Giovanni Lavaggi's desire to resurrect the driver-constructor continues apace, as the first Lavaggi LS1 has successfully cleared the stringent FIA crash test procedure ahead of a planned Le Mans Endurance Series debut next season.
The car, a Cosworth V8-powered LMP1 sports prototype, is the first of its kind to have been designed and built in Monte Carlo, and will race bearing the national white-and-red colours of the principality as Lavaggi,a qualified engineer who reached the 'heights' of F1 with Lotus-Pacific and Minardi in the mid-Nineties, attempts to revive the spirit of pioneers such as Bruce McLaren and Jack Brabham.
"The idea to participate in races with a car designed and built by myself was always in me," the Italian admitted, "Since I was a little boy, the high admiration which I always felt for the real big names in the automobile world was making me dream that I could be able to emulate them one day. And who knows? May be the fact of being born on 18 February - exactly the same day as Enzo Ferrari - has influenced my destiny by an unknown astrological effect, and keeps my passion burning."
The LS1 may also participate in the Le Mans 24 Hours and selected ALMS and Japanese AJSCS events.