The Lola brand was once well known in the motorsport world; the cars achieved many victories in various championships, mainly in the period from the 1960s to the 1980s. However, then the glory of this British company gradually diminished, and more than ten years ago it ceased to exist altogether.
But now Lola Cars is being revived at a new level and with new owners – we talked about plans for the return to the racing arena in cooperation with the Japanese Yamaha Motor: in 2025, cars equipped with power plants of their joint production in Formula E, and will be used by the German team ABT.
Mark Preston, head of racing programs at Lola Cars, explained the focus on the electric series.
“Motorsport has definitely changed since Lola started,” Preston told Racer. “And now we have to look at the future of motorsport, which is largely linked to electrification.
Look at Formula 1: the power stations there will be 50% electrified. Of course, the WEC also uses hybrid powertrains. We must remember that we all work for the automotive industry, as our job is to pave the way for tomorrow, and electric powertrains will have an important place in that.”
According to Preston, Lola Cars’ business development plans are based on “three pillars”: “Pillar one is electrification, which is why we believe Formula E is the best choice. The second pillar is hydrogen technology. The FIA is now paying a lot of attention to the prospects for its use in racing, so the hydrogen component is also of great interest to us.
But if the sports prototype created for the Le Mans Marathon has a power plant based on hydrogen fuel cells, then the design of such a car also includes many electrical components.
And the third pillar is environmentally friendly fuels and materials. One day we will probably come back with chassis production, and it will be based on the use of such materials. Of course, extensive research is being done all over the world into the use of bio- and other modern fuels, and all of this is also coming to motorsport.
Yamaha is also very interested in creating electric power plants, because their main markets are the market for two-wheeled vehicles and water transport engines. They have a wealth of general knowledge in engine technology, and Formula E is currently the highest electric category in the motorsport world. It makes sense that they can also work in this area, and we work closely with Yamaha in creating power units…
Since Lola has never made road cars, the company’s current owners believe we won’t either. But who knows? If we ever want to make a street-legal version of the car, we’ll turn to ABT for help. However, this is still far away…”
Source: F1 News

I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.