Michael Simpson

Michael James Simpson (born 13 September 1983) is a British racing driver set to compete in the GT2 European Series for CMR. A staple of Ginetta's racing ventures, he raced in the premier LMP1 class of the FIA World Endurance Championship and now serves as Ginetta Motorsport CEO.

Career Simpson began karting in 1991, competing until 2011. During his karting career, Simpson won the Super One Series three times in Rotax Max and once in Formula KGP, as well as the 2003 Rok Cup International Final in the Senior class.

In the midst of his karting career, Simpson made his car racing debut in 2004, competing in Renault Clio Cup UK. Simpson made his full-time return to cars in the 2011 British GT Championship for Stark Racing, as he began a long-term relationship with Ginetta Cars. In his first season in the series, Simpson scored two points finishes, with a best result of ninth at Rockingham as he ended the year 25th in the GT3 standings.

Simpson nursing a damaged Ginetta G50 at Oulton Park in 2013.

Returning to the series for 2012, Simpson competed for Century Motorsport in the GT4 class at Oulton Park, finishing third in race two. Following that, Simpson returned to the GT3 class at Rockingham for Optimum Motorsport, before returning to Team LNT for the final two rounds, in which he scored a best result of fourth at Silverstone. During 2012, Simpson made various one-off appearances for Ginetta-fielding teams in Europe, most notably competing for Nova Race at the 24 Hours of Nürburgring and in the Ginetta G50 Cup Italy. After returning to British GT with Team LNT for 2013, Simpson switched to Challenge Endurance GT/Tourisme V de V for the following year, qualifying on pole four times in the seven race season.

Continuing with Team LNT for 2015, Simpson raced with them in both the LMP3 class of the European Le Mans Series and the GT3 class of the British GT Championship. In the former, Simpson took a lone podium in the season-opening Oulton Park round as he ended the season eighth in the GT3 Pro-Am standings. Competing in all but one round of the latter, Simpson finished second on debut at Silverstone and took his only win of the season at Estoril en route to a fourth-place points finish.

Remaining in British GT for 2016, Simpson raced for Tolman Motorsport in GT3 Pro-Am for the second consecutive season, scoring a best result of sixth in race two at Snetterton. In parallel, Simpson raced in the Challenge Endurance V de V for Team LNT, taking four wins and securing the PFV class title at Estoril. At the end of the year, Simpson joined ARC Bratislava to race in the 2016–17 Asian Le Mans Series in the LMP3 class, taking a lone win at Buriram to end the season third in points.

Simpson's No. 5 Ginetta G60-LT-P1 at the 2018 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Simpson remained in the V de V Endurance Series for the rest of 2017, driving for both Simpson Motorsport and Pegasus Racing as he scored two wins to end the year third in the PFV points. In parallel, Simpson drove in select rounds of the British GT Championship for Century Motorsport in the GT4 Pro-Am class, in which he finished on the class podium at Donington Park. The following year, Simpson primarily raced in the 24H Proto Series for Simpson Motorsport, coming runner-up in the Continents series after winning all three races, and winning a truncated European Series at Silverstone. During 2018, he also made his FIA World Endurance Championship debut at the 24 Hours of Le Mans for CEFC TRSM Racing in the LMP1 class. Following a cameo appearance in the LMP3 class of the 2018–19 Asian Le Mans Series for ARC Bratislava, Simpson returned to LMP1 competition by racing in the first four rounds of the 2019–20 FIA World Endurance Championship for Team LNT. After the Ginetta LMP1 programme met its demise in early 2020, Simpson didn't race for the rest of the year, only returning to racing in 2021 with a one-off appearance in the British GT Championship for CWS Engineering in GT4 Pro-Am.

Having been a Ginetta factory driver since 2008, Simpson left the role in 2022 to become the brand's Head of Motorsport. Simpson then made select appearances in the 2022 24H GT Series for CWS Engineering, and the 2023 British GT Championship for Toro Verde GT in GT4 Pro-Am, in which he finished on the class podium three times. Simpson then joined CMR for 2024, as he raced for them at the 12 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps in GTX and select rounds of the European Endurance Prototype Cup in LMP3. Amid a promotion to Ginetta Motorsport CEO in 2025, Simpson made a number of cameos with CMR, most notably taking an overall podium in race one of the Spa round of the GT4 European Series.

At the start of 2026, Simpson raced in the UAE races of the 2025–26 24H Series Middle East for CMR in GTX, finishing on the podium in both races to secure the class title. For the rest of the year, Simpson remained with the team to race in the GT2 European Series.

Karting record Karting career summary

Racing record Racing career summary

† As Simpson was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.

Complete GT4 European Cup results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 DC Pts 2009 Team LNT Ginetta G50 GT4 SIL1 SIL2 ADR1 ADR2 OSC1 OSC2 SPA1 SPA2 ZOL1 ZOL2 ALG1 ALG2 18th 8

Complete British GT Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position in class) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap in class) Year Entrant Chassis Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DC Pts 2011 Stark Racing Ginetta G55 GT3 GT3 OUL1 OUL2 SNE BRH SPA1 SPA2 ROC1 ROC2 DON SIL 25th 3.52012 Century Motorsport Ginetta G50 GT4 OUL1 OUL2 NUR1 NUR2 14th 27 Optimum Motorsport Ginetta G55 GT3 GT3 ROC BRH SNE1 SNE216th28.5 Team LNT SIL DON 2013 Team LNT Ginetta G55 GT3 GT3 OUL1 OUL2 ROC SIL SNE1 SNE2 BRH ZAN1 ZAN2 DON NC 0 2014 Team LNT Ginetta G55 GT3 GT3 OUL1 OUL2 ROC SIL SNE1 SNE2 SPA1 SPA2 BRH DON NC 0 2015 Team LNT Ginetta G55 GT3 GT3 Pro-Am OUL1 OUL2 ROC SIL SPA BRH SNE1 SNE2 DON 8th 54 2016 Tolman Motorsport Ginetta G55 GT3 GT3 Pro-Am BRH ROC OUL1 OUL2 SIL SPA SNE1 SNE2 DON 12th 37 2017 Century Motorsport Ginetta G55 GT4 GT4 Pro-Am OUL1 OUL2 ROC SNE1 SNE2 SIL SPA1 SPA2 BRH DON 9th 71 2021 CWS Engineering Ginetta G56 GT4 GT4 Pro-Am BRH SIL DON1 SPA SNE1 SNE2 OUL1 OUL2 DON2 NC† 0† 2023 Toro Verde GT Ginetta G56 GT4 GT4 Pro-Am OUL1 OUL2 SIL DON SNE1 SNE2 ALG BRH DON 7th 60

† As Simpson was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.

Complete European Le Mans Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 Rank Points 2015 Team LNT LMP3 Ginetta-Juno LMP3 Nissan VK50 5.0L V8 SIL IMO RBR LEC EST 4th 43

Complete Asian Le Mans Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 2018 CEFC TRSM Racing Charlie Robertson Léo Roussel Ginetta G60-LT-P1 LMP1 283 41st 5th