Lola T530

Last updated
Lola T530
Category Can-Am
Constructor Lola
Technical specifications
Length182 in (462.3 cm)
Width83 in (210.8 cm)
Axle track 70 in (177.8 cm) (Front)
64 in (162.6 cm) (Rear)
Wheelbase 106.5 in (270.5 cm)
Engine Chevrolet 5,000 cc (305.1 cu in) V8 engine naturally-aspirated mid-engined
Weight750 kg (1,653.5 lb)
Tyres Goodyear
Competition history
Notable entrants Carl A. Haas racing Team, Racing Team VDS
Notable drivers Patrick Tambay, Geoff Brabham
Debut 1980 Can-Am Sears Point
RacesWins Podiums
1563243
Teams' Championships2: Carl A. Haas Racing Team (1980), Racing Team VDS (1981)
Constructors' Championships2: Lola
Drivers' Championships2: 1980 Can-Am (Patrick Tambay), 1980 Can-Am (Geoff Brabham)

The Lola T530 is a purpose-built Can-Am sports prototype, designed by British manufacturer Lola Cars in for the revived Can-Am series 1980. It was very successful, winning 7 of the 9 races in its first season of competition alone, and gave Patrick Tambay the championship with Carl A. Haas racing Team. Geoff Brabham won the championship in 1981; despite only winning 2 races. It was used in Can-Am racing until 1983. It was later used in the international Interserie racing series, and the British Thundersports racing series, between 1984 and 1988. Between 1980 and 1988, it scored a total of 32 race wins, and 43 podium finishes; a very impressive tally indeed. As with all other full-size Can-Am cars of the time, it used a mid-mounted 5-liter, naturally-aspirated, Chevrolet V8 engine. A total of 10 chassis' were built. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Related Research Articles

McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formula One team after Ferrari, having won 183 races, 12 Drivers' Championships and 8 Constructors' Championships. McLaren also has a history of competing in American open wheel racing, as both an entrant and a chassis constructor, and has won the Canadian-American Challenge Cup (Can-Am) sports car racing championship. The team is a subsidiary of the McLaren Group, which owns a majority of the team.

Alan Jones (racing driver) Australian racing driver and journalist

Alan Stanley Jones, is an Australian former Formula One driver. He was the first driver to win a Formula One World Championship with the Williams team, becoming the 1980 World Drivers' Champion and the second Australian to do so following triple World Champion Sir Jack Brabham. He competed in a total of 117 Grands Prix, winning 12 and achieving 24 podium finishes. In 1978 Jones won the Can-Am championship driving a Lola.

Lola Cars International Ltd. was a British race car engineering company in operation from 1958 to 2012. The company was founded by Eric Broadley in Bromley, England, before moving to new premises in Slough, Buckinghamshire and finally Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, and endured for more than fifty years to become one of the oldest and largest manufacturers of racing cars in the world. Lola Cars started by building small front-engined sports cars, and branched out into Formula Junior cars before diversifying into a wider range of sporting vehicles. Lola was acquired by Martin Birrane in 1998 after the unsuccessful MasterCard Lola attempt at Formula One.

Bobby Rahal American racing driver

Robert Woodward Rahal is an American former auto racing driver and team owner. As a driver he won three championships and 24 races in the CART open-wheel series, including the 1986 Indianapolis 500. He also won the 2004 and 2020 Indy 500s as a team owner for Buddy Rice and Takuma Sato, respectively.

Cosworth DFV Internal combustion engine

The DFV is an internal combustion engine that was originally produced by Cosworth for Formula One motor racing. The name is an abbreviation of Double Four Valve, the engine being a V8 development of the earlier four-cylinder FVA, which had four valves per cylinder.

Patrick Tambay French racing driver

Patrick Daniel Tambay is a French former racing driver. He competed in 123 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, winning twice, securing five pole positions and scoring a total of 103 Championship points. In 2005, he raced in the inaugural season of the Grand Prix Masters formula for retired Formula One drivers, and continued in the series in 2006.

Can-Am

The Canadian-American Challenge Cup, or Can-Am, was an SCCA/CASC sports car racing series from 1966 to 1987.

Formula 5000 Former Single-Seater Racing class

Formula 5000 was an open wheel, single seater auto-racing formula that ran in different series in various regions around the world from 1968 to 1982. It was originally intended as a low-cost series aimed at open-wheel racing cars that no longer fit into any particular formula. The '5000' denomination comes from the maximum 5.0 litre engine capacity allowed in the cars, although many cars ran with smaller engines. Manufacturers included McLaren, Eagle, March, Lola, Lotus, Elfin, Matich and Chevron.

