Paul Ip (KCMG): “We underestimated the difficulty a little”

Representative of Nissan in Intercontinental GT Challenge this year, KCMGMore allows the Japanese manufacturer to return to the Blancpain GT Series this weekend at the 24 Hours of Spa.

The firm, which had a solid partner in Team RJN for many years in GT3, saw its historic relationship interrupted in the off-season, with the departure of Bob Neville's team to Honda, via the association with Jenson Button's Team Rocket.

From then on, no GT-R Nismo GT3 was lined up at the start of the Blancpain rounds Endurance Cup. A first for the manufacturer, one of the pillars of the category and titled in 2015 with the same Team RJN and the trio Chiyo – Buncombe – Reip.

With the support of Nissan, KCMG has therefore taken up the torch, but on the global stage of the Intercontinental GT Challenge. A discovery for Paul Ip's team, already at the helm of the GT-R Nismo GT3 entry during the last FIA GT World Cup in Macau, but not crowned with any convincing performance for the moment.

“The results are not as good as I hoped, comments Paul Ip. To be honest, we slightly underestimated the overall difficulty of the Intercontinental GT Challenge, with the five events around the world.

We also had the VLN program and the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring. Perhaps we have gone a little too far. I think that to operate in the right way, we will reduce the programs next year, to achieve the desired performance.

The majority of the time we can be in the top 5, but that's all we can aim for. It's hard to play for victory. Perhaps the podium is possible. »

Asked about the possibility of continuing with Nissan, Paul Ip still remains cautious. “We are not tied in any way to a single manufacturer. We also work with Honda in TCR, Toyota in Super Formula, Nissan in GT… We are flexible. As long as we have a manufacturer who supports us, we are satisfied. »

The Hong Kong boss also remains committed to a potential return to Le Mans. “We will come back in the future, but not the immediate future. I have a list of things to accomplish first. After that, we want to look back at what is one of the biggest events in the world.

But we are limited in resources. At Le Mans we can participate, but I like to win. We must perform. Regarding Hypercar, it must be a program with a factory. »

KCMG will also involved in the FIA ​​Motorsport Games end of year in Vallelunga in Italy, via the development of the first car hybrid, excluding F1, for the FIA ​​F4 category.