TVR T400R LM24 GT2 RSR Racing 2004

[JR98]

The TVR T400R has always added a certain something to GT2 racing, a car that has succeeded almost despite the sum of its parts: an in-house engine programme combined with the definite air that the project reflected the finest traditions of British specialist sportscar construction.

A total of seven racing chassis were built over the period 2001 – 2004, with the British GT Championship as the launch pad for the project and the Le Mans 24 Hours as a prime objective.

The car grew out of the factory’s success with the Tuscan Challenge and it was through this route that the teams and the drivers that would form the core of the TVR move into GT racing would come.

2004 would see TVRs racing both at home and away once more. Eclipse’s car scored a win at Oulton Park but was unable to mount a serious title challenge. (The car did win a second time however in a Britcar GT Open race at Donington Park with John Griffiths and Chris Ryan taking charge in the car’s last competitive outing to date).

There was however a new chapter to add to the T400R story, and it was copper coloured!

RSR Racing arrived with first one and then a pair of brand new, copper-painted T400Rs funded by Lawrence Tomlinson and pedaled by the team owner and the evergreen Nigel Greensall. The first car almost took a race win on its debut at a greasy Donington Park but thereafter luck rather deserted the squad.

The cars appeared at Sebring once again in a beautiful purple livery and in a new ‘wide-track’ guise – a work of engineering art from Dave Lampitt. Despite a troubled Sebring, both cars drove to the finish and in June, with one car effectively being run by the RSR squad, the feat was repeated at the Le Mans 24 Hours too. 8th and 9th in class and a full 72 hours of racing across the two endurance classics and two cars.

At the Donington Park FIA GT round we saw one car each from the Chamberlain Synergy and RSR squads. The TVRs also made their presence felt in the LMES with both the purple cars and the (now once again yellow and black) Racesports car both scoring good finishes. There was the potential for more however, but a wildly spinning Pierre Kaffer in an Audi R8 all but destroyed one of the purple cars at the Bus Stop at Spa, on a weekend when the cars had been showing true class leading pace.

Major Results 2004
British GT Championship - 2 second places
Donington Park FIA GT - 6th in class
24 Hours of Le Mans - 8th & 9th in class

Specifications:
Body: 2 Door Coupe
Drive: Front Engine Rear Wheel Drive
Engine: TVR "Speed Six" 4.0 Straight 6
Aspiration: Naturally Aspirated
Power: 400HP
Torque: N/A
Weight: 1,100 KG
Transmission: 6 Speed Manual