For Jonathan France, founder of the Embassy Racing team, the 2008 objective was clear: to build his own chassis by putting together a veritable dream team of designers and engineers, and entrust them to fast and experienced drivers to go up against the best teams in the LM P2 class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. So, Peter Elleray became responsible for the design of the car in line with his latest creations, the Bentley EXP Speed 8 and the Radical SR9. To power the WF01, Embassy Racing went for tried and true, the Zytek ZG348 V8 that had achieved a one-two in La Sarthe. Lastly, the drivers announced for the Le Mans Series season measured up to the project's level as Jonathan France trusted his two chassis to Warren Hughes, Mario Haberfeld, Jonny Kane and Joey Foster. Everything one needed to go up against the formidable Porsche RS Spyder, Lola B08/80 and MG EX265.

Narrowly ready for the opening round of the season at Barcelona, the No. 45 and No. 46 WF01s made complicated debuts in the Le Mans Series. Other than an eighth place finish in the class for Warren Hughes and Mario Haberfeld at the Monza 1,000km, major growing pains troubled preparation for the great Le Mans classic. At the 24 Hours of Le Mans, only one car was present at the technical and administrative verifications for the Warren Hughes/Jonny Kane/Joe Foster driver line-up. To mark the occasion, the LM P2 car beared a special decoration highlighting the Union Jack…but unfortunately it would not suffice!

At the heart of a class whose performance level was exploding, the newness of the Embassy project did not allow it to create a great deal of sensation. Nonetheless, the fifth place secured in qualifying (3:39:9260) put the No. 45 driver line-up ahead of certain exemplary competitors such as RML, Quifel ASM Team and Team Bruichladdich Radical. During the race - as the experiences in Barcelona, Monza and Spa foretold - the Embassy WF01 had mechanical issues before an incident forced its definitive retirement during the 15th race hour (213 laps completed).

Undeterred by this first experience at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Embassy Racing team pursued the Le Mans Series season with real determination and with the goal of proving the WF01's potential. Changes were made within the driver line-ups: Warren Hughes got with Jonny Kane and Darren Manning replaced Mario Haberfeld to progress alonside Joey Foster. At the Nürburgring circuit, the duo Manning/Foster finished the six-hour race in fourth place in the class while Kane/Hughes made it to seventh place. Progess which was confirmed at the last race of the season, at Silverstone, when the No. 45 and No. 46 cars crossed the finish line in sixth and 10th place in the LM P2 class. The first season of the Embassy WF01s, while difficult, ended on a positive note and observers seemed unanimous as to the certain potential of the car. The 2009 season whould surely confirm these suppositions and Jonathan France's men were probably thinking of victories to come.

But only two weeks after the race at Silverstone, the news dropped, brutally: the Embassy Racing team was closing its doors! Plagued with deep financial difficulties, the structure founded in 2003 could no longer continue its activities after its first season as a constructor. This astounded the endurance world given how demonstrative Jonathan France's initiative and determination had been.

One year after this awful announcement, in a last breath thanks to the support of several sponsors, the British entrepreneur entered a car in the finale of the 2009 Le Mans Series. At the time, the team was called Team WFR and the drivers were Darren Manning, Warren Hughes and Jody Firth, the latter having served as Team Manager in 2008. At the finish, a nice fourth place in the LM P2 class would conclude the race history of a car whose competitive level was most likely never really demonstrated. The financial crisis and the reluctance of many investors having cruelly put an end to the development of a car that specialists saw as a future stand-out in the class.

Pierre-Yves Riom / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO

Photo: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, THURSDAY JUNE 12 2008, QUALIFYING PRACTICE. Jonny Kane at the wheel of the Embassy WF01 in the Porsche turn.