RML
Le Mans Series News 2008
MG Lola EX265C - First test. Issued September 4th 2008
Successful
Snetterton Shakedown for
RML MG Lola Coupé
Just
seventeen days after competing in round four of the 2008
Le Mans Series at the Nurburgring, RML was testing their
LMP2 sports prototype again at Snetterton in Norfolk. At
first glance, perhaps there is nothing significant or even
surprising about that fact, but pause to consider that the
car on test was both the same car, and yet a totally new
one.
Having
returned from Germany, the team’s MG Lola EX265 #25
was taken to the Lola factory in Huntingdon, half an hour’s
drive from RML’s home in Wellingborough, where it
was stripped down to its component parts and then completely
rebuilt again, but this time as the uprated and singularly
roofed EX265C. More than 70% of the original car has been
carried over, making this one of the most radical sportscar
evolutions attempted in recent years. The need to do so
is not unexpected, bearing in mind the depth of knowledge
and understanding that RML’s team, lead by Phil Barker,
has gained after five years of running first the MG Lola
EX257, inherited from the MG works team in 2003, and then
its successors; the EX264 and EX265. In partnership with
Lola, RML developed and honed the MG into a package that
proved capable of taking the LMP2 class at Le Mans twice,
and then rounding off an enviable heritage by securing the
2007 Le Mans Series title. That level of development experience
is not dispensed with lightly.
So,
on a sunny Norfolk morning, the gleaming MG Lola EX265C
took to the Snetterton track for the very first time. In
the hands of Brazilian Thomas Erdos, it then proceeded to
pound round the circuit, lap after lap, and amass several
hours of virtually trouble-free testing. It is testament
to the skills of all those who worked so diligently in the
previous fortnight that everything performed so well, straight
‘out of the box’. “We’ve experienced
a few of those new-car gremlins, just as you’d expect,”
admitted Phil Barker, “but nothing in any way major.
This has been an incredibly quick build and lots of people
have been involved all along the way, not only at RML, but
also at Lola. The potential to drop the ball in situations
like that is huge, but the car has run throughout the day
without any significant problems at all. To achieve such
a level of basic reliability has been excellent, and what
little issues there have been, we’ve largely been
able to iron-out during the course of the day.”
The
car certainly looks the business. Within a few of hours
of the car’s appearance, photographs had already appeared
on some of the leading Internet websites and forums, and
the consensus has been overwhelmingly positive – the
RML Lola Coupé looks exceptional. “The car
is stunning – really, really good,” said Adam
Wiseberg, Director of Motorsport at AD Group, the sportscar
team’s principal sponsor. “We’re delighted
with the way the coupé looks, and also with how well
it has run today. This has been a very encouraging shakedown.”
Comments on-line ranged from a very simple “What a
nice car!” through “Superb!”, “Spectacular”
and “That RML car looks fabulous!” to “How
good does that RML coupe look!??” and “Wooooooooow,
that RML Lola coupé is gorgeous - best looking LMP
car - even better-looking than the Charouz Lola and the
Oreca. Can’t wait to see it in the flesh!” Doubtless
many will not be quite so enthusiastic, but there seems
agreement, as stated in one post, that the colour scheme
really does suit the shape of the car.
Although
still recognisably based upon the red, white and blue livery
that has become such a distinctive feature of the RML MG
Lolas these past five or six years, the addition of the
roof has offered more scope to work on the patriotic branding.
The cockpit and profile give the car a definite jet-fighter
appearance – so a qualified pilot like Mike Newton,
co-driver and CEO of AD Group, should feel perfectly at
home inside the domed polycarbonate “greenhouse”.
To date only two other B08/80-based Lola Coupés have
taken to the track; one raced in LMP2 by Speedy Team Sebah
and the other in LMP1 by Charouz Racing, both in the Le
Mans Series. However, others are in-build and expected to
grace race circuit both within Europe and across the United
States during 2009. In terms of aesthetics alone, RML’s
MG Lola EX265C has the benefit of a lower, sleeker roofline,
thanks to the AER-derived XP-21 powerplant, which doesn’t
demand a roof-top air intake.
Svelte
and stylish she may be, but the coupé also seems
to satisfy the performance expectations of Thomas Erdos,
who readily accepted the responsibility of shaking down
the new car. “This is Day One in the life of a racing
car, and as such, I’m very excited about the whole
thing. I’m also pleased that things have gone so smoothly.
When you bring together all the complex systems of a racecar
like this, you’re always up against it when you decide
to attempt something so major mid-season. Bearing in mind
the schedule that RML has had to meet – taking a car
that raced at the Nurburgring just a few weeks ago and rebuilding
it totally from the ground up, and creating what is, in
many respects, a brand new car – is a humongous task,
and yet they’ve not only achieved all that, but it
has run without a single major drama. That’s impressive.”
What
the Brazilian has been keen to emphasise since news broke
cover of the uprated coupé is that there may well
be a considerable amount of work still to be done. “Silverstone
will be very much like an extended six hour test for us,”
he says. “If all we do is aim to learn as much as
we can about the car ahead of next season, then that has
to be our primary objective. All this – the shakedown
today, the free practice sessions at Silverstone, and the
race itself – all this is just development track time
in advance of 2009 as far as we’re concerned. That’s
what we need to focus on.”
That
Wednesday’s test went through without any dramas must
have come as a bonus. “Oh, there are some minor issues
that we’ll have to sort out between now and Silverstone,
of course there are,” concedes Erdos. “It’s
almost like a new car, after all, but we should be able
to address most of these before we even get to Silverstone;
it’s just a case of prioritising the list of things
to do. The set-up on the car isn’t ideal just yet,
but overall, this has been a really positive day. I’m
confident that next time we go out on track at Silverstone,
it will be even better.”
Judging
by the grins on some very tired faces at Snetterton –
many of the team having forgone sleep the night before in
their eagerness to see the car completed and ready for the
test – it had all been worthwhile. “It’s
been a very satisfying day,” smiled a well-pleased
Phil Barker. “Now we can all start looking forward
to Silverstone and, we hope, a rewarding 2009.” Adam
Wiseberg, no doubt happy to see that AD Group’s investment
has enjoyed such a positive re-birth, shared his view. “The
potential is already very clear, and we’re really
looking ahead to next season with fresh optimism,”
he said. “We’re entering a very exciting new
phase in our relationship with RML, and I hope it can be
as rewarding as the last.”
All
photos by Marcus Potts / CMC Graphics. Any reproduction
elsewhere must include an acknowledgement. For alternative
images, please also see previous news item here.