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THE LOLA T100

All pictures copyright Lola Heritage unless otherwise stated.

The Cosworth FVA-engined T100.

1967 saw a major change to the Formula 2 regulations with 1.6-litre engines replacing the previous 1-litre power units. This change was effectively part of the new "Return to Power" initiative that had seen 3-litre engines introduced in Formula 1 the previous year. Very quickly the engine of choice for the new formula was the Cosworth FVA and it would dominate the series for the five years it ran despite em competition from BMW and Ferrari.

The FVA (Four valve, A series) was funded by Ford as part of a contact that would bring about the legendary 3-litre F1 DFV, one of the greatest racing engine designs of all-time and the FVA was partially a test bed for some of Keith Duckworth's ideas for the bigger engine.

The cylinder block was based on the Ford 5-bearing 116E (Cortina Crossflow) cylinder block with gear-driven cams. It featured 16 valves (4 valves per cylinder) operated by twin overhead camshafts driven by a train of 9 gears. The metering unit for the Lucas mechanical fuel injection was rotated by gear and belt from the inlet cam, while the exhaust cam drove an alternator on the rear of the head. The FVA established the twin-cam/narrow included-valve-angle (40°) and pent roof combustion chamber. Displacement was 1598cc, initially producing 218 bhp @ 9,000 rpm.

Brian Redman in the David Bridges Motors-entered T100 at the Crystal Palace in 1968 where he finished second to Jochen Rindt, chasing is the Tecno of Clay Regazzoni.

Following their relatively successful foray in the 1-litre Formula 2 it was not surprising that Lola built a new car, the T100, for the 1.6-litre championship. The new design was conventional since it had to be suitable for private teams to run, it comprised a monocoque chassis with, at the front twin wide-based wishbones and, at the rear, a lower reversed wishbone and a single top link with a pair of radius rods. Outboard spring/damper units were employed front and rear. In addition to the FVA engine a Hewland FT200 gearbox was fitted.

Of the eight cars built four were FVA-powered and four had the BMW Apfelbeck engine, the chassis were allocated as follows:

SL100/01 - BMW
SL100/02 - Lola Racing Ltd (BMW engine)
SL100/03 - BMW
SL100/04 - Lola Racing Ltd (FVA engine) and then to David Bridges
SL100/05 - Lola Racing Ltd (BMW engine)
SL100/06 - Lola Racing Ltd (FVA engine)
SL100/07 - Escuderia Nacional CS 1968 (FVA engine)
SL100/08 - Escuderia Nacional CS 1968 (FVA engine)

Third placed Chris Irwin in the works T100 leads Frank Gardner in the works Brabham BT23 at the Gran Premio de Madrid, Jarama in 1967.

The T100 was, in 1967, once again competitive if not ultimately on the pace of Jochen Rindt's Brabham, Jim Clark's Lotus and the Matra of Jackie Stewart, perhaps some of the problem was that John Surtees missed quite a few races and Chris Irwin was too inexperienced to be able to challenge the three F1 World Champions and he had to race the BMW-engined car on several occasions. The two BMW-entered cars were seldom competitive despite having two good drivers in Hubert Hahne and Jo Siffert.

The Apfelbeck-engine had radially disposed valves in a hemispherical head were constantly under development but they were tall (see pictures below), heavy and unreliable and their best finish was a 4th.

The David Bridges car went well especially with the young Brian Redman at the helm with a best finish of 2nd at the Crystal Palace in 1968.

The T100 continued in 1968 but other than Redman's second and a good win for Chris Irwin on the Nürburgring Südschleife results tailed off even the addition of the new Spanish team of Alex Soler-Roig and Prince Jorge de Bagration made no difference and Lola would quit F2 for several years.

The T100 found a new niche in club racing, notably driven by an up-and-coming young Irishman called John Watson, where it was still a competitive proposition.

Year(s) of Construction: 1967

Total Built: 8

Hubert Hahne in the BMW entered and engined T100 leads Jackie Stewart in Ken Tyrrell's Matra MS7 and Frank Gardner's Brabham BT23.