Chaparral Cars was a pioneering American automobile racing team and race car developer that engineered, built, and raced cars from 1963 through 1970. Founded in 1962 by American Formula One racers Hap Sharp and Jim Hall, it was named after the roadrunner, a fast-running ground cuckoo also known as a chaparral bird.

Team Penske American auto racing team

Team Penske is an American professional auto racing organization, competing in the NTT IndyCar Series, NASCAR Cup Series, and the FIA World Endurance Championship. Debuting at the 1966 24 Hours of Daytona, the organization has also competed in various other types of professional racing such as Formula One, Can-Am, Trans Am, IMSA and Australian Supercars. Altogether, Team Penske has earned over 500 victories and over 40 championships in all of auto racing. Team Penske is a division of Penske Corporation, and is owned and chaired by Roger Penske. The team president is Tim Cindric.

Lola T70

The Lola T70 is a sports prototype developed by British manufacturer Lola Cars in 1965. Lola built the chassis, which were typically powered by large American V8s.

Ralt Manufacturer of single-seater racing cars

Ralt was a manufacturer of single-seater racing cars, founded by ex-Jack Brabham associate Ron Tauranac after he sold out his interest in Brabham to Bernie Ecclestone. Ron and his brother had built some specials in Australia in the 1950s under the Ralt name. Tauranac won the 1954 NSW Hillclimb Championship in the Ralt 500.

Eric Harrison Broadley MBE was a British entrepreneur, engineer, and founder and chief designer of Lola Cars, the motor racing manufacturer and engineering company. He was arguably one of the most influential automobile designers of the post-war period, and over the years Lola was involved with many high-profile projects in Formula One, IndyCar, and sports car racing. Broadley sold Lola to Martin Birrane in 1999.

Alfa Romeo in motorsport Role of Alfa Romeo in different categories of motorsport

During its history, Alfa Romeo has competed successfully in many different categories of motorsport, including Grand Prix motor racing, Formula One, sportscar racing, touring car racing and rallies. They have competed both as a constructor and an engine supplier, via works entries and private entries. The first racing car was made in 1913, three years after the foundation of A.L.F.A., the 40-60HP had 6 liter straight-4 engine. Alfa Romeo quickly gained a good name in motorsport and gave a sporty image to the whole marque.

Bill Tempero is an American former racing driver from Milwaukee. He raced in the CART Championship Car series from 1980 to 1984 competing in full seasons his first two years and partial schedules thereafter. He failed to qualify for both the races he attempted in 1984, so he was not credited with a race start that season. Tempero finished 20th in CART points in 1980 with two top-10 finishes including his series-best result of 6th place at the Milwaukee Mile while driving for Hopkins Racing. He fielded his own car in 1981 and 32nd in points without a single top-ten. He attempted to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 in 1980, 1981, and 1983 but failed to make the field in 1980 and 1983 and crashed while attempting to qualify in 1981.

Truesports

Truesports was an automobile racing team founded by Jim Trueman based in Hilliard, Ohio. The team is best known for winning the 1986 Indianapolis 500 and back-to-back CART championships in 1986 and 1987. The team won 19 points-paying Indy car races.

Lola T600 Racing car

The Lola T600 was a racing car introduced in 1981 by Lola Cars as a customer chassis. It was the first GT prototype race car to incorporate ground-effect tunnels for downforce. The revolutionary aerodynamic design of the T600 was widely imitated throughout the 1980s by International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) and Group C prototype cars. The Lola T600 ran initially in the U.S.-based IMSA GT series and later in European Group C races.

Alfredo Costanzo is a retired Italian born Australian racing driver. From 1980 to 1983 Costanzo won a record four Australian Drivers' Championship in a row, equalling the record set by Bib Stillwell from 1962 to 1965.

The Lola T333CS was a race car designed and built by Lola Cars for use in SCCA Can-Am Series racing and made its racing debut in 1977. The T333CS was highly successful; winning 21 races, and 3 championships with three different drivers, between 1977 and 1979. The Lola T333CS commonly used the 5.0-litre Chevrolet V8 engine.

References

  1. Brown, Allen. "Lola T530 car-by-car histories". OldRacingCars.com.
  2. "Hemmings Find of the Day - 1981 Lola T530 Can-Am" . Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  3. "Lola Heritage". www.lolaheritage.co.uk.
  4. "Lola T530" . Retrieved 11 June 2022.