JP Zero: Supercar based on the Lotus Exige by JUBU!

A good four months ago, the JUBU Performance team presented their JP ZERO, a GT2 racing car based on the Lotus Exige. The Upper Austrians caused quite a stir in the motorsport world: on the one hand because the company was hardly known outside of the Lotus tuning scene and on the other hand because the Austrians full-bodied promised the top dogs in the industry - Porsche, Audi, Lamborghini and KTM - in the upcoming GT2 Series to be heated up properly. Skeptics harbored some doubts about this confident announcement. As the lap times now show, the JUBU Performance team can keep its promise.

The basis is the Lotus Exige

A lot has been tested in the past months, Marko Klein - chief test driver at JUBU - chased the JP ZERO around various racetracks across Europe. He was able to burn considerable times into the asphalt. At the Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet, for example, he finished 2: 06,44, and on the Austrian Red Bull Ring even 1: 29,51. If you compare this time with the pace of this year's ADAC GT Masters on this track, then Marko Klein with the JP ZERO would have ended up in the midfield. Mind you: with a GT2 car in one of the most important GT3 championships in Central Europe. The development of the JP ZERO is indeed proceeding very quickly. From June to October this year, the JUBU engineers improved the times of the JP ZERO at the Red Bull Ring by over two seconds (June 2020: 1: 31,62, October 2020: 1: 29,51). This rapid progress is no coincidence: in the last five months the Austrians have unwound almost 15.000km on the racetrack with their two prototypes. Based on the data collected, Martin Jung, Managing Director of JUBU Performance, expects a further improvement of about one second by spring.

compact team, most modern development methods

The size of the team around the JP ZERO is quite impressive - namely due to its compactness. In total, only about 25 people take care of the design, engineering, manufacture and marketing of the car. Martin Jung said: “It is only possible to tackle such a project with such a small team because, fortunately, we have been able to win excellent engineers and developers for our team. We also benefit from short decision-making paths and rely on the most modern development methods. We have thus managed to offer our customers an ultra-exclusive car that can also really challenge the big players such as Porsche, Lamborghini, Audi and KTM. "

Setup fine-tuning in winter

Based on the test data from the summer, the development team is now fine-tuning the car's setup over the winter. Chief test driver Marko Klein promises a fast, but also very good-natured setup for the ZEROtrack (the trackday version). The aim behind this is to put an arrive-and-drive track tool for gentleman drivers on the wheels that can also be driven without a team of mechanics. Of course, the double clutch transmission installed by JUBU also helps. In use on the track, it promises extremely fast gear changes without loss of propulsion - hardly distinguishable from a sequential transmission. At the same time, the DCT transmission can also be used in the sporty automatic mode at the push of a button. It also offers a great advantage in terms of ongoing operating costs - JUBU promises 100 hours on the route without major overhauls. Far from any kind of good-naturedness, however, is the ZEROrace - the setup of the GT2 racer is much more aggressive and clearly trimmed for racing. Experienced drivers with a knowledgeable hand can even stand up to GT3 vehicles.

production has started

Despite the Corona restrictions, the JUBU team has so far been able to meet the development schedule. The first of the 60 planned cars are already in production and will be delivered in May 2021. For petrol heads who do not want to buy a ZERO, the manufacturer will also be offering rental cockpits in one of the factory vehicles for individual events or an entire racing season from next year.

60 vehicles are planned

The JP ZERO is an old-school racing car, very pure, very analog. The up to 740PS strong and 960kg light full carbon racer cannot do without high-tech. According to JUBU, the modern dual clutch transmission, for example, simply offers too many advantages for the driver, pace and durability to be avoided. The JP ZERO could definitely be an option for hobby racers with the appropriate change. Available from 249.000 euros, it is not exactly cheap, compared to the direct competition vehicles from Ferrari, Porsche or Lamborghini, the JP ZERO is definitely a bargain - and there is absolute exclusivity on top of that. If we get more information, there is of course an update for this report. You will be informed of this if you simply do ours Feed subscribe to. Have fun watching the pictures and stay true to us!

Photos: JUBU Performance GmbH

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JP Zero: Supercar based on the Lotus Exige by JUBU!

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