Bailey LMP 2 a Le Mans challenger

Employing lessons learnt in a decade of building and racing historic race car replicas, the Bailey LMP 2 is an aerodynamic sports-racer set for its world debut at the 2012 Le Mans endurance series.

Bailey, a brand foreign to the world, is well known and respected in motorsport-mad South Africa, where a variety of GT-40, Porsche 917 and Ferrari P4 lookalikes have emerged from the Boksburg, near Johannesburg, workshops of Bailey Edwards Cars in the past 10 years.

In past years he raced in the Porsche 924 Challenge where he set numerous lap records before moving across into the highly competitive Shelby Can-Am series. He now competes in the national Historics series in his own replica Ford GT40.

But the Bailey LMP 2 is the result of his dream to run a car bearing his name at Le Mans. "As Derek Bell once said, `there are 18 FI Grands Prix a year, but only one Le Mans'," he said.

The LMP 2 is now being prepared for the international series, which starts with 12 hours of Sebring in March.

Then follow the Six Hour at La Castellet, near Marseilles in April, 1000km of Spa Francorchamps in Belgium in May, and then the real deal, the Le Mans 24-Hour in June, the world's most prestigious and romantic endurance race.

Five more enduros are also on the calendar after Le Mans: Imola, Silverstone, Estoril, Petit Le Mans in Atlanta and the six hours of Zhuhai, in China.

The Bailey team will include a trio of French enduro specialist drivers because the South Africans don't have much experience of endurance racing.

Woolf Barnato was one of the stars of early Le Mans, with three consecutive wins, but that was a while ago. (1928, `29 and `30.) "So we are teaming up with international partners for the first year of competition," spokesman Dirk Vale said.

The French drivers, Michel Disdier, Vincent Capillaire and Sylvain Boulay, the latter a 10-times Le Mans veteran, are testing the car in South Africa now.

The carbon-fibre and honeycomb monocoque 900kg car uses a 5.0litre 375kW Ford V8 engine, Ricardo sequential six-speed gearbox, chromoly double wishbone suspension all round, AP Racing six-piston aluminium calipers all round, electric power steering and a full CFD body design.

Bailey is making a South African (RSA) version and another for the international market, which offers buyers a choice of homologated BMW, Lexus, Toyota or Nissan power.

If passion is a measure, the Bailey is set to reach lofty heights in international motorsport. Roll on Le Mans.