The Ligier JS P325 is a

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 ...

LMP3

race car Race, RACE or The Race may refer to: * Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species * Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...

designed, developed and built by French manufacturer

Ligier Ligier () is a French automobile and minibus maker created by former racing driver and rugby player Guy Ligier (1930–2015), specialized in the manufacturing of microcars. Ligier is best known for its involvement in the Formula 1 World Cham ...

to ACO 2025 3rd Generation Le Mans Prototype LMP3 regulations. The car is successor to the Ligier JS P320 and can be built from its predecessor. It is set to be eligible in ACO’s Le Mans Cup,

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 ...

championships in 2025 with the

Asian Le Mans Series The Asian Le Mans Series (ALMS) is an Asian sports car racing endurance series created by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and based in Asia. It is the successor to the defunct Japan Le Mans Challenge which folded in 2007 after its second s ...

in the following year. 25 examples are expected to be built before the 2025 racing season.

Developmental history

On July 7, 2024, the Automobile Club de I'Ouest formally announced that 2025 would be the first year of the third generation Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) cars using the previously announced,

Oreca ORECA (Organisation Exploitation Compétition Automobiles) is a French auto racing, racing team and race car constructor, founded in 1973 and run by Hugues de Chaunac, former team manager of F1 team Automobiles Gonfaronnaises Sportives, AGS. Or ...

built, Toyota V35A V6

twin-turbocharged Twin-turbo is a type of turbo layout in which two turbochargers are used to compress the intake fuel/air mixture (or intake air, in the case of a Direct fuel injection, direct-injection engine). The most common layout features two identical or mir ...

engines. All four previous constructors were retained for the new regulations. Upgrades to the car's cooling system were required due to the new twin-turbo engine. At the

4 Hours of Spa,

was present to showcase the new car with changes to its front end to increase airflow to the rear.

Olivier Pla Olivier Pla (born 21 October 1981) is a French racing driver who competed in the Asian Le Mans Series for AF Corse. Career French Formula Campus and Formula Three Born in Toulouse, Pla started his career in 2000 in French Formula Campus befor ...

tested the car at

Magny-Cours Magny-Cours () is a Communes of France, commune in the Nièvre Departments of France, department in central France. It is the home of the ''Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours'', a famous Motorsport#Motor racing, motor racing circuit (whose name is o ...

and

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, completing around over six test days. Test results were positive overall, with the new cooling system working well, however there was an issue with downshifting that was discovered and fixed with help from Oreca.

References

{{LMP3 championships Le Mans Prototypes Ligier racing cars