©1997 SpeedCenter Internet Publishing, Inc.
Introduction by Jim DeFord
Introduction — Andre Ribeiro and Roberto Moreno recentlyspoke out on the lagging performance of the 1997 Lola chassis. Two teams (BrahmaSports and Forsythe) changed from Lola to Reynard chassis very late and Tasmanwas ready to jump off Lola's sinking ship, but the Reynard factory is maxed-outand could not deliver until May.
So, Tasman is stuck with Lola. Or is he?
Lola has been around for awhile, but was evidently caught completely off-guardin developing the 1997 chassis. The only Lola driver with any consistency hasbeen Richie Hearn. The remaining few (7 Lola drivers in total), including Ribeiroand Moreno, have been towards the back of the pack in all sessions.
Lola says that the problems are being worked out and a possible solution willbe tested within a week. Here are two news reports from the drivers explainingthe situation and their feelings for the future of driving a Lola car:
Andre Ribeiro
Tasman Motorsports
SAO PAULO, Brasil — Andre Ribeiro is expecting hard timesuntil the Lola chassis becomes competitive. "I must think more realisticallythan optimistically. I will need much more support to win again in Brasil thisyear," declared Ribeiro. He said that Tasman team already studied thepossibility to switch to other chassis but concluded it is best to stick onLola.
During a trip to England a week ago, Steve Horne, team owner and DonHalliday, Tasman engineer, speculated on the possibility to get a '97 Reynardbut the factory could only promise one by May 30.
They were also at the Lolafacilities to see the work they are doing to improve the '97 car. The otherchassis in the series, Swift and Penske, are not for sale and it is notpossible to install the new Honda engine on the '96 Lola chassis withoutmajor modifications.
The unavoidable conclusion for the Tasman team is that it is best wait to for new Loladevelopments.
The main problem seems to be a lack of rigidity on the engineattachment points in the chassis making the car too soft under torsion stress.This overrides the suspension properties and is almost impossible to set upthe car properly.
"In Homestead my car had understeer and oversteer behaviorat the same time, in each corner," commented Ribeiro.
One of the proposed modifications on the Lola car is the reinforcement of all engineattaching points. This modification will betested March 20/21 at Sebring by Ribeiro and March 28/29 at Milwaukee by his teammate Adrian Fernandez.
"If we go to the Australia circuit with this car, we will be around three secondsper-lap slower than the competition," estimated Ribeiro. "I know how hard canbe to solve a design problem, but we have already a great plan toface this," said Ribeiro.
Despite all the problems and the poor performancethe car has shown, Ribeiro remains confident when declaring, "Lola isthe largest racing car manufacturer in the world. They have a highly skilledtechnical staff, is financially healthy and has a great reputation of takingcare of CART, Indy Lights and European Formula 3000. They surely willimprove this car soon."
Roberto Moreno
Payton-Coyne Racing
SAO PAULO, Brasil — Roberto Moreno, as well as Andre Ribeiro,suffered the same problems regarding Lola chassis performance inHomestead, Fl., opener race. The Payton-Coyne team found, after Moreno abandonedthe race, that almost all screws and nuts in the engine to chassis couplingwere loose. Then, after measured data analysis and comments by Moreno, wellknown as a chassis tester, the team concluded that there was a lack ofrigidity in the Lola chassis.
"At every corner in the race I was expecting to go straight to the wall. Thecar was slipping in the front and also in the rear," confessed Moreno.
Talking to Lola engineer, Ben Boulby, they were informed that the chassismaker did extra tests under laboratory conditions and found that the torsionin the '97 chassis is eight times more than the previous version.
"With a car structure that deforms in the corners, there is no way to set it upto go fast," said Moreno.After seeing the modifications proposed by Lola,Moreno turned up confident. "The car will be different. You can bet on it"declared Moreno, apparently satisfied.
The additional problem for a team with a verylimited budget is that they will lose all current set up references. "All the set upreferences we have for this car will be thrown away," said Moreno.
To minimize the problem, Moreno suggested to Lola that they deliver a'97 chassis equipped with '96 rear suspension. With that combination, they hopeto be far more competitive on April 6th in Australia.