The Dallara P217 is the first Le Mans Prototype for a few years to be built by the famous Italian constructor. Its last LMP was of course the early generation Audi R18, and its deal with the German marque meant that it could not build Le Mans cars under its own brand during the whole R8-R10-R15 programme. However with that partnership coming to an amicable end (another Italian firm, YCOM, was responsible for the final generation Audi R18s) Dallara set out to develop an all new design for the new LMP2 technical regulations.