Lola T600
The Lola T600 was a sports car prototype, which was developed in 1981 at Lola Cars to 1993 and came into use in sports car racing.
- 2.2.1 1981
- 2.2.2 1982
- 2.2.3 1983 and 1984
Development history and technology
Because the dominance of the Porsche 935 took the upper hand in the World Sportscar Championship in 1980, led the FIA for the 1981 season with the GTP class, a new racing class in international sports car racing one. These racing class already dealt with the effect from 1982 Group C, the newly regulated the sports car race since that date.
The development of the T600 is, firstly, back to this new regulation and the other hand on the British racing driver Brian Redman. Redman and the owners of the U.S. racing team Cooke - Woods Racing were looking for a racing car for the new created IMSA GTP series, which was denied in 1981 with vehicles in the GTP class. Redman turned to Eric Broadley, the owner of Lola Cars. The original idea of a Lola T70 chassis fitted with a new body was discarded, and instead, to develop a completely new racing car. The French racing car designer Max Sardou constructed a ground- effect vehicle which was covered with an aluminum body. The two rear wheels were fully covered. When changing tires first had a flap to be removed to get at the tires. For the IMSA GTP variant V8 6- liter engine from Chevrolet was provided as a motor. For Lola, it was decided with a chassis in the World Sportscar Championship to enter. There is a 3.3 -liter engine from Cosworth DFL was used. Subsequently, Porsche and BMW turbo engines were installed in T600 chassis. The 5- speed gearbox came from Hewland.
Racing history
In the 13 years of racing history T600 198mal were reported at 131 racing events. This race car 12 victories were achieved; 37 podiums are also to beech as three class wins. By far the most messages were from the German Karl -Heinz Becker, who in the late 1980s and early 1990s was 53 times with a T600 at the start.
Sportscar World Championship
1981
1981 Lola was engaged with a factory team in the World Sportscar Championship. As a driver, the Briton Guy Edwards and Spaniard Emilio de Villota were committed. Edwards was driven in the 1970s Formula 1 race. In 1974, he came as a race driver at the Embassy Hill Lola in touch. The two-time Formula 1 world champion Graham Hill had built an own racing team and put a built in 1974 by Lola race car, the T370. After the end of his Formula 1 activities, which were almost completely unsuccessful, Edwards went in sportscar racing at the start. In 1980 he finished the 24 - hour race at Le Mans as ninth overall.
Emilio de Villota was also a former Formula 1 driver. In 1977, he contested two races with a privately entered McLaren M23.
Lola rose only at the fourth race of the season, the 1000 km race at Monza with the chassis HU3 in the World Cup one. Even in training showed the weakness of the car; he was too slow. The distance to the car in group 5 was enormous. Guy Edwards was a time of 1.50,510 Although fifth fastest in the overall standings, the quickest in qualifying Group 5 Ferrari 308 GTB Turbo - Carlo Facetti and Martino Finotto but missed four seconds. In the race the car was only 64 laps in; the drive shaft was broken. The next mission, the team had the 6-hour race at Silverstone. This time the car was much better coordinated than in Mugello. On the fast Silverstone Circuit and the aerodynamic Karossiere came to better advantage. Edwards qualified chassis HU3 in the second place, 1.3 seconds behind the Joest Porsche 908, driven by Jochen Mass. However, it must be remembered that the concept of the car was 908 at that time already twelve years old. In the race, there was again a failure. The pit crew had miscalculated on the amount of gasoline and the car remained after the second stint without fuel are on the track.
The first target arrival there was the 1000 km race at the Nürburgring, where the racing event held on the Nordschleife as the years before. Here was the competition of fast prototypes for the Lola team so far the largest. In addition to falling private teams, the Porsche 935 had reported and the team of Reinhold Joest, the works team of Lancia had made with two factory cars on the road in the Eifel. A third Lancia Beta Monte Carlo was reported by the Swiss Peter Sauber, who also brought two BMW M1 to the race track. In training, the T600 was much too slowly. Only the 16 training time could be achieved in the qualification. On the quickest in Ford Capri Turbo - after an engine failure during the warm -up could not participate in the race - driven by Manfred angle Hock and Klaus Niedzwiedz missing 38 seconds. What, despite the long length of the route was too much of a residue. In the race it was enough for eighth place overall and victory in the class of GTP vehicle. The residue on the Sauber BMW M1 by Hans- Joachim Stuck and Nelson Piquet, however, was great.
