03 Lola B3/51 - Motorsports Almanac

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LOLA ANNOUNCES CONTRACT TO SUPPLY CHASSIS FOR 2003 FORMULA NIPPON 30/09/2002 World's leading racing car constructors win prestigious order from Japan's top formula. Huntingdon, England. - Lola Cars International today announced the completion of a formal agreement between the company and Japan Racing Promotions (JRP), organisers of the Japanese Formula Nippon Championship, to supply Lola's 03/51 chassis for the Nippon series for the forthcoming 2003 and subsequent race seasons. With strong grid numbers, excellent television and high sponsor involvement, Formula Nippon is again set to continue its impressive growth. The Formula has long been established as a very positive career option for race drivers headed towards Formula One. Of the current Grand Prix drivers, Michael Schumacher, Jacques Villeneuve, Ralf Schumacher (Nippon Champion 1996), Eddie Irvine, Pedro de la Rosa (Nippon Champion 1997) and Mika Salo have all raced in Nippon, en route to Formula One. Formula Nippon began in April 1996 as the replacement of the former Japanese Formula 3000 Championship and has developed since this time with safety and performance always being the two most important criteria for the series. The 2003 Lola Nippon chassis, for the next generation of the Formula, is a new specification from Lola which upholds the ethos of the Championship for highly competitive, safe, racing. The 2003 formula will run Honda Mugen engines, Bridgestone slick tyres and advanced wing and suspension packages. The move into Formula Nippon marks a return to Japan for Lola, the company having enjoyed great success there during the 1980's and early 1990's, before Lola then re-focussed on the US Champ Car Series. Rick Gorne, international consultant for Lola Cars International, has been working with Katsu Homma, JRP director, to finalise the arrangements for the introduction of the Lola chassis. Gorne says, "Lola has all the credentials required of a chassis manufacturer for this Championship, with so much of the company's experience being highly relevant. Both the JRP and Lola know that it is important for F Nippon to have a chassis of the very highest international technical standards. The new Lola B3/51 will fulfil this need and ensure that the teams racing in F Nippon will be equipped with a sophisticated chassis that offers all the safety and performance advantages expected from the world's leading customer racecar company." Katsu Homma of Japan Racing Promotions outlined the decision to award Lola the new contract by saying, "Bringing Lola on board with the Formula Nippon Championship to deliver the next generation chassis is a new departure for us, but is a very welcome progression. It will allow us to maintain the cost controls required, while providing us with a high specification racecar. We're looking forward to working with Lola to introduce the new car next season, after an extensive test programme." "This is an important new racecar for our portfolio," says Martin Birrane, Chairman, Lola Cars International. "It is a prestigious contract for one of the top class series in motorsport today. So many young drivers experience Formula Nippon on their way to the top and we're pleased that we're once more supplying this excellent Championship." 2003 FORMULA NIPPON ENTRY LIST Team – Team Director – Car No. – Driver, age – Nation – Date of Birth – Chassis – Engine – Tuner PIAA NAKAJIMA RACING – Satoru Nakajima 1 Takashi Kogure, 23 JPN 1980.08.01 LOLA B3/51 MUGEN MF308/OGAWA JIDOSHA 2 André Lotterer, 22 GER 1981.10.19 LOLA B3/51 MUGEN MF308/OGAWA JIDOSHA OLYMPIC KONDO RACING TEAM – Masahiko Kondo 3 Yuji Tachikawa, 28 JPN 1975.07.05 LOLA B3/51 MUGEN MF308/OGAWA JIDOSHA 4 Dominik Schwager , 27 GER 1976.09.18 LOLA B3/51 MUGEN MF308/OGAWA JIDOSHA TEAM 5ZIGEN – Keiji Matsumoto 5 Ryo Michigami, 30 JPN 1973.03.01 LOLA B3/51 MUGEN MF308/TOMEI ENGINE 6 James Courtney, 23 AUS 1980.06.29 LOLA B3/51 MUGEN MF308/TOMEI ENGINE 6 Ryo Fukida, 24 JPN 1979.06.26 LOLA B3/51 MUGEN MF308/TOMEI ENGINE TEAM LE MANS – Hiroyoshi Donuma 7 Toshihiro Kaneishi, 24 JPN 1978.12.19 LOLA B3/51 MUGEN