Tag Archives: T332

Rising Rate Improvements – Lola T400 #HU5

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After the successes of the Lola T332 model which was driven to to two Formula 5000 Championshp victories in the United States by Brian Redman, in the UK by Bob Evans, in Australia with Max Stewart in a year old T330 and loosing only the Tasman Series to Peter Gethin’s Chevron B24 and the New Zealand Series to David Oxton in the Begg FM5 in 1974, Lola looked to be the manufacturer to go with in 1975.

The Lola T400 was designed with superior aerodynamics and rising rate suspension to the previous years T332 for the 1975 Formula F5000 season.

01 Lola T400_8734sc

That at least was the theory although when customers like Richard Oaten Racing, van der Straten (VDS) and McKechnie Racing Organisation took delivery of theirs they found the rising rate suspension, designed to get stiffer the more the suspension traveled, was not so easy to set up, because they did not realise that the spring rates originally chosen were not stiff enough, infact the opposite they thought the spring rates were too hard and made the handling worse by attempting to rectify the problem with softer springs that reduced the contact patch of particularly the rear tyres with the road even further.

Despite being invoiced for today’s featured T400 chassis #HU5 on February 17th 1975 Richard Oaten Racing’s driver Ian Ashley started the first two races of the 1975, British based, European Formula 5000 championship driving the two year old Lola T330 chassis #HU17.

Lola Chevrolet T400, Lance Robinson, Silverstone Classic Press Day,

Ian won with the 2 year old car at Brands Hatch from 4th on the grid and crashed out at Oulton Park, not for the last time, on the opening lap again from fourth on the grid.

Two weeks later back Brands with the T330 not repaired sufficiently after it’s accident at Oulton Park Ian had little option but to drive today’s featured T400 #HU5 from the back of the grid to 7th in a race noted for being the first to be won by David Purley in his one off Chevron B30 powered by the 3.4 litre Ford GAA V6.

Lola Chevrolet T400, Silverstone Classic Press Day,

By Silverstone the Oaten T330 had been repaired with much new metal in the form of a new T332 tub fitted with T330 suspension and a mixture of T330, T332 and T400 body work with which Ian qualified 2nd and finished 5th in a race that became notorious when the good old Auntie British Broadcasting Corporation refused to televise it because of the presence of Richard Scotts T400 #HU8 which was sponsored by prophylactic brand Durex. Richard won the race in #HU8 after it had been fitted with the older type T332 suspension after future Williams design guru Patrick Head was consulted about the T400 handling issues.

Ian’s second and final public appearance in #HU5 was at Zolder after gearbox damage to the repaired T330/332 #HU17 forced Ian in to the T400 with which he qualified 5th behind 3 other T400’s and was classified 2nd behind the van der Straten VDS T400 chassis #HU4 driven by Peter Gethin.

Lola Chevrolet T400, Silverstone Classic Press Day,

#HU5 is then said to have been abandoned as uncompetitive before the next race at Zandvoort where Ian returned to the wheel the T330 HU17 and retired with a broken big end on lap 3 after starting from pole.

The T400’s of Peter Gethin in the VDS #HU4 his team mate Teddy Pelitte in the VDS #HU11 and Richard Scott in the McKechnie Racing Durex sponsored chassis #HU8 finished that race in the top three showing uncompetitiveness was not an issue for the new T400 model once fitted with the modifications first seen on Richards #HU8 at Silverstone.

Lola Chevrolet T400, Silverstone Classic Press Day,

Ian driving the repaired T330/T332 beat Teddy Pilette’s VDS T400 at Thruxton, but did not feature in the top three again while Teddy Pilette driving his VDS T400 went on to win four of the remaining nine races on his way to securing the 1975 European F5000 Championship.

As I understand it Ian latter crashed #HU5 in testing and at the end of the season Lola rebuilt it to the same specification as Teddy Pilette’s championship winning VDS car before it was shipped to the United States where it remained until 2008.

Lola Chevrolet T400, Silverstone Classic Press Day,

Canadian Hamish Somerville drove #HU5 in New Zealand in 2011 and the car is seen above with former Prosport LM3000 driver Lance Robinson at the wheel during a Silverstone Classic Press Day.

#HU5 is currently nearing completion after a rebuild necessitated by the accident Lance had in the car during testing on the day before 2013 Silverstone Classic meeting according to Kevin McLurg.

My thanks to Kevin McLurg of Facebook, Ray Bell, Lee Nicole, kingswood, Tim Murray, Allen Brown, Mallory Dan and MCS at The Nostalgia Forum for their help

Thanks for joining me on this “Rising Rate Improvements” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for Mercedes Monday. Don’t forget to come back now.

