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A presentation took place late yesterday afternoon, June 13, for the first prototype car designed and built in an emerging country: South Africa.

Greg Bailey is a renowned engineer whose passion for motorsport comes from his father, Peter.  The Bailey LM P2 is designed entirely by Greg and is currently fitted with a Ford engine.

This project dates back to 2010 and everything has been in place since July 2011.  During the past year there has been much development and the technical team behind the current car is Sbarta Sport.

The trio of drivers is composed of Sylvain Boulay, Michel Disdier and Vincent Capillaire. Vincent speaks about the their commitment to the project "The contact was through Sylvain Boulay. Greg (Bailey) came to France to meet with investors for his car. Following that I was told about the project and after spending a whole week together, I was part of the team. They started with a blank page and I think it's a project that Peter and Greg Bailey (father and son respectively, the second engineer and designer of the car) have had in their heart forever. Greg is incredible: almost everything about the car came from his head. It's stunning. They are new on the prototype racing, but they have vast experience of racing cars. We really hope to be invited to take part in the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans. In this case, just making the finish would be very emotional. Being a driver, when starting this kind of adventure is of course much more involved. Admittedly, this is a small manufacturer but they have great energy "

The ultimate goal for the Bailey family, as well as the drivers, is to take part in the Le Mans 24 Hours.  For that though, everyone needs to participate in races and accumulate some track time.  Some to learn the car, the others to learn about the car.

Taking part in the European Le Mans Series or even the World Endurance Championship is in discussion.

For now though there are many ongoing discussions about the the sort of partnerships and support that might be available from manufactures, and on which engines would fit in the car.

A new manufacturer might also bring a new engine, that's in the spirit of the Le Mans 24 Hours, the theatre for great sporting battles and technical development.

Photo : CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES DU MANS (LE MANS, SARTHE), 24 HEURES DU MANS, 13 JUNE 2012. Official presentation of the Bailey LM P2 car, Sylvain Boulay poses with the car.