24 Hours of Le Mans

Planetlemans talks to Jonathan France

© Embassy Racing

A dream treasured for years that finally comes true. Not many people can claim such an achievement but a few weeks ago a cold English afternoon saw Jonathan France’s first Embassy prototype hit the track for the first time, an “incredible emotional experience” in his own words. But let’s look back at the origins of it all and how an ambition became a reality.

PLM- About a year ago you started this project which is now ready to race at Barcelona, how did it all start?

JF- It had always been an ambition of mine to produce my own car, even before Embassy Racing was founded. In fact, sports cars and prototypes lend themselves nicely to that opportunity so about 12 months ago we started this project. Looking back it has been a very short gestation period between saying “yes” and getting the car actually on the track.

PLM- So, are you satisfied with the current results?

JF- You know, everything is happening so quickly that I have not had time to make a full balance. True, some things could have gone smoother but above all this has been a very valuable experience in management, things go better than you imagine in some difficult areas and in others you find drawback where you did not expect them.

PLM- But you are on schedule, almost…

JF- We built a nice margin for error time wise and we needed it, that’s why we missed the Paul Ricard test. Our biggest problem was the composite work, mechanically the car was built quickly but for the composite we cme in when the factories were fully booked with F1 work. We’ll be on time at Barcelona with both cars and our last test in Adria was very encouraging.

PLM- How did you feel when the cars hit the track for the first time at Snetterton?

JF- It was an incredible emotional experience, difficult to describe. I had wanted to do that for a long time and seeing not one but both cars on the track was very special. In some aspects it resembled the birth of a child although in fairness you cannot compare it to such an event.

PLM- How is the cooperation with Zytek?

JF- Our faith has not been misplaced. They are very professional on every aspect, the engine, the gearbox, everything works really fine. The engineers working with us are of the highest calibre, I can only say that our relationship has gone off to a wonderful start and I have a lot of respect for what we’re doing together.

PLM- What are your objectives for this first season? What would you like to achieve?

JF- That’s the million dollar question, isn’t it? We have as equal a chance as everyone else in LMP2. My aim is to win the LMP2 championship. This year, next year or the one after but win the championship. Short term clearly we need to achieve consistency for the cars, drivers and reliability. So far the car has been very reliable and I expect us to perform among the top 4 or 5 runners, I’d be disappointed if we weren’t there.

PLM- What about the business aspect? What’s the future plan for Embassy as constructor?

JF- My aim is to develop Embassy Racing also as a viable business proposition. A main objective is to build an engineering centre of excellence like Prodrive or Oreca. We want to win, this is the best way to achieve your business objectives in this sector but there needs to be a spin-off if we want this to be a profitable enterprise. You need to sell cars but you cannot make a profit selling 1 or 2 LMP2 cars a year, ask the people at Radical and they will tell you the same. This team is my shop window and to make it successful I need top performance on the track.

PLM- What about sponsorship?

JF- We have a major sponsorship deal with a company from Eastern Europe but are still looking for some others to come on board. This sponsorship enabled us to make it a 2 car effort so you see this is fundamental. In this business you need also constant development which means constant reinvestment. If you would make a million pounds in profit you’d reinvest a million and one pounds in R&D.

PLM- Are you now fully dedicated to the racing team?

JF- I am still fully occupied with my day job which is commodities trading but I have to say I split the time equally between this and motor racing. I have a very good management team at my business which allows me to run the racing team and the same can be said of them, we are developing a very strong management staff at Embassy Racing too.

PLM- We knew from day 1 about Warren Hughes but what drove the choice for the other drivers?

JF- Jonny (Kane) has never had quite the chance he deserves, he is very underrated. His technical feedback is good and he has outright speed without question. We needed drivers that can carry the car on their own, and Jonny can do that since he has the same mould as Warren: extremely safe but fast and technically competent. Mario (Haberfeld) and I gelled on a personal basis during our trip to Interlagos. Challenged with a first time drive he did not put a mark on the car or a wheel off the track, like Jonny he is also a British F3 champion, they both won in successive years as a matter of fact. And Warren, well, I guess Autosport said Warren is the best British driver ever not to be at Formula 1. Joey (Foster) is a bit of my wild card, I like giving youngsters a chance. He had never had sports car experience or driven long stints like we’re used to at the LMS but he was strong at our Adria testing and certainly not the slowest!

PLM- So you take one car to Le Mans, a safe bet. What would you like to get there?

JF- We’ve got to finish. It’s been a race of attrition lately in LMP2 so if we finish we should be on a decent position. A podium on our first attempt would be just a dream, if you offer it to me now I’d sign immediately.

And so a bold (but calculated) move of a skilled businessman turned into a 2-car effort that dares to challenge a highly competitive class, even with the Porsches coming to Europe. Jonathan France’s skill is generating the vision, he indicates the direction and how to get there. On the track he has a very capable array of talented people to execute on that…exactly what you need in order to win.