Racing car model
The
Lola B08/80
is a
Le Mans Prototype
built by
Lola Cars International
. It is effectively the LMP2 version of the larger
Lola B08/60
; they are the first closed-cockpit
sports prototypes
built by Lola since the
T92/10
of 1992. The B08/80 is optimised for the smaller engines and lighter weight of the LMP2 category in comparison to the larger and heavier B08/60.
Ray Mallock Ltd.
's MG-Lola EX265C
The first chassis of the B08/80 is used by the joint Speedy Racing Team and Sebah Automotive outfits in the
Le Mans Series
as well as at
24 Hours of Le Mans
. The team's car uses the latest
V8
engine from
Judd
. A second car was entered by B-K Motorsports and
Mazda
in the
American Le Mans Series
, debuting at the
Petit Le Mans
in October 2008,
[1]
while a third B08/80 chassis was sold to
Ray Mallock Ltd.
and completed with parts from the team's former B05/40 to create the
MG-Lola EX265C
for the Le Mans Series.
[2]
B-K Motorsports closed shop in late 2008 and sold their car to
Dyson Racing
. 2009 LMS season saw the B08/80 being the 2nd fastest LMP2, behind the Essex Porsche.
Competition
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Dyson Racing runs two upgraded B09/86s in the
2009
American Le Mans Series
in the LMP2 class. The #20 car enjoyed their first class win in the new Lola/Mazda coupe at the
Lime Rock Park
race.
For
2010
, Dyson scaled back to one car but was arguably more successful, bringing the Lola B09/86 its first overall pole at
Laguna Seca
and its first overall win at
Mid-Ohio
.
In the Le Mans Series in Europe, RML won the
2010 Le Mans Series
LMP2 Teams and Drivers' Championships with their Lola B08/80, highlighted by a LMP2 class win at the
2010 1000 km of Algarve
.
In the
2011 American Le Mans Series season
Dyson racing upgraded their B09/86s to LMP1 standard and started the season with the #16 car. The #20 car returned from the
2011 Northeast Grand Prix
onwards and they scored an overall win at the
2011 Baltimore Grand Prix
. Even though they never won a race, the #16 car won the ALMS LMP1 championship.
Level 5 Motorsports
ran their upgraded B11/80's in the
2011 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup
and the
2011 24 Hours of Le Mans
except for
Silverstone
and
Zhuhai
. They finished third in LMP2 and tenth overall at
Le Mans
. Level 5 switched to the
HPD ARX-01g
for Petit Le Mans and continued with Honda power in 2012.
Until recently, the Lola B12/80 was still common in Le Mans Prototype racing. Gulf Racing ran a pair of B12/80s in the WEC;
Dempsey Racing
ran a B12/80 in the ALMS; and finally, Black Swan Racing ran the former 2011 Level 5 B11/80.
In the
2012 European Le Mans Series season
,
Status Grand Prix
ran an upgraded B12/80, finishing 6th in the teams championship with 15 points. These came from a 3rd place at the
2012 6 Hours of Castellet
.
By 2013, all teams had retired their Lola B12/80s due to uncertainty over parts support from Lola.
In 2014, Mazda and Speedsource were announced as the newest customers of two Lola LMP2s using the
SkyActiv-D
engine.
For the
2016 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
season,
Mazda
entered a B08/80 with livery based on that of the
Mazdaspeed 787B C2
which won the
1991 24 Hours of Le Mans
to commemorate the 25th anniversary of that victory.
External links
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References
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