship, and World Sportscar Championship ro ...

, driven by

Karim Ojjeh Karim Ojjeh (; born 27 August 1965 in Geneva) is a Saudi businessman and racing driver. He is the younger brother of Mansour Ojjeh and son of Akram Ojjeh. He is a director of TAG Finance S.A. In his spare time he races in the Le Mans Series an ...

, Gary Chalandon and

Tom Kimber-Smith Thomas Kimber-Smith (born 1 November 1984 in Ascot, Berkshire) is a British race car driver. He is currently driving the No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca FLM09 in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship PC class with Robert Alon. He has e ...

. The season would prove to be a successful one; Greaves Motorsport took the class victory at the

, and the LMP2 Team's Championship title in the Le Mans Series. At the end of the season, this chassis was retired, and three new ones were built. For

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

entered a Z11SN in the

(ELMS), finishing eighth in class in the first round of the season, the

. Greaves Motorsport bought two chassis, and also entered them in the ELMS. Both teams also entered that year's

, with Greaves' No. 42 car being the most notable entry – it was driven by former

Formula 1 Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

driver

Martin Brundle Martin John Brundle (born 1 June 1959) is a British former racing driver and sports broadcasting, broadcaster who competed in Formula One from to . In endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing, Brundle won the World Sportscar Champions ...

, his son

Alex Alex is a given name. Similar names are Alexander, Alexandra, Alexey or Alexis. People Multiple * Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Cook (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Forsyth (disambiguation), multiple people * Al ...

, and

Lucas Ordóñez Lucas Ordóñez Martín-Esperanza (born May 1, 1985) is a Spanish former racecar driver, who entered professional racing by winning a spot in a PlayStation 3 '' Gran Turismo'' competition. Racing for Nissan in the 2009 GT4 European Cup season, ...

. The No. 42 car finished eighth in class, whilst the other Greaves car finished fifth, and the Jota Sport entry failed to finish. Greaves Motorsport finished third in class the European Le Mans Series that year, whilst Jota Sport finished tenth. In

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, Greaves Motorsport and Jota Sport both remained in the European Le Mans Series with their Z11SN chassis. The season started successfully, with Jota Sport taking a victory at the

2013 6 Hours of Silverstone Thirteen or 13 may refer to: * 13 (number) * Any of the years 13 BC, AD 13, 1913, or 2013 Music Albums * ''13'' (Black Sabbath album), 2013 * ''13'' (Blur album), 1999 * ''13'' (Borgeous album), 2016 * ''13'' (Brian Setzer album), 2006 * ...

. Caterham Motorsport announced that they would be entering the

for the first time, using a Z11SN, with

Alexander Rossi Alexander Michael Rossi (born September 25, 1991) is an American racing driver, who competes in the IndyCar Series for Ed Carpenter Racing, Ed Carpenter. Rossi competed in Formula One at five Formula One Grands Prix, Grands Prix in . In America ...

, Tom Kimber-Smith and

Eric Lux Éric Roger Lux (born 19 December 1967) is a Luxembourgish businessman. He is the CEO of Genii Capital, co-founded with Gerard Lopez, an investment management and financial member of the Genii Group and former owner of the Lotus F1 Team. He ...

as their drivers. The entry was a joint venture between Caterham and Greaves Motorsport, with Greaves also entering a Z11SN under their own banner, driven by

Jann Mardenborough Jann Alexander Mardenborough (born 9 September 1991) is a British professional racing driver. He currently competes in the 2025 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup for HRT Ford Performance. In 2011, he became the third and youngest winner ...

, Lucas Ordóñez and

Michael Krumm Michael Krumm (born 19 March 1970) is a German former professional racing driver and current team manager at TOM'S in Super GT. Krumm is best-known for his successes in the All-Japan GT Championship, where he triumphed in the GT500 class in 1997 a ...

. Jota Sport also entered the event with a Z11SN, with their drivers

Simon Dolan Simon James Dolan (born 20 May 1969) is a British businessman and investor who made his fortune through accountancy services. Since 2020, he has opposed measures by the United Kingdom government linked to the COVID-19 pandemic and has made l ...

Oliver Turvey Oliver Jonathan Turvey (born 1 April 1987) is a British people, British professional racing driver, who most recently competed in Formula E, and is currently signed to DS Penske as a reserve driver and a sporting advisor. He was a notable Karti ...

and

Lucas Luhr Lucas Luhr (born 22 July 1979) is a German racing driver. He is a staple of the American Le Mans Series during the 2000s and early 2010s, winning the GT class with Porsche in 2002, the LMP2 category in 2006, and taking the overall LMP1 champion ...

. The Greaves Motorsport entry was the most successful of the three, as Mardenborough, Ordonez and Krumm finished fourth in the LMP2 category. Zytek Z11SN - Nissan - Jota Sport - 24 Hours of Le Mans 2014

Zytek Z11SN - Nissan - Jota Sport - 24 Hours of Le Mans 2014

In 2014, Jota Sport won the LMP2 class at the

2014 24 Hours of Le Mans The 82nd 24 Hours of Le Mans () was an 24-hour endurance racing (motorsport), automobile endurance racing event for teams of three drivers entering Le Mans Prototype and LM GTE, Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance cars held from 11 to 15 June ...

with their Z11SN chassis. For 2015, the car was substantially developed as the Gibson 015S, following the purchase of Zytek by

Continental AG Continental AG, commonly known as Continental and colloquially as Conti, is a German multinational automotive parts manufacturing company. Headquartered in Hanover, Lower Saxony, it is the world's third- largest automotive supplier and the fo ...

that established Gibson Technology. Jota Sport used it to finish second in the LMP2 class and 10th overall in the

2015 24 Hours of Le Mans Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number) *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak album), 2007 * ''15'' (Phatfish album), 2008 * ...

, 48 seconds behind the KCMG's Oreca. In 2016, Strakka Racing finished 4th in the LMP2 class and 8th overall in the

2016 24 Hours of Le Mans The 84th 24 Hours of Le Mans () was a 24-hour automobile endurance racing event held for teams of three drivers each fielding Le Mans Prototype and Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance cars from 15 to 19 June 2016 at the Circuit de la Sarthe, ...

using the Gibson 015S, the highest result for the prototype in the race.

Competition history

Complete European Le Mans Series results

(key) Races in bold indicates

pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the ra ...

. Races in ''italics'' indicates fastest lap.

Complete World Endurance Championship results

(key) Races in bold indicates

. Races in ''italics'' indicates fastest lap. * Points were scored with the Strakka-Dome S103

Complete American Le Mans Series results

(key) Races in bold indicates

. Races in ''italics'' indicates fastest lap.

References

{{WEC cars 2016 Le Mans Prototypes 24 Hours of Le Mans race cars Sports prototypes Zytek Engineering vehicles