GMS Durango LMP1

In 2000, Durango commissioned GMS to build a Le Mans Prototype. The car was completed by April, and was first run by Emanuele Naspetti at Vallelunga on 26 April 2000; the Italian gave a positive opinion about the new car.[2] Durango lodged an entry (with Naspetti selected to drive) in the third round of the Sports Racing World Cup, held at Spa-Francorchamps in May, but did not attend the event.[3] Instead, the car made its debut, with Andrea de Lorenzi and Soheil Ayari as its drivers, three months later in round six, held at Brno, and took tenth place overall – and eighth in the SR class. [4] Jean-Philippe Belloc replaced Ayari in the next round, held at Donington Park, and this time Durango finished ninth overall, and sixth in class.[5] Ayari returned for the Nürburgring, but a gearbox failure forced the LMP1 into retirement after 52 laps.[6] The driver lineup was unchanged for Magny-Cours, and a sixth place overall (and in class) duly followed.[7] For Kyalami, local driver Earl Goddard replaced de Lorenzi as Ayari's partner, and the pair managed to take fifth overall and in class.[8] Durango finished the season ranked seventh in the SR Team's championship, with 23 points.[9]

The 2001 season started with Goddard attempting to run himself and Ayari in the 24 Hours of Daytona in February; however, they never competed in the race.[10] It would be another five months before another GMS Durango LMP1 entry was lodged; this time, Durango ran the car (driven by Ayari and de Lorenzi) at the fifth round of the FIA Sportscar Championship, which was the Magny-Cours race. However, the BMW engine turned sour, and the team were unable to start the race.[11] Durango attempted to run the pair in the sixth and eighth rounds of the series, held at Donington Park and Nürburgring respectively, but didn't run in either event.[12][13] The team then entered the 6 Hours of Vallelunga, a non-championship event; with Gabriele de Bono and Marco Cioci behind the wheel, they won the SR1 class (by virtue of being the only SR1 entrant), and took second overall.[14]

Durango made one notable change to the LMP1 for the 2002 season; they replaced the BMW V8 engine with a Judd GV4 V10.[15] This did not have a major impact on the car's performance; Mirko Venturi and Alessandro Battaglin took seventh overall, and sixth in the SR1 category.[16] However, this was not a sign of things to come, as a gearbox failure at Estoril,[17] a marshalling error at Brno (where Belloc had been recalled, in place of Venturi),[18] and another gearbox failure at Magny-Cours (Gianmaria Bruni joined the team for this event) saw the team retire from three races on the trot.[19] The team skipped the fifth round of the series, before returning for the sixth, held at Spa-Francorchamps; this time, Bruni and Battaglin were able to finish fifth overall, and in class, despite having a gearbox failure with just over 30 seconds of the allotted race time remaining.[20] Like 2000, Durango finished the season in seventh place in the SR1 Team's championship, albeit with 14 points on this occasion.[21] However, the car would have one last race, at the 6 Hours of Vallelunga; Bruni was partnered by Leonardo Maddalena and Michele Rugolo, and the trio managed to win the race, although they were once again the only SR1 entrant.[22]