JustBritish

Might the mighty Jaguar, once a consistent winner on the LeMans circuit be considering a return to the competition?

According to Autoweek, Jaguar is doing just that – considering a return to LeMans. Supposedly the new Indian parent company, Tata Motors, is evaluating a high-profile motorsports comeback.

“We want to hit the Le Mans race [because] we are examining how to bring the Jaguar brand back to its earlier position,” Tata chairman Ratan Tata told Indian media.

Just a few days after its first roll-out, the fully upgraded RML MG Lola EX265C completed a faultless run to fourth place in the final race of the 2008 Le Mans Series. In a six-hour endurance that was punctuated by dramatic incidents and thrilling nose-to-tail racing, the much-admired new coupé performed without a hitch, rewarding the team’s hard work and meticulous preparation with a reliable and extremely competitive performance.

“I’m delighted – chuffed to bits!” said a smiling Mike Newton, co-driver of the EX265C and CEO of AD Group, principal sponsors to RML’s sportscar programme. “The guys have done an amazing job to put this car together so quickly, and to achieve a trouble-free run is an exceptional achievement.” The team had always approached the Silverstone 1000 Kilometres as an extended, if very public, test session, but poor weather on the previous two days had severely curtailed their on-track development. “When you compare this to where we might have been, after the events of the last couple of days, this has got to be an excellent result,” he added.

The only issue the team encountered during the course of the race was a rise in engine temperature that, if left unaddressed, might have threatened the unit. “The engine was running a little too hot,” said Thomas Erdos, who drove the opening two stints in the MG Lola, and was first to detect the problem. “We were able to de-tune it enough at the next pitstop to ensure it would run the distance, but it meant we were perhaps forty or fifty horsepower down for most of the race. In that respect, fourth is a great result.”

For more, check out PlanetLemans.

Lola Cars has launched a specially designed 50th Anniversary poster at the Race Retro Show at Stoneleigh (14 to 16 March). The unique double sided A1 glossy poster depicts one Lola car from each of the fifty years, ranging from the first Lola sportcar built – the Mk1, through to the very latest LMP Coupe that will race for the first time in April of this year. The distinguished list of cars featured in the poster illustrates the true diversity of the company’s designs throughout the last

From drawing boards to CAD stations, some of the UK’s most talented racecar designers have contributed to Lola’s 50 golden years in motorsport. Leading these talents from 1958 to 1997 was Eric Broadley, the founder of Lola Cars. During Broadley’s time at Lola his pupils included a long list of distinguished car designers such as Tony Southgate, Patrick Head, John Barnard and Ralph Bellamy. Engineers, drivers and crowd favourites are all featured in this special edition poster such as the T70, Mk6 and Lola built Nissan Group C sportscar.
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An entry list of 27 cars has been revealed for the 2008 Avon Tyres British GT Championship featuring 19 cars in GT3 and eight in the new GT4 class.

Defending champions RPM will run two cars in the GT3 class and also expand into GT4 with a further three cars. Former BTCC race-winner Paul O’Neill will partner Steve Clark in the #1 entry while Nick Foster will be partnered by experienced youngster Oliver Bryant in the sister car.

In GT4, the team will run three Ginetta G50s for the pairings of Steve Tandy/Phil Bailey, Joe Osbourne/Michael Broadhurst and Chris Cooke/James Harrison.

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Marking the 75th anniversary of the foundation of the ERA (‘English Racing Automobiles Limited’) – the first-ever British specialist company to manufacture single-seat, open-wheeled racing cars for customer sale – Bonhams will auction the first prototype ERA at the Goodwood Festival of Speed on 11 July 2008.

The ERA marque played a pivotal role in British motor sporting history. From 1934- 1938, these British racing cars toppled the former supremacy of the Italian Maserati cars in their International ‘Voiturette’ competition class – effectively Formula Two or Grand Prix Two level. They performed incredible service, also graduating to contemporary Grand Prix racing pre-World War Two and then from 1948-51 to Formula One.

Chassis no. ‘R1A’ – to be sold by Bonhams – was first driven by Raymond Mays at ERA’s public debut in testing at Brooklands on 22 May 1934. Trouble in practice for its first race in the Mannin Moar event at Douglas, Isle of Man on 30 May saw Raymond Mays non-start but he and Humphrey Cook then co-drove the new car in its true race debut, the British Empire Trophy at Brooklands on 23 June. There again on 6 August, Raymond Mays finished 2nd in an Esher Mountain Handicap, and set the class lap record at 76.31mph.
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RML AD Group’s new MG Lola EX265 completed a faultless first shakedown test at the Silverstone circuit yesterday, Friday 8th February. The morning run left Brazilian driver Thomas Erdos thrilled by the responsiveness of the new XP-21 engine, and looking forward to the prospects of defending the LMP2 title in this season’s Le Mans Series.

Thomas Erdos and co-driver Mike Newton took the series title last year with RML’s MG Lola EX264, having won the LMP2 class in the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2005 and 2006. Since then the EX264, itself a derivative of the EX257 that wowed the crowds at Le Mans as an MG works entry in 2001, has undergone significant further development. Arising from fresh links with Shanghai Automotive, MG’s new owners in China, the car has been re-homologated as the MG EX265. Most significant amongst those enhancements has been the production, in association with AER, of the two-litre turbocharged XP-21 engine.

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