C O L L E C T I O N
Lola T70
Lola T70 Mk2 Chassis SL71/43
RACING HISTORY
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Lola T70 Mk2
RACING HISTORY 2
INTRODUCTION
1966 Lola T70 Mk2, Chassis SL71/43 The 1966 Lola T70 Mk2 chassis SL71/43 is one of the most successful Mk2s built, having played a crucial role in Lola Cars and Team Surtees winning the first Canadian-American Challenge Cup, better known as Can-Am. The twenty-eighth of thirty-three T70 Mk2s built by Lola in 1965 and 1966, SL71/43 was delivered by Lola’s American distributor John Mecom on September 22, 1966 to Team Surtees which served as Lola’s works team. John Surtees won the final two rounds of the 1966 Can-Am series (the Los Angeles Times Grand Prix at Riverside and the Stardust Grand Prix at Las Vegas) with the Chevrolet V8 powered SL71/43, victories that made him the first Can-Am champion in history. Having switched to the new, lighter but poorly handling Lola T70 Mk3 for 1967, Surtees used SL71/43 at the end of that year’s Can-Am series again, duly winning the season’s finale in Las Vegas. SL71/43 was then sold to George Ralph, an American amateur racer who campaigned the car in United States Road Racing Championship events and two more Can-Am races in 1968. Its subsequent owners used SL71/43 as a road car and eventually fitted a closed Mk3B Coupe body before the car was restored back to its original open top Mk2 racing configuration at the beginning of this century. The Lola T70 Mk2 was launched at the end of 1965 as an improved version of the Mk1 introduced earlier that year. Built to Group 7 regulations, the open top Mk1 and 2 were successful in British sports car races before starring in the new Can-Am series. The T70 was regarded as the fastest racing car of its time as it instantly broke lap records set by Formula 1 cars. The banning of Group 7 races in the UK, however, forced Lola to produce a T70 Mk3 for 1967 to meet the Group 6 rules i.e. the Le Mans 24 Hours, although modified Mk3s were also made in a failed attempt to remain competitive in Can-Am, causing Surtees to use SL71/43 again with which he scored the car’s (and the Lola Mk2’s) final victory by winning the 1967 Las Vegas Stardust Grand Prix.
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Lola T70 Mk2
RACING HISTORY 4
LOLA CARS
1957-1964 An Architect Of Success Eric Broadley was the founder, chairman, chief executive and chief designer of Lola Cars. Trained as an architect, Broadley became a club racer in the early 1950s building his own car based around an Austin Seven. The first Lola ran in 1957 - named Lola after a popular song at the time called ‘Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets’ - and a year later, Eric became the first man to lap the Brands Hatch circuit in under a minute in his latest frontengined sports car of which he soon built three more chassis for other drivers. In 1959, Lola sports cars dominated and the actual company was launched, soon building its first Formula Junior before entering Formula 1 in 1962 with the Yeoman Credit team for which bike racer-turned-F1 driver Left Eric Broadley (second from right) pictured working on a Lola Formula Junior in 1961. Right The Lola Mk6 GT at the London Racing Car show, 1963. Much of this car’s chassis design was used for the first Ford GT40 a year later. Below John Surtees in the Lola Mk4 Formula 1 at Monaco, 1962.
John Surtees put the Lola on pole position for the first Grand Prix of the year. The team ran out of money, though, and Lola concentrated on building customer cars again. Broadley’s 1963 mid-engined Lola Mk6 GT sports car, which starred in the Le Mans 24 Hours that year, attracted the attention of the Ford Motor Company - which had decided it would race at Le Mans from 1964 onwards - and Broadley briefly became a consultant engineer on the Ford GT40. Conflicts over the materials used for the GT40’s chassis quickly made Eric realize that he rather built cars on his own; Ford insisted on using steel to make a production version of the racing car easier to build, whereas Broadley wanted to go for a much lighter mix of steel and aluminum. Less than a year after joining Ford, Broadley was on his own again and concluded that building a Lola Group 7 racer would be the most lucrative option.
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Lola T70 Mk2
RACING HISTORY 6
Lola T70
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Lola T70 Mk2
RACING HISTORY 8
Lola T70
1965 The World’s Fastest Racing Car Group 7 regulations created a technically virtually unlimited racing class for two-seater sports cars that was quickly growing in popularity in both the UK and North-America, yet was mostly filled with ‘specials’ powered by American V8s initially. The most famous and successful of these was the Cooper based Zerex Special built by Roger Penske and later modified by Bruce McLaren and fitted with an Oldsmobile V8. Lola Cars started developing its new Group 7 sports car halfway through 1964. Dubbed the T70, it featured a monocoque chassis similar in design to that of the Mk6 and made of a mix of steel and aluminium. Suspension was independent all round with double wishbones at the front and at the rear by lower wishbones and top links with twin trailing arms to cope with the engine’s torque. The chassis was designed to take any of the American small-block engines, with a displacement of up to six litres, while Hewland provided their new LG 500 gearbox with four forward gears. Clothed in an attractive glass reinforced plastic body, the T70 was unveiled at the 1965 London Racing Car Show. Broadley had teamed up with John Surtees, who’s Team Surtees would act as Lola’s works team. During testing, the Chevrolet V8 powered Surtees T70 instantly proved to be faster than any contemporary Formula 1 car and John quickly scored the T70’s maiden victory at Mosport in Canada, underlining the car’s capabilities to the all important North-American market. Consequently, Lola Cars received well over a dozen orders for its new racer. Broadley was not satisfied, though, and while the first T70s were constructed, he was already Left A full-size clay model of the Lola T70 nearing completion at Specialised Mouldings in designing a new improved Huntington. Above John Surtees on his way to winning the 1965 Guards International Trophy and version of the car. in the new Lola T70 Mk2. Right Surtees in the T70 Mk1 at Silverstone earlier that year. Eric’s biggest concern with the original T70 was that it was too heavy as there was still too much steel in the chassis. The Mk2 T70’s monocoque was outwardly very similar to the first design, but other than the cross bracing now consisted almost entirely of aluminium. More weight was saved by riveting the sheets together instead of welding and Broadley estimated at least a hundred pounds were shaved off the total weight thanks to the new Mk2 chassis. Suspension and radiators were also modified and after just fifteen T70s tubs had been constructed - and not even six months after launching the first T70 - the T70 Mk2 hit the track. Surtees, again using a small-block Chevrolet V8, soon showed the car was indeed a major improvement by scoring a landslide win at the Guards International Trophy at Brands Hatch, beating Bruce McLaren by one and a half minute.
