LE MANS: Inside The World Of Lola

Le Mans / ALMS

LE MANS: Inside The World Of Lola

SPEED.com goes for a tour of Lola Group in Huntingdon, England and gains insight into the future of the famed British constructor...

John Dagys | Posted December 29, 2011 Chicago, IL

Lola Group has been at its Huntingdon, England-based workshop since 1971. (Photo: John Dagys)

While race teams and manufacturers come and go, one constant has remained in the motorsports world for more than 50 years. From Formula One to IndyCar, sportscar racing and virtually everywhere in between, Lola has been a driving force behind some of the most successful factory and customer programs in all facets of the sport.

Founded in 1958 by British entrepreneur and engineer Eric Broadley, Lola grew from its modest roots at a small workshop near London into one of the U.K.’s premier constructors, not only in auto racing, but also in the thriving aerospace and defense industries.

Earlier this year during the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup weekend at Silverstone, this author had the unique opportunity to visit Lola’s workshop in Huntingdon, England to gain a closer look and deeper understanding of one of the most influential manufacturers of our day.

A demonstration of the CFD technologies on a Lola B08/80 LMP2 car. (Photo: Lola)

Despite having been built in 1971, Lola’s current headquarters is anything but historic. The expansive facility houses 180 employees, divided up between the design office, composites department and other areas such as its in-house wind tunnel and seven-post shaker rig.

More than 35 people alone work in the state-of-the-art design office, where the origins of each component is born. Through the use of computer aided drafting (CAD) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD), engineers are able to provide early development on new prototypes before creating scale models.

Aerodynamicist Dan Cox, who worked as an embedded Lola engineer with Drayson Racing’s 2010 American Le Mans Series campaign, explained that the benefits of CFD, including the ability to place models in a virtual wind tunnel to test loads and potential weak points before further investment is made into a physical model.

Once a scale model is created, though, CFD work continues concurrently. The physical models, ranging anywhere from 45 to 60 percent in scale, are put to the test in Lola’s 50 percent scale wind tunnel. Purchased in 1998 from the British aerospace, where it saw use at a military facility, the rolling road wind tunnel can see speeds in excess of 85 meters per second (roughly 190 mph).

Chris Saunders, a veteran of F1 who has since returned to Lola as its Technology Centre Manager, emphasized the importance of scale models, which are outfitted with moving suspension components, in the development of a race car. Lola has even created its own motion system in order to analyze additional data from the tests.

Once a sufficient amount of wind tunnel testing is completed, usually hundreds of runs, it’s on to the actual construction of the full-scale components in the composite department. Equipped with multi-million dollar machinery that shapes, cuts and cures carbon fiber, nearly all of the components are manufactured in-house.

Lola not only has the capacity to fulfill mass orders of race cars but also perform builds of components for its contracts within the aerospace and defense industries. With six autoclave ovens, large enough to fit three monocoques in each, Lola could produce up to 18 tubs simultaneously, demonstrated during the build of the A1GP spec chassis in 2005.

In the event tubs sustain damage from accidents on track, Lola also has a detailed procedure for that, too. Each damaged tub undergoes a finite element analysis in order to determine if a patch could be applied without compromising the it integrity. If multiple punctures are detected in close proximity to each other, it could force the tub into retirement on the count of safety.

Once a full car is constructed, it’s put through further testing, including Lola’s seven-post shaker rig. The posts, located on each tire, plus two on the front suspension and one on the gearbox, when put into motion, simulates downforce and load levels through a generic or custom programmable lap. Additionally, sensors are attached to evaluate additional data.

Inside Lola's 50 percent wind tunnel. (Photo: Lola)

While the behind-the-scenes tour provided this author with a better understanding at the level of detail and preparation that goes into the design and build of a race car, it was one part of the multi-faceted organization. An increasing involvement in the aerospace and defense industry, with projects specifically for the U.S. and U.K. governments, is one of the lesser-known facts of Lola.

In fact, close to 60 percent of its business today is in aerospace and defense, an initiative started when Martin Birrane took over the company in 1998 when it was on the brink of collapse.

“The main importance from a business perspective is the crossover of new technology from motorsport to aerospace and defense industries,” explains former Lola Cars managing director Robin Brundle. “The cultures between motorsport and the other industries are traditionally very different especially in terms of the pace in which a project is delivered.

“As an example the A1GP design and build was essentially done in 10 months. That is from conception to a final design and then 50 cars being on their wheels ready to leave the factory. Some aerospace and defense companies that came to Lola and saw this, just could comprehend what we had achieved.

“Then in 2008 we completed the Mantis UAV demonstrator for BAE Systems in 6 weeks. It was then that the cultural differences started to become less stark and defense in particular started to have more confidence in what companies such as Lola can achieve.”

Projects such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV) have become a crucial component of Lola, especially when the motorsports production tends to slow down during the summer months.

PHOTOS: A Tour Of Lola Group

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

John Dagys

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