MF308/TOMEI ENGINE 8 Takeshi Tsuchiya, 31 JPN 1972.11.04 LOLA B3/51 MUGEN MF308/TOMEI ENGINE PLANEX EBBRO NOVA – Katsumi Kiyohara 9 Haruki Kurosawa, 26 JPN 1977.09.26 LOLA B3/51 MUGEN MF308/OGAWA JIDOSHA OIZUMI TEAM NOVA – Katsumi Kiyohara 10 Hiroki Katoh, 35 JPN 1968.02.23 LOLA B3/51 MUGEN MF308/OGAWA JIDOSHA 10 Tetsuya Fujisawa, 38 JPN 1965.11.06 LOLA B3/51 MUGEN MF308/OGAWA JIDOSHA 10 Yudai Igarashi, 25 JPN 1978.09.24 LOLA B3/51 MUGEN MF308/OGAWA JIDOSHA COSMO OIL RACING TEAM CERUMO – Naosuke Osawa 11 Tsugio Matsuda, 24 JPN 1979.06.18 LOLA B3/51 MUGEN MF308/OGAWA JIDOSHA 12 Yuji Ide, 28 JPN 1975.01.21 LOLA B3/51 MUGEN MF308/OGAWA JIDOSHA TEAM IMPUL – Kazuyoshi Hoshino 19 Satoshi Motoyama, 32 JPN 1971.03.04 LOLA B3/51 MUGEN MF308/TOMEI ENGINE 20 Benoit Treluyer, 26 FRA 1976.12.07 LOLA B3/51 MUGEN MF308/TOMEI ENGINE TEAM 22 – Akio Morimoto 22 Juichi Wakasaka, 31 JPN 1972.07.29 LOLA B3/51 MUGEN MF308/TOMEI ENGINE CARROZZERIA Team MOHN – Minoru Ooba 28 Hideki Noda, 34 JPN 1969.03.07 LOLA B3/51 MUGEN MF308/SIERRA SPORTS DoCoMo TEAM DANDELION RACING – Norimitsu Yoshida 40 Richard Lyons, 24 NIR 1979.08.08 LOLA B3/51 MUGEN MF308/TOMEI ENGINE 41 Naoki Hattori, 37 JPN 1966.06.13 LOLA B3/51 MUGEN MF308/TOMEI ENGINE
THE LOLA B3/51 – DESCRIPTION Lola has competed in the highly competitive Japanese Formula Nippon series (Japan's premier national category) since entering the fray in 1987, winning the championship 8 times in 11 seasons, including in 1997 with Nova Engineering team and Pedro de la Rosa. 2003 sees the first new Nippon car by Lola since the B99/51.The new B3/51 is derived from the International F3000 concept but has many updated parts including sidepods and suspension geometry. Building on experience gained in cars for sole use in International series around the world over the last ten years and making full use of the company's increased technical capabilities and resources, Lola have designed the chassis to reflect the aesthetic qualities of contemporary Formula One cars, offering improved driver comfort and increased passive safety measures. The carbon-aluminium honeycomb composite monocoque of the new Lola B3/51 was constructed using a new specification of carbon fibre manufacturing process, offering greater strength, whilst maintaining the same stiffness characteristics and greater impact resistance. The chassis is a one-piece monocoque construction based on the highly successful; pioneering chassis used on the Lola B02/50 and has been adapted to accept the Mugen MF 308 engine. With the unique demands of the Formula Nippon in mind, the aerodynamics of the car have been improved, with completely re-designed sidepods, radiator ducts and engine cover in order to accommodate the Mugen engine, while retaining the B02/50 underbody and diffuser. The design of the hubs and suspension has been modified from the B02/50 to allow teams to continue to use their existing stock of wheels and tyres, underlining Lola's commitment to helping teams control costs in the new formula. The proven braking system has been retained from the B2/50. The design of the B3/51's transverse six-speed gearbox is based on Lola's highly successful Champ car unit, allowing ratio changes to be made without removing the underbody or draining the oil. The gearbox has also been strengthened to accommodate the extra power and grip levels seen in Formula Nippon. Lola have taken the opportunities afforded by their world-wide racing experience and drawn on these to produce a car that has been designed specifically for Formula Nippon, but carries over many design features already proven to provide reliability, longevity and cost-effective performance. SUCCESSFUL TEST FOR LOLA FORMULA NIPPON CAR 27/11/2002 Richard Lyons is first to sample B3/51 Lola Cars International debuted their brand new Formula Nippon car at Snetterton today yesterday with the B3/51 completing 65 trouble free laps. After morning fog delayed the test until lunchtime, Formula Nippon frontrunner Richard Lyons conducted the initial shakedown laps before embarking on more lengthy runs throughout the afternoon. The Ulsterman, who intends to compete with the chassis in next years Formula