Filed under: Concept Cars, Motorsports, Racing
It ain’t over ’till the fat lady sings. Or so the saying goes, but while the British motorsport engineering firm may specialize in lightweight composites, make no mistake about it: In the global racing arena, Lola Cars is a heavyweight.
In addition to sports prototypes, Formula One racers and a variety of other racing machinery, Lola’s history in Indy cars goes back all the way to the 1960s. Along the way, Lola has provided motivation to such notables as Graham Hill, Al Unser, Newman/Hass, Penske and Chip Ganassi, to name just a few. Now, following the competing designs unveiled by Ganassi-led upstart DeltaWing and arch-rival Dallara, Lola has announced its own bid for the new IRL chassis.
Less of a radical change certainly than the DeltaWing concept, Lola’s proposal has focused on two key areas: aerodynamic stability and design adaptability. Instead of one design, the Lola package includes two alternatives, allowing teams to choose and thus imbuing the field with more variety than existing one-make series, IndyCar included. Both designs, however, have been optimized to reduce turbulence in their wake, allowing for closer following, drafting and passing – key factors in increasing the level of competition, particularly on high-speed super-speedways.
The most intriguing element of the Lola design, however, is its adaptability. The concept is designed for use – with minimal modification – in both the top-tier IndyCar series and the lower Indy Lights category, allowing junior teams to graduate to the senior series with a few simple changes. Further details are at your disposal in the press release after the jump, with high-res images in the gallery below.
[Source: Lola]
Continue reading Universal Soldier: Lola presents adaptable IndyCar proposal
Universal Soldier: Lola presents adaptable IndyCar proposal originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 17 Feb 2010 16:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.