THE LOLA T450
All pictures copyright Lola Heritage unless otherwise stated.
The ATS Wheels entered T450 of Mikko Kozarowitsky.
The T450 was Lola's first Formula Two design since the 1971 T240 and regrettably it proved just as successful! 1976 was a difficult year for Formula Two which was very much engine-dominated with the Elf and Martini teams, who were supplied with works Renault engines, taking the top four positions in the European Championship. The only other race winners were the works March team which had works BMW power. The T450 was a very attractive car and full technical details can be found HERE, the car looked very good in testing setting sub-lap record times at Snetterton, especially in the hands of Lola Formula Atlantic driver Ted Wentz but it seems the car was written off in testing by Ray Mallock and none of the other cars seemed to be able to match it once the racing season started.
Lola sold four T450s, one going to the ATS Wheels team who were running Finn Mikko Kozarowitsky who had won the Super Vee Gold Cup in 1975 driving a T324 but he seemed to struggle in Formula Two and late season change of team and a March chassis saw no improvement, he was replaced by Bertram Schäfer, Reinhold Jöst and Mika Arpiainen who fared no better. A second car went to Roland Binder and the Team Warsteiner Eurorace team, Binder had raced on-and-off in F2 since 1970 without scoring points and nothing changed with the T450. The third car went to the Ardmore Racing team who were running Ray Mallock, but despite initially really liking the car he preferred a 1974 March to the replacement chassis the team received after his testing accident mentioned above. The team did give Ian Ashley an outing in the T450 at Thruxton, but he withdrew saying the car was undriveable. The only time the car looked competitive was when Td Wentz drove the ATS T450 at the Salzburgring where he qualified 11th out of 37 cars but retired with engine problems. The fourth car is a bit of a mystery but may have been sold to a French hillclimber.
For details of the individual chassis histories please visit OldRacingCars HERE.
Year(s) of Construction: 1976
Total Built: 4
Ted Wentz in the ATS chassis at the Salzburgring.
T450 Formula Two Results
DATE |
RACE |
DRIVER |
QUALIFYING |
RACE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11th April | X Deutschland Trophäe 1976 - Hockenheimring - European Championship Round 1 | Mikko Kozarowitsky Roland Binder |
DNQ 20th |
- DNF |
| 19th April | XXX B.A.R.C. "200" V Jochen Rindt Memorial - Thruxton - European Championship Round 2 | Mikko Kozarowitsky Ian Ashley |
26th 33rd |
DNF DNF |
| 2nd May | XXXIX Internationales ADAC-Eifelrennen - Nürburgring | Roland Binder | 6th | 10th |
| 9th May | XXVIII Gran Premio di Roma - Vallelunga - European Championship Round 3 | Mikko Kozarowitsky | DNQ | - |
| 23rd May | VI Festspielpreis der Stadt Salzburg - Salzburgring - European Championship Round 4 | Roland Binder Ted Wentz |
21st 11th |
14th DNF |
| 20th June | XI Rhein-Pokalrennen - Hockenheimring - European Championship Round 6 | Bertram Schäfer Roland Binder |
20th DNQ |
DNS - |
| 27th June | XXIV Grand Prix de Rouen - Circuit de Rouen-les-Essarts - European Championship Round 7 | Reinhold Jöst | DNQ | - |
| 11th July | III Gran Premio di Mugello - Mugello - European Championship Round 8 | Reinhold Jöst Roland Binder |
29th DNQ |
DNF - |
| 22nd August | III Coppa Santamonica - Misano | Roland Binder | 16th | NC |
| 26th September | VIII Preis von Baden-Württemberg und Hessen - Hockenheimring - European Championship Round 12 | Mika Arpiainen Roland Binder |
23rd DNQ |
DNF - |
The T450 HU3 of Guillaume Bonatre. (Picture courtesy of Guillaume Bonatre)
HU3 in an an earlier colour scheme. (Picture courtesy of Guillaume Bonatre)
(Picture courtesy of Guillaume Bonatre)
