Lola T100

Summary

The Lola T100 is a Formula 2 single-seater entered by German BMW team for the 1967 German Grand Prix, the seventh round of the 1967 Formula One World Championship. Designed by British manufacturer Lola Cars, led by engineer Eric Broadley, the T100 was raced by Britons David Hobbs and Brian Redman. A version adapted to the technical regulations of Formula 1 was also driven by German Hubert Hahne.[1][2]

History edit

During qualifying for the 1967 German Grand Prix, Hahne, driving a T100 adapted to Formula 1, fitted with a BMW engine and Dunlop tyres, qualified in fourteenth position, 28.7 seconds from the time for pole position of Jim Clark's Lotus. Hobbs, official driver of the Lola team but only having a version adapted to Formula 2 and equipped with Firestone tyres, only obtained a twenty-second place on the starting grid, 42.1 seconds behind. Clark. Redman, his teammate with a Ford-Cosworth engine, did not complete any timed laps and had to start from twenty-sixth and last place. In the race, while Redman gave up his chassis to Hobbs (who, however, kept his BMW engine), the Briton finished tenth and second-last in the event, two laps behind winner Denny Hulme. Hahne found himself twelfth at the end of the first lap, overtook the BRM of Mike Spence the next lap, then occupied ninth place at the end of the fourth lap, then eighth on the next lap, before retiring on the sixth lap, following a suspension failure while in sixth.[3][4]

A few weeks later, on 16 September 1967, Redman entered a Formula 2 version of the Lola T100 in the 1967 International Gold Cup, a round outside the Formula 1 World Championship held at the Oulton Park circuit. The Briton retired on the first lap following the failure of his Ford-Cosworth 4-cylinder engine. At the next non-championship event, at the Spanish Grand Prix, Redman, this time with a single-seater configured for Formula 1, finished eighth two laps behind Jim Clark, while the two BMW drivers entered for the occasion, Jo Siffert and Hahne retired respectively on the forty-fifth and thirty-third laps following a failure of the Bavarian engine.[5]

The following year, on 17 March 1968, Briton John Surtees contested the 1968 Race of Champions at the Brands Hatch circuit, driving a T100 powered by a BMW engine but did not start the event due to an oil leak.[6]

On May 12, the Spaniard Jorge de Bagration was entered for his national Grand Prix, the second round of the 1968 Formula One World Championship, at the wheel of a Lola T100 adapted to Formula 1 and equipped with a Ford-Cosworth engine and Dunlop tyres, entered by Escuderia Calvo Sotello but his car being unavailable, he did not start.[7]

Formula One World Championship results edit

(key)

Year Entrant Engines Tyres Drivers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 WCC Pts.
1967 Bayerische Motoren Werke AG BMW M10 2.0 L4 D RSA MON NED BEL FRA GBR GER CAN ITA USA MEX NC 0
  Hubert Hahne Ret
Lola Cars F   David Hobbs 10
David Bridges Ford Cosworth FVA 1.6 L4 D   Brian Redman DNS
1968 Escuderia Nacional CS Ford Cosworth FVA 1.6 L4 D RSA ESP MON BEL NED FRA GBR GER ITA CAN USA MEX NC 0
  Jorge de Bagration DNA

Formula One Non-Championship results edit

(key)

Year Entrant Engines Tyres Drivers 1 2 3 4 5 6
1967 David Bridges Ford Cosworth FVA 1.6 L4 D ROC SPC INT SYR OUL ESP
  Brian Redman Ret 8
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG BMW M12 2.0 L4   Jo Siffert Ret
  Hubert Hahne Ret
1968 Lola Cars BMW M12 2.0 L4 F ROC INT OUL
  John Surtees DNS

References edit

  1. ^ "Lola Heritage". www.lolaheritage.co.uk.
  2. ^ "Lola T100 (F2) • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com.
  3. ^ Georgano, G. N. (June 15, 1971). The Encyclopedia of Motor Sport. Viking Press. ISBN 9780670294053 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ "Lola T100 Ford – primotipo…". primotipo...
  5. ^ "Car and Driver". Hachette Magazines, Incorporated. June 15, 1968 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ "Automobile Engineer". IPC Transport Press Limited. June 15, 1969 – via Google Books.
  7. ^ Brown, Allen. "Lola T100 car-by-car histories". OldRacingCars.com.