THE LOLA T80
All pictures copyright Lola Heritage unless otherwise stated.
Sitting in the T80 is Bud Tingelstad, to the left is entrant Lindsay Hopkins, on the right chief mechanic Jud Phillips and crew chief Jack Beckley.
Lola's first assault on the world of Indy Car racing was in 1966 when they built two cars for that year's Indianapolis 500. As a warm up one car was entered, as the American Red Ball, at the Trenton 100 for Bud Tingelstad and, despite the race being shortened from 100 to 87 laps, the T80 finished 4th on its debut.
The next race was the big one, the Indy 500, and two cars were entered, once again Bud Tingelstad in the American Red Ball and he was joined by Al Unser in the Sheraton-Thompson. However late completion of the cars had meant very little running time and inexperience with the design saw Tingelstad qualify 23rd and Unser 29th of the 33 starters. Both drivers complained particularly of a handling problem that caused the car to "heave" as it entered a corner, this was later discovered to be caused by a flaw in the suspension geometry. Despite this, and a number of other teething troubles, Unser finished ninth and Tingelstad ran as high as fifth until a broken casting (not Lola-made) caused a rear wheel to fall off after 115 laps.
The T80s continued to race in that year's USAC Championship but with very little success (see results below).
For details of the individual chassis histories please visit OldRacingCars HERE.
Al Unser in the Sheraton-Thompson and Bud Tingelstad in the American Red Ball T80s at Indianapolis. (Indycar.com)
T80 Specification.
Engine:Ford V8 4.2 litre 500 BHP.
Construction:Steel and alumnium monocoque.
Gearbox: ZF Three-speed.
Height: 2ft 8ins (81.3cms.)
Length: 13ft (13.96m)
Weight: 1250lbs (567kgs.)
Tyres: Firestone.
Brakes: Girling.
The T80 under construction at the Lola factory.
T80 1965 USAC National Championship Trail Results
DATE | RACE/VENUE | ENTRANT | DRIVER | RESULT |
---|---|---|---|---|
25th April | Trenton 100, Trenton International Speedway | American Red Ball | Bud Tingelstad | 4th |
31st May | International 500 Mile Sweepstakes, Indianapolis Motor Speedway | Sheraton-Thompson American Red Ball | Al Unser Bud Tingelstad | 9th Retired |
18th July | Trenton 150, Trenton International Speedway | Mecom Racing Team | Rodger Ward | DNS |
25th July | Hoosier Grand Prix, Indianapolis Raceway Park | Mecom Racing Team | Rodger Ward | Retired |
14th August | Milwaukee 150, The Milwaukee Mile | Mecom Racing Team | Bud Tingelstad Rodger Ward | Retired Retired |
22nd August | Tony Bettenhausen 200, The Milwaukee Mile | American Red Ball Mecom Racing Team | Bud Tingelstad Rodger Ward | Retired Retired |
26th September | Trenton 200, Trenton International Speedway | Mecom Racing Team | Rodger Ward | Retired |
21st November | Bobby Ball Memorial, Phoenix International Raceway | Mecom Racing Team | Rodger Ward | Retired |
1965 CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS
19th Al Unser 495 points (Also drove a Weisman, Eisert and Kuzma Sprint Car)20th Bud Tingelstad 460 points (Also drove a Halibrand, Kurtis, Kuzma and Silnes and Blum Sprint Cars)
49th Rodger Ward 30 points (Also drove a Watson RE)
Results courtesy of www.champcarstats.com
T80 front suspension. (From the Collections of The Henry Ford)
T80 1966 USAC National Championship Trail Results
DATE | RACE/VENUE | ENTRANT | DRIVER | RESULT |
---|---|---|---|---|
30th May | International 500 Mile Sweepstakes, Indianapolis Motor Speedway | Michner Petroleum Western Racing Associates Western Racing Associates | Larry Dickson Ronnie Bucknam Bruce Jacobi | Retired DNQ DNQ |
5th June | Rex Mays Classic, The Milwaukee Mile | Western Racing Associates | Bruce Jacobi | 19th |
12th June | Langhorne 100, Langhorne Speedway | Western Racing Associates | Bruce Jacobi | DNS |
26th June | Atlanta 300, Atlanta Motor Speedway | Michner Petroleum Lucy | Larry Dickson Arnie Knepper | 19th |
7th August | Langhorne 150, Langhorne Speedway | Michner Petroleum | Sam Sessions | DNS |
25th September | Trenton 200, Trenton International Speedway | Michner Petroleum | Sam Sessions | Retired |
T80 1968 USAC National Championship Trail Results
DATE | RACE/VENUE | ENTRANT | DRIVER | RESULT |
---|---|---|---|---|
7th April | Jimmy Bryan Memorial, Phoenix International Raceway | Michner Petroleum | Rick Muther | DNQ |
9th June | Rex Mays Classic, The Milwaukee Mile | Michner Petroleum | Norm Brown | DNF |
The rear suspension of the T80. (From the Collections of The Henry Ford)
1965 CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS
20th Bud Tingelstad 460 points49th Rodger Ward 30 points
1966 CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS
24th Larry Dickson 320 points30th Sam Sessions 210 points
38th Bruce Jacobi 100 points
Results courtesy of www.champcarstats.com
Parnelli Jones tested the T80... (From the Collections of The Henry Ford)
...but opted to race a Lotus. (From the Collections of The Henry Ford)
...as did AJ Foyt.(From the Collections of The Henry Ford)
Bud Tingelstad retired as the result of an accident. (From the Collections of The Henry Ford)
Al Unser finished 9th. (From the Collections of The Henry Ford)
Larry Dickson in the Michner Petroleum T80 at the 1966 Indy 500, he was involved in the opening lap accident. (Indycar.com)
The Dayton Disc Brake T80 at Indianapolis in 1967. Ronnie Duman, Bruce Jacobi and Bob Bondurant all tried (and failed) to qualify the car and Jacobi managed to wreck it. (From the Collections of The Henry Ford)