- 940
- Somewhere in the Northeast
- AllFizzledOut
- TakeALLTheNames
1992 Lola T92/10
Or the "Lola 981", if you want to be that way.
A seriously cool racecar, because it features an F1-derived V10 engine by Judd.
Or the "Lola 981", if you want to be that way.
A seriously cool racecar, because it features an F1-derived V10 engine by Judd.
Sound:
In action:
From Wikipedia:
Following years of success building prototypes for Chevrolet in the IMSA GTP series as well as Nissan in the World Sportscar Championship and All Japan Sports Prototype Championship, Lola ended the 1991 season without a major manufacturer to back their sports car effort. Lola was therefore left to develop a car with the intent of allowing customers to buy a complete package, rather than relying on a major automobile manufacturer to dictate the car's design.
Chief Designer Wiet Huidekoper started with a clean sheet of paper for the T92/10 and following extensive wind tunnel development with scale models, achieving extraordinarily high downforce (negative lift) figures combined with modest drag giving the car a very high L/D ("lift-to-drag") ratio. The car had a much smaller windscreen and cockpit roof section than Lola's previous Group-C designs. The new car had two large air intakes on the nose, which provided the air for the engine cooling and to cool the brakes. These sat much farther back than on the previous Lola designs in order to improve aerodynamics and to increase cooling. This made for a small flat nose which gave the Lola T92/10 its distinctive and elegant look. An engine inlet would be added to the roof of the car given that the T92/10s would be normally aspirated. The sculpted side pods were a departure from the norm. The rear would also be radically different from the previous Lola designed Nissan Group-C car, supporting a tall wing instead of the single element wing that had been previously used.
For an engine, Lola would turn to Judd to supply a motor to meet the then new 3.5 litre requirements for Group C. Judd would use their Formula One V10 engine though dubbed the GV10 in the sports car application. It's compact design allowed for much tighter bodywork on the Lola, and was powerful enough to compete with the major manufacturers of the World Sportscar Championship.
In 1995, McNeil Engineering would purchase a third T92/10 chassis, with chassis number HU03, for use in the Interserie championship. Although the Group C formula was technically dead, the car was still legal for use against modified open-wheel race cars. Driven by Canadian Robbie Stirling and retaining the Judd V10 engine originally built in 1992, the T92/10 would take its first overall win in 1996 at Brands Hatch, followed with another at the end of the season at Circuito de Albacete, earning McNeil Engineering third in the championship. The car scored one more victory at the Hungaroring in 1997 before McNeil Engineering decided to switch to the new International Sports Racing Series for the 1998 season.
In order to comply with the new Sports Racer (SR) rules, similar to Le Mans Prototype (LMP) rules, the car had to be an open-cockpit sportscar. This required McNeil Engineering to remove the doors and roof from the car, although the windshield was mostly retained for aerodynamic purposes. A rollbar was added to the back in order to allow for driver safety. The large air scoop that had previously been on the roof was also removed, and small vents were placed on the side of the cockpit to feed air to the engine. Because of the extensive modifications, McNeil Engineering renamed the car a Lola 981, although this was not an official designation from Lola.
The car suffered many technical problems, managing to finish a mere two races that season. Partially through the season, the old Judd GV10 unit was replaced with a more modern, and slightly larger displacement GV4 V10. However this would not be able to overcome the technical problems faced by McNeil Engineering, as the car finished the season having only scored six points total. It is interesting to note that the 981 competed at the same time that Lola's new SR prototype was debuting following a six-year hiatus, the B98/10.
Following the disappointment of their open-cockpit effort, the 981 would be abandoned for 1999. However, the car was actually returned to its original closed cockpit form and reunited with its Judd GV10 engine, making the car known as the T92/10 once again, and McNeil Engineering would re-enter the car in the Interserie championship for 2000. The car would manage another victory for its record in 2001 at the A1-Ring before finally being retired from racing in 2002. This car is still retained by McNeil Engineering in the United Kingdom.
