Just seventeen
days after competing in round four of the 2008 Le Mans
Series at the Nurburgring, Tommy was testing the RML 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 Tommy's expectations
of how it ought to perform. “This is Day One in
the life of a racing car, and as such, I’m very
excited about the whole thing," he said. "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.”
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