13/09/2022
MIKE BLANCHET
An appreciation by Bob Marston.
It was a great shock to hear of Mike's passing last week. Although he had a serious medical problem for most of his life, it was never obvious even to those of us that worked closely with him. Marcus Pye has written an excellent obituary in Autosport recalling Mikes racing successes so I will confine my remarks to the impressions made over the 13 or so years that we worked together. I first met Mike when he was driving a F/Ford as a privateer and he came up to the Lola factory in Huntingdon to have a look around. If I remember correctly, Derek Ongaro, our sales manager at the time was leaving Lola’s to take up the job of F1 Race Starter with the F.I.A hence a vacancy was imminent in the sales department. Mike obviously convinced Eric Broadly that selling copying machines, Mike's then current occupation, was excellent training for selling cars, as soon after Mike joined us as Derek's replacement. Having a resident test driver proved very advantageous to all concerned, especially myself since the majority of track testing and development came within my remit as Chief Engineer with Eric having overall control. As an engineer primarily, I relied heavily on driver input to solve problems and in this Mike excelled, especially in the later years when he had experience from testing and developing the vast range of cars that we produced. Frank Gardner took over the testing of the bigger cars eventually, Can-Am and Indy for instance, and I am sure Mike learnt even more of the art of setting-up a car from him. In all the years that I knew Mike, I never remember him being particularly annoyed when things were not going right - he always seemed to maintain a positive attitude and happy demeanor. Similarly I do not know of anyone in the Lola community that had anything but kind words to say about him. He was, in my opinion, a perfect gentleman and joyful character to be with. I feel privileged to have considered him a friend.
Bob Marston
Chief Engineer
Lola Cars 1968/1981
Click HERE to read Marcus Pye's Autosport article on Mike.
All pictures Lola Heritage










