Lola LMP2 cars take Istanbul win

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November 15, 2005 in Motorsport

Lola LMP2 cars take Istanbul win

...and LMES title

The Lola B05/40 LMP2 design signed off a successful debut season in International sportscar racing in Istanbul at the weekend, claiming another class win and the 2005 Le Mans Endurance Series title.

While Tommy Erdos and Mike Newton celebrated their first LMES win of the year, Chamberlain Synergy came home second in atrocious conditions to claim the drivers crown for their driver Gareth Evans and also scoop the teams title.

In a frantic race, the MG powered RML car and the AER powered Chamberlain Synergy Lola led all but a handful of laps in the fifth and final round of the LMES series.

Starting from an inspired 5th overall on the starting grid with a time just 1.5 seconds off overall pole position, super-sub Guy Smith took a gamble by starting on intermediate tyres in the very damp conditions. The former Le Mans 24 Hours winner battled vigorously Erdos and the Belmondo Courage of Didier Andre.

After Andre collided with a GTS Ferrari, it was a battle between Erdos and Smith and this raged for the first half of the race, as both triple stinted their Huntingdon built LMP2 racers. Smith, deputising for an unavailable Bob Berridge, even survived being driven off the road by a lurid Jean Marc Gounon in the LMP1 Courage, which at the time was several laps behind the bright yellow Lola.

Despite the conditions worsening both Mike Newton and Gareth Evans completed drama free stints as the race went in to the last couple of hours of the six-hour event. With Peter Owen in the car and just under two hours to go on the clock, the Chamberlain Synergy squad had a two lap lead over the RML car, but that was soon lost when Owen spun off in the treacherous conditions.

Losing almost three laps to the RML car whilst being pulled from the gravel trap, Owen was soon in to the pits to hand back over to Guy Smith who set about salvaging the title for Gareth Evans by trying to catch the third Lola in the race – the Horag Lista car of Didier Theys and Thed Bjork. The Hugh Chamberlain led team needed to finish second to have just a one-point advantage over the race leading RML pairing.

With just twenty minutes remaining, Smith was closing fast on Thed Bjork’s Judd powered Lola and with the rain becoming monsoon-like the 2005 LMES series was building up to a nervous and exciting last minute climax.

Ten minutes from the end, Bjork, struggling on his already used rubber, spun twice on the same lap and Smith was through and in to the second position that he needed to give Evans the crown.

“It’s been great to help Gareth win the championship,” said Smith, undoubtedly the star of the weekend. “The Horag car had some problems on its tyres at the end, but the Dunlops we had were great and I think we showed what the Lola B05/40 AER can do.”

For Evans, it was the end to a superb debut season in LMP2 racing. A win at Spa and other podium visits in Monza and Turkey were brilliant results for all the hard working drivers and team.

“Guy was fantastic. We kept it on the track until Peter went out, then Guy saved it for us at the end,” concluded Evans.

Smith showed his skill and the pedigree of the Lola B05/40 by securing fastest lap in class with a stunning 1m55.906, faster than several LMP1 cars.

RML were delighted with their LMP2 class win and a fine 6th overall as Tommy Erdos explained;

"I'm happy to have won the race. It's something we've been chasing all year, so it's a great way to end the championship. They told me with ten minutes to go that we were going to win it. But the Chamberlain team deserved it, they've been very consistent all year. The last ten to fifteen laps we were not racing at all, we were just trying to stay on the track. It was really dangerous.”

Horag Lista overcame several hurdles to claim their second podium in four races. Theys and Bjork survived several off track moments in the deluge to fight back from the disappointment. The team were also forced to change an engine on the qualifying day but the Swiss team still lined up 4th on the LMP2 grid.

"It rained like crazy for six hours; the conditions were very difficult," Theys said afterwards. "There was so much water on the course, everybody was spinning on the straightaway, including us. But neither Thed nor I lost many positions when we spun, and the car is in one piece. Everybody had a spin; even the winner.”

Istanbul saw the ninth LMP2 class win for the B05/40 in its first season of competition on both sides of the Atlantic, including wins at the Le Mans 24 Hours (RML) and Petit Le Mans (Intersport). Chamberlain Synergy’s title is the second series LMP2 win as Intersport Racing’s Clint Field clinched the 2005 American Le Mans crown at Laguna Seca last month.

Several significant updates on the Lola B05/40 will be forthcoming for the start of the 2006 season when the design will be joined on the grid by the all-new B06/10 LMP1 design. ALMS race winners Dyson Racing will race two of the new cars in the US next season while advanced discussions are on-going with European based teams for Le Mans and the newly named Le Mans Series in Europe.

RACE RESULTS

Pos - Drivers - Make - Laps

1. Collard/Boullion Pescarolo C60 173

2. Ortelli/McNish Audi R8 +1:09.875

3. Minassian/Deletraz/Campbell-Walter DBA 03S Judd 171

4. Shimoda/Chilton Zytek 04S 171

5. Fisken/Hancock/Tahincioglu Zytek 169

6. Newton/Erdos MG Lola EX 264 164

7. Evans/Owen/Smith Lola AER 164

8. Barbosa/Short/Ickx Dallara Judd 164

9. Theys/Bjork Lola B05/40 163

10. Bartyan/Pescatori/Seiler Ferrari 550 Maranello 161