Barry Manilow wrote in 1978 a song dedicated to Lola. Lola was a showgirl, little did he know the song would reflect perfectly on Lola’s last two attempts to design a F1 car. The Lola T95/30 was a nightmare dressed like a daydream, a hybrid stuck between 1994 and 1995 regulations. The Lola T97/30 was sweet, hot but 100% a psycho. A definition of these cars you probably never heard
I assume you are familiar with the Lola MasterCard team from 1997. Lola only came in November 1996 with the news that they would enter the Formula One in just a few months. Somehow, they managed to appear with their newest challenger the Lola T97/30 in the paddock of Australia. A car that was 11 seconds slower during qualifying. Only to appear in Brazil to close their garage doors for
You can’t imagine it now though there was a time a lot of drivers tested in the Formula One. Or teams tested in between races to test new aerodynamics or new engines. Or just to cash extra money by letting unknown drivers, who will never arrive, experience the Formula 1.As many of these drivers are long forgotten, and there isn’t a real overview of the test drivers, its all bits
While on several continents a financial crisis occurred,in 1996 there were several attempts to enter the Formula One, or even tore-enter the Formula One. During the season Forti Corse were declared bankrupt after the British Grand Prix and took no further part in the championship. Damon Hill became the drivers champion with Williams, after his father did as well years earlier. Arrows FA17 Bridgestone test carIn the early months of
In the aftermath of the 1994 season a lot of safety measures had been taken, and many more were announced to make the Formula One safer for the drivers. Several team did not make it into the 1995 season. Team Lotus left the Formula One as team, though the team would be used by Pacific Grand Prix under the name Pacific Team Lotus. Despite being on the entry list, the
For the Larrousse team it became harder to survive during the 1994 season. The team was not able to update and develop the LH94, as there was no money left to invest. Besides the lack of finance, Érik Comas managed to score twice a point, though it was clear that it was a struggle to survive and to appear on the grid in 1994. A reconstruction of the last months
Yes the title seems to tell this is a article written by an critical Formula One journalist with a different view on what happened with the Lola Mastercard Formula one Team in 1997. The team went bankrupt after the Brazilian Grand Prix, where the T97/30 stayed in the pit box. Eric Broadley knew it was too early to enter the Formula One, but he had no other option to deploy
In 1994 the Lola Cars International Ltd. came with their first sketches of their new Formula One car. They intended to enter the 1995 season with the Lola T95/30. The car was a couple of time tested by Allan McNish before the team was forced to let the plan to enter the Formula One in 1995 go. How ever during that same period the media spoke also about the Lola
