It began at Donington...
The key characters and chance occurrences behind Team Jota
Jota’s first Le Mans success came in 2014, with its Zytek taking the honours in LMP2.
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Twenty-five years ago, Sam Hignett’s single-seater story petered out – and something more nourishing and sustainable began. A graduate of the Jim Russell Racing School at Donington under John Kirkpatrick, Hignett landed backing for Formula Vauxhall Junior from the Fina fuel company in 1999 – the same year Jenson Button was running in the those colours in Formula 3. Hignett’s campaign was slightly less successful.
Then he met an estate agent and property developer, John Stack, who had his own racing ambition. “Through Mark Lemmer at Barwell Motorsport, John was having a Honda Integra built to go and do the Spa 24 Hours,” says Hignett. “Then the bright lights of the Renault Clio V6 Trophy came our way. After that we bought an SR2 car from Mike Pilbeam to do John Mangoletsi’s FIA Sportscar Championship in 2002 and ’03.”
Sam Hignett, Formula Vauxhall Junior, 1999
Jeff Bloxham
First again – LMP2 win in 2015’s Spa Six Hours
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The demise of Reynard in 2002 proved the unlikely acorn for Jota’s growth into a sports car force. “Bill Gibson’s Zytek bought the rights to build Reynard’s little sports car, which became the Zytek 04S,” explains Hignett, who ticked off a major ambition with Stack when they raced one at Le Mans in 2005. “After that I don’t think either of us ever drove again. One, we’d run out of money, and two, we’d achieved what we wanted from a driving point of view. At the same time John sold his half of the business to me. Then I had a number of years running the Zytek for customers.”
Another ‘gentleman driver’ with the wherewithal to finance his racing ambitions upped the Jota ante. “We took Simon Dolan from never having been to a track day to winning Le Mans in 2014,” says Hignett.
It was around then that ex-McLaren director David Clark approached Sam about buying an Aston Martin GT4 – and was kept waiting. That was awkward. But instead of putting him off, Clark gelled with Hignett and invested in his team. Having played a part in the McLaren campaign that landed a Le Mans win with the F1 back in 1995, Clark intends to repeat the feat with his friend and business partner. This time it’s personal.