SIGNIFICANT T100 RESULTS

1967

DATE	RACE/VENUE	DRIVER	ENGINE	RESULT
24^th March	I Guards "100", Snetterton	John Surtees Chris Irwin	FVA BMW	Retired Retired
27^th March	XXII B.A.R.C. "200" Wills Trophy, Silverstone	John Surtees Jo Siffert	FVA BMW	3^rd retired
23^rd April	XXX Int. ADAC - Eifelrennen, Nürburgring Südschleife	John Surtees Hubert Hahne Chris Irwin Jo Siffert	BMW BMW FVA BMW	2^nd 4^th 7^th Retired
14^th May	I Guards' International Trophy, Mallory Park	John Surtees	FVA	1^st
21^st May	IV Grote Prijs van Limborg, Zolder	John Surtees	FVA	1^st
29^th May	XV London Trophy - British United Airways Trophy, Crystal Palace	John Surtees	FVA	7^th
11^th June	II Rhein-Pokalrennen, Hockenheim	Chris Williams Hubert Hahne	FVA BMW	5^th Retired
25^th June	XXXIII Grand Prix de Reims	John Surtees Chris Irwin Jo Siffert Hubert Hahne Brian Redman	FVA BMW BMW BMW FVA	3^rd Retired DNS DNQ DNQ
9^th July	XV Grand Prix de Rouen-les-Essarts	Brian Redman	FVA	Retired
9^th July	I Deutschland Trophäe - Preis von Baden, Hockenheim	Chris Irwin	FVA	Retired
16^th July	II Flugplatzrennen Tulln-Langenlebarn	Chris Irwin	FVA	Retired
23^rd July	I Gran Premio de Madrid	Chris Irwin Brian Redman	FVA FVA	3^rd 6^th
30^th July	XV Grote Prijs van Zandvoort	Chris Irwin	FVA	Retired
6^th August	XXIX Grosser Preis von Deutschland, Nürburgring Nord-Schleife (Combined F1 and F2)	David Hobbs Hubert Hahne	BMW BMW	11^th Retired
20^th August	VI Gran Premio del Mediterraneo - Gran Premio di Madunina, Enna Pergusa	Andre de Adamich Chris Irwin	FVA FVA	10^th Retired
28^th August	VII Guards Trophy, Brands Hatch	Brian Redman Hubert Hahne	FVA BMW	8^th 9^th
16^th September	XIV International Gold Cup, Oulton Park (Combined F1 and F2)	Brian Redman	FVA	Retired
24^th September	XXVI Grand Prix d'Albi	Chris Irwin Brian Redman Hubert Hahne Jo Siffert Andrea De Adamich	FVA FVA BMW BMW BMW	5^th 6^th 8^th Retired Retired
8^th October	XIX Gran Premio di Roma, Vallelunga	Brian Redman Jo Siffert Hubert Hahne	FVA BMW BMW	5^th 9^th Retired
12^th November	XV Gran Premio de España, Jarama (Combined F1 and F2)	Brian Redman Jo Siffert Hubert Hahne	FVA BMW BMW	8^th Retired Retired

John Surtees in the works T100 trailing the smoke that led to his retirement in the Guards International Trophy at Brands Hatch.

