Interviews

Update on the Lola coupes with Sam Smith

© Lola Cars

After Lola’s announcement last June of their new closed prototype models, feverish work has been going on at their UK facilities where the first LMP2 windtunnel model is now undrgoing testing. Sam Smith reveals further details about this new development.

© Lola Cars

"We have started with an LMP2 model which we are currently testing in our on-site tunnel and the initial enhanced aero figures indicate that we may have ’a Porsche beater’ on our hands here"

"We have had significant interest from existing and potential new customers, several of whom have been to the factory to view the test.

The design is centered around an all new Coupe monocoque with revised suspension geometry and we will have a third spring option at the front to complement the rear system that has run on the open cars very successfully this year.

However the main performance increase will come from the aero. Earlier this year we invested heavily in a new CFD hardware cluster through a technical partnership with global technical giant - AMD. This combined with new FLUENT software has made the aero engineers hungry to push the aero envelope to enhance the lift/drag ratio within the existing downforce envelope.

The LMP2 Coupe area has not been explored properly and could be a real sleeping giant. Julian Sole still has a lot of the team around him that designed the Lola-MG in 2000/01. That was awaking a sleeping giant within the regs and this could be viewed similarly.

The LMP1 Coupe (the B08/60) should test in the first week of December. The monocoque is in laminating and all the assembly will begin in the next 10 days. It is likely that a current Lola customer will run the car in initial testing although this depends on when possible deals can be finalised.
The shakedown will be in the UK and then the first serious test will be in Spain."

Thanks to Sam for the update and looking forward to see the new Lolas running before the end of the year.