Lola Cars returns to motorsports competition with Yamaha Motor Company participating in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship starting next season. The iconic motorsports brand, which boasts more than 500 championship victories, is working with Yamaha to develop and supply a powertrain to compete in the world's first all-electric single-seater racing series.
Founded by Eric Broadley in 1958, Lola Cars has designed and produced nearly 5,000 racing cars spanning 400 different model types, achieving various successes in motorsport championships around the world, including IndyCar, Le Mans, Formula 1 , Can-Am, Formula 3000, Formula 5000, A1GP, Formula Ford and Touring Cars.
Lola Cars, a benchmark in the world of competition
This new technology partnership not only provides the opportunity to join the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship as it moves towards the GEN3 Evo platform for the 2024/25 season, but will also work on new mobility options within a broad spectrum within from the motor world.
Mark PrestonDirector of Motorsports at Lola Cars Ltd, comments: “We are delighted to confirm our entry into Formula E. For us, this is more than just an opportunity to return Lola to the track, it is also a fantastic platform for technological development.”
Keep going: “Lola Cars has a decorated history of success in chassis and aerodynamic design. “This project will allow us to create a unique electrified platform with a software approach at its core to provide a foundation for Lola’s broader plans to define the future of motorsport technology.”
This partnership between Lola Cars and the Japanese brand is the first of several major projects planned to take the British company to a place of reference within the industry in sustainable engineering and motorsport, strategically focusing on the areas of electrification, hydrogen and sustainable fuels and materials.
For its part, Till BechtolsheimerPresident of Lola Cars Ltd comments: “We are incredibly excited to be partnering with Yamaha Motor Company as we enter the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship. To be selected by one of the world's most innovative OEMs to partner on a project of this importance is a testament to the caliber of the team we have been building. in Lola.”
Since acquiring Lola Cars in 2022, Bechtolsheimer and his team have been developing their program from a new global headquarters in Silverstone, UK. He goes on to say: “The focus of this project revolves directly around technological development in which Lola is fully committed”.
Concludes: “We view the highly efficient 350kW electric propulsion system underpinning the manufacturer’s perimeter in Formula E as a critical technology with exciting applications across many forms of top-tier international motorsport in the coming years.”
In addition, Heiji MaruyamaCEO and Director of Yamaha Motor said: “Yamaha Motor Company is accelerating research and development of various technologies that contribute to sustainability.”
Concludes: “As a technical partner, we look forward to acquiring more advanced energy management technologies through the highest level of electric racing in Formula E. We also share Lola's new philosophy of sustainable motorsports and are very pleased and honored to form this partnership. with them”.
