THE LOLA T88/00
All pictures copyright Lola Heritage unless otherwise stated.
The T88/00 at the Lola factory.
The T88/00 was Lola's new Indycar design that followed on from the Championship winning T87/00 and the race winning T86/00 so it was important to maintain this success in the face of stiff competition from Penske and March.
Some details of the chassis construction and design concept can be found in the Lola Press Release below
The main change from the previous year's model was the new monocoque with a reduced frontal area, the font and rear suspensions were to the same configuration but part numbers for many of the front pieces were new indicating a possible change in track and/or geometry.
The season would be incredibly tight as regards chassis success with Danny Sullivan taking four wins and Rick Mears two for the Penske PC-19 while Lola took five victories, two each for Mario Andretti and Emerson Fittipaldi albeit in a T87/00 (see below) and one for Bobby Rahal. March matched Lola with four wins for Al Unser Jr. and one for Michael Andretti. Additionally Michael Andretti took the non-chmpionship Marlboro Challenge race at Tamiami Park.
Several drivers switched from the March 88C to Lola during the season notably Emerson Fittipaldi from Round 6, the Budweiser Grand Prix of Cleveland at Burke Lakefront Airport, and Michael Andretti from Round 10 at Pocono. It seems that Emmo started at Cleveland with a T88/00 but then switched to a T87/00 four races later at Pocono.
The number of chassis constructed is not certain, the Lola Chassis Log for the T88/00 goes from number ten to number 12 leaving a blank space where the entry for chassis number eleven should be, there is something written there but sadly it is illegible. For the second time, as in the case of the T87/00, Truesports had a chassis number thirteen, no superstition there apparently!
Other T88/00 drivers:
John Andretti
Michael Andretti
Scott Atchison (1989)
Fulvio Ballabio (1990)
Steve Barclay (1990)
Gary Bettenhausen (1990)
Darin Brassfield
Scott Brayton (1988 & 1989)
Pancho Carter (1990)
Dale Coyne (1989)
Guido Dacco (1989 & 1990)
Wally Dallenbach Jr.
Derek Daly
Dominic Dobson (1989)
A. J. Foyt
Jean-Pierre Frey (1989)
Roberyo Guerrero
Dean Hall (1990)
Davey Hanilton (1991)
Ludwig Heimrath Jr.
Gordon Johncock (1988 & 1989)
Ken Johnson (1988 & 1989)
Buddy Lazier (1990 & 1991)
Randy Lewis
Arie Luyendyk
Tero Palmroth (1988 & 1989)
John Paul Jr. (1989)
Johnny Parsons (1988 & 1989)
Scott Pruett
Johnny Rutherford (1988 & 1989)
Tom Sneva (1988 & 1989)
George Snider (1990)
Joe Sposato (1989)
Didier Theys (1990)
Billy Vukovich III (1990)
James Weaver(1989)
Jeff Wood (1989 & 1990)
Al Unser Snr.
Billy Vukovich III ((1989)
Year(s) of Construction: 1988
Total Built: 24 or 25 (see text above)
T88/00 SIGNIFICANT RACE WINS
1988
DATE |
VENUE/MEETING |
DRIVER |
NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th April | Checker 200 Phoenix International Raceway | Mario Andretti | Round 1 of PPG Indy Car World Series |
| 3rd July | Cleveland - Budweiser Grand Prix of Cleveland | Mario Andretti | Round 6 of PPG Indy Car World Series |
| 21st August | Pocono International Raceway – Quaker State 500 | Bobby Rahal | Round 10 of PPG Indy Car World Series |
| 5th November | Tamiami Park Street Course | Michael Andretti | Non-Championship Marlboro Challenge |
(Picture courtesy of Michael McKinney)
(Picture courtesy of Michael McKinney)
Michael Andretti in 1988.
Dominic Dobson in the Bayside Disposal-entered car, 1989.
Another shot of Dominic Dobson in 1989.
T88/00 at the Indianapolis 500: Roberto Guerrero, Bobby Rahal, Mario Andretti in what appears to be a T86/00 (presumably the T88/00 wasn't available at the time), Arie Luyendyk, Derek Daly, A. J. Foyt, Tony Bettenhausen Jr., Dick Simon, Tero Palmroth, Randy Lewis and John Andretti.
Missing - Scott Brayton, Ludwig Heimrath Jr., Tom Sneva.
