The Norma M30 is an

LMP3 A Le Mans Prototype (LMP) is the type of sports prototype race car used in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA SportsCar Championship, European Le Mans Series and Asian Le Mans Series. Le Mans Prototypes were creat ...

-spec sports prototype. The car is built by French constructor

Norma Auto Concept Norma Auto Concept is a French constructor of racing cars. It was founded in 1984 by Norbert Santos and Marc Doucet. History Hillclimbing and initial Le Mans entries Norma was founded by Norbert Santos and Marc Doucet in 1984 and initially desig ...

and designed by company co-founder Norbert Santos. The Norma M30 won the 2017 Michelin Le Mans Cup in its debut year entered by

DKR Engineering DKR Engineering is a racing team and preparation firm from Luxembourg, which competed in the FIA GT1 World Championship. The company was founded in 2004 by Kendy Janclaes as a branch of the PSI Experience racing team from Belgium. After running ...

History

Development

The LMP3 class was launched by the

Automobile Club de l'Ouest The Automobile Club de l'Ouest (English: Automobile Club of the West), sometimes abbreviated to ACO, is the largest automotive group in France. It was founded in 1906 by car building and racing enthusiasts, and is most famous for being the orga ...

(ACO) in 2015. Five constructors were selected by the ACO to build chassis for the class. Besides Norma, ADESS,

Ginetta Ginetta Cars Limited is a British specialist builder of racing and sports cars based in Garforth, Leeds, West Yorkshire. History 20th century Ginetta was founded in 1958 by four Walklett brothers (Bob, Ivor, Trevers and Douglas) in Woodbridge, ...

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 Champ ...

and Riley were selected. Ligier, ADESS and Ginetta launched their cars during the late 2015 and 2016 seasons. Norma launched their LMP3 prototype in February 2017. Nissan was appointed as the sole engine provider. The Nissan VK50VE engine produces 420 hp. The engine was previously used in road going vehicles such as the

Infiniti QX70 The Infiniti QX70, formerly called the Infiniti FX until 2013, is a mid-size luxury crossover SUV produced by the Nissan-owned Infiniti luxury vehicle brand between 2002 and 2017. The FX replaced the QX4 as Infiniti's mid-size SUV. It shares th ...

Romain Dumas Romain Dumas (born 14 December 1977) is a French racing driver and a Porsche factory driver. He first started out in karting and single-seater before becoming an expert driver in endurance racing, GT and sport-prototype. He has won the greatest r ...

tested the M30 at

Nogaro Nogaro (; Gascon: ''Nogaròu'') is a commune in the Gers department, Southwestern France. It is the site of a distillery of Armagnac brandy. Geography The commune is bordered by six other communes: Caupenne-d'Armagnac to the northwest, Sa ...

and Pau Arnos.

Competition history

American driver Colin Thompson was the driver for the M30's racing debut. Thompson, racing with Kelly-Moss Road and Race, raced the car at Sebring International Raceway during the 12 Hours of Sebring weekend. After a troubled first race, Thompson finished second in the second race. The Norma M30 was only beaten by a

Ligier JS P3 The Ligier JS P3 is an LMP3 Le Mans Prototype. It was created by Onroak Automotive, and named in partnership with former French driver Guy Ligier. It was built to meet ACO LMP3 standards, and is active in various LMP3 championships worldwide, such ...

, raced by

Nico Jamin Nicolas Jamin (born December 5, 1995) is a French racing driver who currently competes in the European Le Mans Series with United Autosports. Open Wheel Racing F2000 Jamin made his professional debut in the 2014 U.S. F2000 National Championsh ...

. In Europe the car competed in the

2017 European Le Mans Series The 2017 European Le Mans Series season was the fourteenth season of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest's (ACO) European Le Mans Series. The six-event season began at Silverstone Circuit, in conjunction with the FIA World Endurance Championship, on ...

, 2017 Michelin Le Mans Cup and other national series. Erwin Creed and Ricky Capo won the 2017 4 Hours of Monza with the Norma, entered by M.Racing- YMR. In the

Michelin Le Mans Cup The Le Mans Cup, previously the GT3 Le Mans Cup and currently known as the Michelin Le Mans Cup under sponsorship, is an international sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club ...

, a supporting series to 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 ...

, the LMP3 cars were the fastest on track.

, with Jean Glorieux and Alexander Toril, won three straight races. The team won also at Le Mans, Red Bull Ring and Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.

References

External links

Norma M30 on the company website
{{LMP3 championships Norma Auto Concept Le Mans Prototypes