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Almost Superflous – Lola Chevrolet T332/T330 #HU23

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Towards the end of 1973 although the Lola T330 had not won any Formula 5000 (F5000) championships outright, though one had been used to assist Jody Scheckter win his US F5000 title alongside his Trojan, the Lola T330 was rapidly becoming the fastest car on the US and British circuits when the company sold it first improved T332 models with fashionable tall airbox and a rudimentary body extension over the motor to the rear axle.

Lola T332, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

Today’s featured car has a history complicated by the fact that the T330 #HU23 chassis plate was actually fitted to a T330 bought in July 1973 by Australian Johnnie Walker and fitted with a Repco Holden V8.

Lola T332, Neil Glover, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

After Johnnie severely damaged his T330 at Surfers Paradise in September 1974 he replaced the chassis with a new T332 type, but stuck the T330 HU23 chassis plate on it. Possibly to save himself some import taxes. The de-plated T330 chassis was subsequently repaired and is now referred to by experts as T330 HU23(A) while today’s feature chassis is referred to by experts as T330 HU23(B), for the purpose of this blog I shall continue to refer to today’s featured chassis as T330 HU23 as there will be no further reference to the de-plated chassis crashed at Surfers Paradise.

Lola T332, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

Still using the salvaged Repco Holden V8, Johnnie was a regular top four finisher in the 1975 Tasman series winning at Surfers Paradise which made him a title contender, in today’s featured car, two races before the series finale at Sandown Park.

Lola T332, Neil Glover, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

At the finale, with the title all but wrapped up, Johnnie started from pole before crashing when his car inexplicably turned left on the back straight on the opening lap. Johnnie rebuilt the HU23 and continued to race the car until February 1976.

Lola T332, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

Peter Edwards bought HU23 in 1977 and continued to race it with a Chevrolet motor, similar to the Small Block Chevrolet seen above, until 1982. Peter sold HU23 on to Bernie Van Elsen who had HU23 stripped and the parts, including the motor but excluding the chassis, fitted to the Veskanda Group C sports car being built in Adelaide by Dale Koennecke and Harry Aust of K&A Engineering with help from former ex VDS Can Am engineers John and Bob Murphy.

Lola T332, Neil Glover, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

After selling his car Jonnie drove a Lola T330 belonging to fellow competitor Max Stewart in 1977 but that only lasted until Max was killed driving his Lola T400 during a practice session at Calder Park in October 1977.

In the aftermath of the tragedy Johnnie entered into an agreement to race the Lola T332, actually plated T330 22 by former owner Kevin Bartlett, in the Magnum Wheels livery of owner Martin Sampson until they won the Australian Gold Star series, after which both agreed they would retire from the sport.

Jonnie won the Australian Grand Prix at Waneroo and the Gold Star series in 1979. At the end of the final race of the series at Sandown Park Jonnie pulled into his pit to pick up Martin so that they could both complete a lap of honour in a final farewell to the sport an event which can be seen in the second photo of this Nostalgia Forum post by Ray Bell

Note the 1979 Sandown Park race was also the same one in which Kevin ‘KB’ Bartlet crashed the Brabham BT43 I featured last week and that Jonnie Walker is seen driving Martin Sampson’s Magnum Wheels Lola T332, T330 HU22, in the background of the photo of Kevin before his crash. That Lola T332, T330 HU22, is obviously not the same one as T330 HU23 featured in today’s post, as I incorrectly believed it to be last week.

Chassis T330 #HU23 appears to have been restored by Hall & Hall in 2001 and has been raced in the white and orange Magnum Wheels livery of Martin Sampson by Neil Glover who is seen at the wheel in these photographs, all taken at Oulton Park, since 2007. Last year, 2013, Neil won the Derek Bell Trophy with the car.

My thanks to Ray Bell, author with Tony Loxley of F5000 Thunder, for his infinite patience with my infinite dumb questions, to both Ray and Lee Nicole at the Nostalgia Forum for giving me a run down of some of the differences between a Repco Holden and Small Block V8 and to facebook acquaintances,Tom Rosenthal, Peter Brennan, Phil Straver, Stephen Morici, Dave Hudson, Sam Henderson, Dave Wolin, John S Buckley, Peter Phillips, Rob McDonald, Graham Wadsworth, Tim Meehan, Derek Kneller, Steve Price, Cliff Bennett, Darren Ciantar, Rory McDonald, Danny Fondren and Bill Sherwood.

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