Lola releases rendering of LeMans coupe

Lola cars is releasing the first official rendering of their new closed prototype, the Lola B08/60.

Lola engineers have been busy working on the next generation of LMPs, the fabled coupe version, which is scheduled to hit the track this autumn. Lola's senior aerodynamicist Phil Tiller explained the latest developments

"The artist's impression we released last year was just that, but we've been doing a lot of work on the CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics), and we've got a short list of shapes for the closed car, which we've already put in the wind tunnel. We'll soon narrow it down to a final shape in the wind tunnel."

Tiller also commented on the complications of a closed LMP design, particularly remarking on the detail needed to make sure the wipers work effectively, for example.

"We've got some ‘hard points' for the roll cage to fit into (from the ACO), but we're keeping our options open, and if they specify any change, we can go that way."

Phil Tiller has some new ‘toys' to play with these days, thanks to Lola's tie-up with AMD and FLUENT, manufacturers of computer hardware and software respectively. "Normally that's the sort of technology that you find at F1 teams, so it's great to have it available in sports cars."

Bolstering Lola's strong engineering team has been a couple of significant appointments over the last six months. Heading up Lola's on-site Technical Centre is now Dr John Davis who brings over 20 years of Formula One experience with the likes of Lotus, Jordan and Williams.

Gene Varnier has also joined Lola primarily to work on the B08/60 LMP Coupe. Along with Peter Ellery, Varnier was instrumental in the design of the Bentley Speed 8 that took an unforgettable win at Le Mans in 2003.

Lola are scheduled to debut the Coupe this autumn and already have interested parties in the project. One thing is for sure, Lola engineers will be working flat out to ensure that Lolas tradition of success and technical excellence continues with more wins and class series victories. Lola Cars