GIBSON’S HISTORY
Gibson Motorsport started in 1974 and, with more than 40 years experience, it’s grown to be a dominant force in UK motorsport and beyond
THE TEAM IS NOW BASED AT A BRAND NEW, STATE-OF-THE-ART FACILITY LOCATED NEAR DARLINGTON IN DURHAM, WHICH FEATURES A WORKSHOP, IMPROVEMENT CENTRE AND EVENT SPACE
Gibson Motorsport was founded in 2012 with the launch of the Gibson GH19. The company draws its experience from the design and development of several racing marques from the previous four decades, namely Vision, Nemesis RME and most recently the Nemesis FME.
The success of these brand names has led to multiple championships, as well as hundreds of wins, podiums, and lap records
TIMELINE
1973–1974
1973–1974
The first foray into competition was building a 1340cc Mini from a shell but then was sold in favour of Escort MK1 twin cam. Funded purely from Paul’s wages, the money soon ran out.
1974–1976
Moving to grass track racing, the cars were built using space frames with engines and components readily available at the local scrap yards. Numerous wins and championships followed.
1977–1982
After three years success designing, building and racing grass track cars, Paul moved to circuit racing, purchasing a Mallock MK18b in late ‘76. Keeping faith in Mallock, further purchases were made year after year with the MK20, MK20b, MK21 and finally the MK23b. However, with such poor reliability over the years, Paul decided he’d had enough and set out to design his own car.
1983–1989
In collaboration with Dave Amey (Arrows F1 at the time), the first Vision car was completed in late ‘82.
In 1983 and 1984 the car was always the bridesmaid to the impressive Will Hoy but modifications made to the car in late ‘84 to improve both aero and suspension design made it untouchable. As a result, the vision proved itself in ‘85, ‘86 and ‘87 with Paul winning two championships in a row. The third championship went to Nick Bridge using the same v85-5 car.
Following this success, numerous customer Vision Clubmans cars were built for circuit racing and the growing hill climb market.
1988–1989
The focus then shifted to Formula 3 but due to various circumstances, it wasn’t a success, with funding and poor wind tunnel data being its ultimate downfall.
1991
In late 1991, the decision was made to return to circuit racing and the team purchased a Prosport 3000. While the formula looked very promising at the outset, it disappeared within three years
1995
However, an opportunity arose in 1995 to design a rear-engine Clubmans car, the Nemesis RME was created, bringing a wealth of championships and lap records over the next seven years.
1997–2004
The Clubmans Championship was renamed Supersports in 1997, and this is where Nemesis was dominant, winning several driver’s titles and the majority of the constructor’s championships along the way.
2005–2009
After the decline of Supersports in 2005, the decision was made to purchase other manufacturers’ cars, rather than design one. Although championship wins followed over the next four years, reliability issues reared their ugly heads once more, fuelling the fire of another design project.
2009–2010
Using the latest 3D modeling software, the team set to work on designing the Nemesis K10 Clubmans Car. With a start date of 15th of November 2009, the car would take to the track in just four months and in March 2010 it won its inaugural races at Croft.
The K10 and later K11 cars have since won several championships in both proto and cup classes. The cars held all the lap records in proto, and the majority in cup — some of which still stand today.
2010
In 2010, Paul was approached by Dave Mckenzie to design a sports prototype, which would become the GH-19, the car would later lap the entire field in its first ever European event at Brands Hatch, smashing the lap record along the way.
2015
Having tasted success in most of the formulae Paul had competed in, a journey into historic racing was the next step, with the first of two Lola T70 MK3b cars arriving in early 2015. This helped the team to understand the formula, which enabled them to attract customers interested in having their own cars maintained and prepared. Together with the improvement centre, this adds value for the wide range of customers.
Paul wins the 1000k race at Donington for the first time in the Lola T70.
It was also in 2015 that the McLaren 650GT3 was acquired.
2016
Development of the Gibson GH20 CN.
Paul wins the 1000k race at Donington for the second time in the Lola T70.
2017
A Shelby Daytona Cobra 1965 and a Chevron B42 Hart 1978 were acquired.
Paul wins the 1000k race at Donington for the third time in the Lola T70.