1968

DATE	RACE/VENUE	DRIVER	ENGINE	RESULT
31^st March	III Gran Premio de Barcelona - Juan Jover Trophy, Montjuich Park	Prince Jorge de Bagration Brian Redman Alex Soler-Roig Chris Irwin	FVA FVA FVA FVA	9^th Retired Retired Retired
7^th April	II Deutschland Trophäe - Martini Gold Cup, Hockenheim	Chris Irwin	FVA	8^th
15^th April	XXIII B.A.R.C. "200" - Thruxton Trophy	Chris Williams Alastair Walker Chris Irwin	FVA FVA FVA	6^th 11^th 16^th
21^st April	XXVIII Grand Prix Automobile de Pau	Alex Soler-Roig Chris Williams Prince Jorge de Bagration	FVA FVA FVA	7^th 8^th Retired
21^st April	XXXI ADAC Eifelrennen, Nürburgring Südschleife,	Chris Irwin Alistair Walker	FVA FVA	1^st 6^th
28^th April	II Gran Premio de Madrid, Jarama	Prince Jorge de Bagration Chris Irwin Alex Soler-Roig Alistair Walker	FVA FVA FVA FVA	6^th Retired Retired DNQ
5^th May	V Grote Prijs van Limborg, Zolder	Chris Irwin Brian Redman Alistair Walker	FVA FVA FVA	3^rd 5^th 9^th
3^rd June	XVI London Trophy - IV Holts Trophy, Crystal Palace	Brian Redman Alex Soler-Roig Alistair Walker Prince Jorge de Bagration	FVA FVA FVA FVA	2^nd Retired DNQ DNQ
16^th June	III Rhein-Pokalrennen, Hockenheim	Chris Williams Alex Soler-Roig Alistair Walker	FVA FVA FVA	15^th 17^th DNQ
23^rd June	X Gran Premio della Lotteria di Monza	Prince Jorge de Bagration Alex Soler-Roig Alistair Walker	FVA FVA FVA	DNQ DNQ DNQ
14^rd July	III Flugplatzrennen Tulln-Langenlebarn	Mike Beckwith	FVA	11^th
14^th July	Ingliston - Scottish MRC SMT Trophy Formule Libre race	Alistair Walker	1^st Heat 2
14^th July	Ingliston - Scottish MRC SMT Trophy Formule Libre race	Alistair Walker	1^st Final
28^th July	XVI Grote Prijs van Zandvoort	Mike Beckwith Alistair Walker Alex Soler-Roig Prince Jorge de Bagration	FVA FVA FVA FVA	9^th 13^th DNQ DNQ
15^th September	XXXIV Grand Prix de Reims	David Hobbs Alex Soler-Roig Prince Jorge de Bagration	FVA FVA FVA	8^th Retired Retired
13^th October	I ADAC Preis von Baden-Württemberg, Hockenheim	David Hobbs	FVA	5^th
20^th October	XXVII Grand Prix d'Albi	Robin Widdows	FVA	9^th
27^th October	XX Gran Premio di Roma, Vallelunga	David Hobbs Alistair Walker	FVA FVA	9^th DNS

Spain's Prince Jorge de Bagration in the Escuderia Nacional CS-entered T100

1969

DATE	RACE/VENUE	DRIVER	RESULT
2^nd August	Kirkistown - 500 MRCI Texaco Meeting	John Watson	Formule Libre Single-seaters
4^th August	Mondello - Leinster MC Leinster Trophy	John Watson	1^st Heat 2
4^th August	Mondello - Leinster MC Leinster Trophy	John Watson	1^st Formule Libre
14^th September	Phoenix Park - Irish MRC Irish Shell-BP Trophy	John Watson	1^st 1,600cc
14^th September	Phoenix Park - Irish MRC	John Watson	1^st Formule Libre
5^th October	Mondello Park	John Watson	1^st Formule Libre
1970

DATE	RACE/VENUE	DRIVER	RESULT
2^nd May	Carrigrohane Sprint - Munster MC & CC	Dave Furlong	1^st in Class (Handicap)
10^th May	Mondello Park - Motor Enthusiasts Club Mercantile Credit Meeting	Dave Furlong	1^st in class Formule Libre
7^th June	Brands Hatch - London MC BOC Formule Libre Championship	Robs Lamplough	1^st
13^th June	Kilmoganny Hillclimb - Carrick-on-Sur MC	Dave Furlong	B.T.D.
15^th November	Brands Hatch - Sevenoaks & DMC - BOC Formule Libre Championship	Robs Lamplough	1^st
1974

DATE	RACE/VENUE	DRIVER	RESULT
4^th August	Curborough - Nuneaton MC - Single-seaters up to 1,600cc	Richard Lester	1^st in Class
15^th September	Curborough Sprint - Shenstone & District	Richard Lester	1^st in Class
1975

DATE	RACE/VENUE	DRIVER	RESULT
1^st June	Curborough Sprint - Dudley & District CC	Richard Lester	1^st in Class
8^th June	Curborough Sprint - Round of the RAC Sprint Championship	Richard Lester	1^st in Class