Nippon series was very impressed as he put the first miles on the car. " My initial impressions of the car are all good and we ran through everything that we had planned," said the 23-year-old."As the track conditions were tricky to say the least, the car handled excellently and gave me a lot of confidence. There is no doubt that it is a very capable car and to have no real problems at the very first test is encouraging." With the wet track making lap times unrepresentative the first test of the carbon-aluminium honeycomb composite chassis pleased Katsu Homma of Japan Racing Promotions, who was overseeing the test. "We are very excited by this solid start to the programme and our relationship with Lola Cars. The reliability and performance of the car are very confidence building." Co-ordinating the first run for the B3/51 was Lola' s Formula Nippon project leader Andrew Burston who was more than pleased with the initial performance of the car. " We didn't manage to get off wet tyres but we found a reasonable balance after just a handful of laps. The test also proved to be 100% reliable so we are very satisfied." The first Formula Nippon chassis will now be freighted to Japan later this week where it will be prepared for another test at Motegi on December 17. Lola Cars will then be despatching another seventeen chassis direct to Japan by mid January. The car’s most striking features are the sidepods, radiator ducts and engine cover that houses the Mugen MF 308 engine. Several Zytek engineers were on hand at the test and were also pleased with the mating of the engine to the B3/51. Lola have taken the opportunities afforded by their world-wide racing experience and drawn on these to produce a car that has been designed specifically for Formula Nippon, but carries over many design features already proven to provide reliability, longevity and cost-effective performance. Building on experience gained in cars for sole use in International series around the world over the last ten years and making full use of the company's increased technical capabilities and resources, Lola have designed the chassis to reflect the aesthetic qualities of contemporary Formula One cars, offering improved driver comfort and increased passive safety measures. FORMULA NIPPON - THE STAR MAKER Formula Nippon replaced Formula 3000 in Japan. Lola chassis have won this Japanese premier national category, Formula Nippon title eight times in twelve years. Lola Cars International announced the completion of a formal agreement between the company and Japan Racing Promotions (JRP), organisers of the Japanese Formula Nippon Championship, to supply Lola's 03/51 chassis for the Nippon series for the forthcoming 2003 and subsequent race seasons. With strong grid numbers, excellent television and high sponsor involvement, Formula Nippon is again set to continue its impressive growth. The Formula has long been established as a very positive career option for race drivers headed towards Formula One. Of the current Grand Prix drivers, Michael Schumacher, Jacques Villeneuve, Ralf Schumacher (Nippon Champion 1996), Eddie Irvine, Pedro de la Rosa (Nippon Champion 1997) and Mika Salo have all raced in Nippon, en route to Formula One. More recently new Jordan F1 recruit Ralph Firman added his name to that exclusive list after he was crowned champion in 2002. The B3/51 made its track debut at Snetterton in November 2002 with the B3/51 completing 65 trouble free laps. Formula Nippon frontrunner Richard Lyons conducted the initial shakedown laps, the Ulsterman, who intends to compete with the chassis in next years Formula Nippon series was very impressed as he put the first miles on the car. "My initial impressions of the car are all good and we ran through everything that we had planned," said the 23-year-old. "As the track conditions were tricky to say the least, the car handled excellently and gave me a lot of confidence. There is no doubt that it is a very capable car and to have no real problems at the very first test is encouraging."
Page 1: Lola B3/51 Formula Nippon car Hidek

03 Lola B3/51 - Motorsports Almanac

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