THE LOLA T590
All pictures copyright Lola Heritage unless otherwise stated.
The T590 at the Lola factory.
The T590 was Lola's 1980 Sports 2000 design and was the successor to the incredibly successful and popular T490 and T492 models. However 1979 had shown the cars were now uncompetitive in the face of the Tiga SC79 design from the Tim Schenken and Howden Ganley founded company which had won all but one round of the UK Championship that victory going to Davina Galicia's T492 so Lola had to come with something new and improved for the new season.
The T590 was the response and full technical details and design criteria can be found below, the result was an improvement with the T590 taking five wins in the UK championship but the new Tiga SC80 (a lightly modified SC79) was still the car to beat with fourteen wins, notably in the hands of Ian Taylor and future Lola ALMS star James Weaver. The general feeling seems to be that the tub lacked sufficient torsional rigidity affecting the car's balance and the low-drag bodywork offered less downforce that that of the Tiga.
In Europe the EFDA Sports 2000 Championship went to Stanley Dicken who was able to get the best of the Tiga hoardes! Additionally the Scandinavian and Benelux Championships also went the way of the T590.
There are indications the car was also a winner in the USA where John Fergus took the runner-up spot at the SCCA end-of-season Run-offs in the S2000 class but I am searching for additional results to confirm this.
Year(s) of Construction: 1980
Total Built: 45
T590 CHAMPIONSHIP WINS
YEAR |
CHAMPIONSHIP |
WINNER(S) |
NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | European EFDA Sports 2000 Championship | Stanley Dicken | Lola T590-Ford |
T590 SIGNIFICANT RACE WINS
1980
DATE |
VENUE/MEETING |
DRIVER |
NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2nd March | Silverstone - BRDC | Frank Sytner | Derwent Television Sports 2000 Championship round |
| 23rd March | Mallory Park - BRSCC | Frank Sytner | Derwent Television Sports 2000 Championship round |
| 22nd June | Brands Hatch - BRSCC | Chris Alford | Derwent Television Sports 2000 Championship round |
| 23rd September | Thruxton - BARC | Mike Blanchet | Derwent Television Sports 2000 Championship round |
| 12th October | Snetterrton - BARC | Mike Blanchet | Derwent Television Sports 2000 Championship round |
1981
DATE |
VENUE/MEETING |
DRIVER |
NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24th May | Oulton Park - BARC (NW) | Jeremy Rossiter/Peter Sadler/Geoff Farmer | MCD 200 Sports Car Challenge Race |
| 7th June | Donington Park | Stanley Dickens | Round 3 of the EFDA Euroseries Sports 2000 Championship |
| 28th June | Brands Hatch - BARC | Jeremy Rossiter/Geoff Farmer | Derwent TV 200 |
| 28th June | Zandvoort | Hans Edvinsson | EFDA Sports 2000 Euroseries |
The T590 posing with its big brother, the CanAm T530. (Picture courtesy of Tony Messenger)
(Picture courtesy of Tony Messenger)
(Picture courtesy of Tony Messenger)
(Picture courtesy of Tony Messenger)
(Picture courtesy of Tony Messenger)
(Picture courtesy of Tony Messenger)