At the climax of the international sports car season, the 24 - hour race at Le Mans two T600 were reported. In addition to the works cars - to the two regular drivers Edwards and de Villota the Spaniard Juan Fernandez came as third driver in the team - brought Cooke - Woods rating their prototypes used in the IMSA GTP series for the French endurance race. During the works cars in training achieved the twelfth fastest time, the U.S. car failed in training. The U.S. team - that was superior in the IMSA GTP series - could not cope with the rapid Circuit des 24 Heures and succeeded despite the two top drivers Bobby Rahal and Brian Rebmann no reasonable car tuning. In the race, the factory team was plagued by many technical problems that led to some unscheduled pit stops. In the final standings, the team placed at the 15th place of the overall standings, with a gap of 67 laps on the victorious factory Porsche 936 /81 by Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell.
14 days after the race at Le Mans brought Edwards and de Villota the 6-hour race at Pergusa the first race win with the T600. After another failure at the 6- hour race at Watkins Glen reached Brian Redman and Eppie Wietzes with the Cooke - Woods - T600 at 6- hour race at Mosport with the second overall another podium finish.
After the experience of an almost complete race season, which went into the further development of the car, finally successes came before the end of the year. In the Championship race in Elkhart Lake, the 500-mile race at Road America, drove Brian Redman / Sam Posey and Chris Cord - the chassis HU5 had acquired - and Jim Adams on the second and third places. The season ended with the victory of Guy Edwards and Emilio de Villota at the last race of the year - the 1000 km race at Brands Hatch.
The works team replaced in the World Sportscar Championship in 1982 T600 by the successor model, the T610.
IMSA GTP series
1981
In contrast to the early difficulties in the sports car world championship of T600 in the IMSA GTP series from the start was a victory for the vehicle. Cooke - Woods Racing chassis had acquired HU1, with Brian Redman drove the very first race for overall victory. In the 100-mile race at Laguna Seca Redman won just ahead of the two Porsche 935 pilots John Paul Jr. and John Fitzpatrick. In the 200-mile race at Lime Rock, he won with a lead of four laps of the Porsche 935 by Ted Field and Bobby Rahal. Chassis number HU4 - - Before the race at Sears Point, another T600 was the American John Paul Jr. delivered the just behind Redman was third in the race.
Redman secured the end of the championship, with the left triumphs at Laguna Seca and Sears Point follow success at Mid-Ohio, Portland and Road America.
1982
Brian Redman had left Cooke - Woods Racing after the season last year. With him also the co-owner Roy Woods returned to the team 's back. Thus, the financial and quality driving skills to the champion team of the previous year has been withdrawn. This and stiff competition were the main reasons, the Lola after only one year lost its leading position in the race series. The first win of the season there was in April, when Ted Field and Bill Whittington at Interscope Racing T600 (chassis HU6 ) won the 6- hour race at Riverside. This was followed by victories at Laguna Seca - John Paul junior before Danny Ongais, who was driving the second Interscope - T600 (chassis HU7 ) -, the 200 -mile race at Daytona, the 500-mile race at Pocono and the 3 -hour of Daytona. In the overall standings John Paul junior won, but the import the most victories in a Porsche 935.
1983 and 1984
1983 and 1984 was the T600 in this series is no longer capable of winning vehicle. At Interscope HU6 the chassis was equipped with a V6 Chevrolet turbo engine. The concept but failed at the defect susceptibility of the unit.
German Racing Championship and Inter Series
In 1983, a T600 ( HU12 chassis ) to Germany. The car by Karl- Heinz Becker was used only in the German Racing Championship and from 1986 in the Inter series. Becker stayed with the car, despite numerous launches, largely unsuccessful.