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Lola T70 Mk2
RACING HISTORY 10
Chassis SL71/43
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Lola T70 Mk2
RACING HISTORY 12
CHASSIS SL71/43
1966-1967 Three Out Of Three In North-America the success of Group 7 resulted in the formation of the Canadian-American Challenge Cup, quickly dubbed Can-Am, for 1966. Attracting sensationally fast cars and offering serious prize money, Can-Am instantly became a highly competitive and hugely popular racing series, run on tracks all across North-America during autumn i.e. directly after the European racing season had all but finished. Team Surtees won the opening round of the inaugural Cup with a T70 Mk 2 (chassis SL71/17), but failed to score points in the next three rounds. The team entered enter a brand new chassis for the last two races of the year. This was SL71/43 with which John Surtees duly won round five (at Riverside) and six, the season’s finale at Las Vegas, to become the first Can-Am champion ever. Despite the success of the Mk2, Broadley needed to built a new car for 1967. Because Group 7 cars were outpacing Formula 1 cars, the much criticized decision was made to cancel all Group 7 races in the UK and in order to still be able to sell enough T70s, Lola Cars were forced to adapt Left Surtees wins the 1966 LA Times Grand Prix at Riverside in SL71/43 Above John’s the design of the car once again, this time to Group 6 i.e. Le SL71/43 leads the pack at Las Vegas where Surtees would win the Stardust Grand Prix Mans rules for which the car was to have a closed cockpit. to seal the Can-Am title. Below Las Vegas, a year later: Surtees and SL71/43 in the pits. The T70 Mk3 was therefore now available as Spyder and a closed Coupe, the two different bodies being interchangeable. Mechanically, the Mk3 was similar to its predecessor, but the suspension geometry was altered to suit the latest, much wider tyres, while the new T70 also sported larger brakes. In North-America, Group 7 racing continued to boom and to defend its Can-Am title, Lola prepared four lightweight Mk3 Spyders for 1967. Fifty kilo was shaved off the chassis by drilling many holes in the front and rear bulkheads and the Spyders were modified to fit even wider tires. The new suspension and lighter, not rigid enough chassis made the Can-Am Mk3 handle terribly and despite using a larger, 5.8 liter Chevrolet V8, Surtees failed to win any of the first five races and decided to use SL71/43 for the final round, the Stardust Grand Prix at Las Vegas, which he duly won. That winter, SL71/43 was sold to American amateur racer George Ralph, who would race the car in four rounds of the United States Road Racing Championship before contesting the first two races on the 1968 CanAm series.
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Lola T70 Mk2
RACING HISTORY 14
SL71/43
LA Times Grand Prix, Riverside, October 30 1966 John Surtees talks with his team mate Graham Hill (left) before winning what was his and SL71/43’s first victory in the Can-Am Cup (right).
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Lola T70 Mk2
RACING HISTORY 16
SL71/43
Left October 12, 1967: John Surtees on his way to winning the 1967 Stardust Grand Prix at Las Vegas, SL71/43’s final race as a Team Surteescar. Right July 13, 1968: George Ralph pictured at Watkins Glen.
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Lola T70 Mk2
RACING HISTORY 18
SL71/43 RACING RESULTS
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Lola T70 Mk2
RACING HISTORY 20
SL71/43 RACING RESULTS
SL71/43 All Races 1966-1967 EVENT
ENTRANT
N0.
DRIVER
QUALIFYING
RACE
1966 Los Angeles Times Grand Prix Riverside October 30 Round 5 Can-Am Challenge Cup
Team Surtees
7
John Surtees
2nd (1.45,000)
1st
1966 Stardust Grand Prix Las Vegas November 13 Round 6 Can-Am Challenge Cup
Team Surtees
7
John Surtees
4th (1.36,100)
1st
1967 Stardust Grand Prix Las Vegas November 12 Round 6 Can-Am Challenge Cup
Team Surtees
7
John Surtees
9th (1.32,800)
1st
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Lola T70 Mk2
RACING HISTORY 22
SL71/43 RACING RESULTS
SL71/43 All Races 1968 EVENT
ENTRANT
N0.
DRIVER
QUALIFYING
RACE
1968 Vanderbilt Cup Race Bridgehampton May 19 Round 4 US Road Racing Championship
George L. Ralph
3
George Ralph
8th (unknown)
DNF 8 laps Engine
1968 Championnat Nord-Americain Mont Tremblant June 2 Round 5 US Road Racing Championship
George L. Ralph
3
George Ralph
17th (1.51,300)
11th -4 laps
1968 Watkins Glen Sports Car Road Race Spa July 13 Round 7 US Road Racing Championship
George L. Ralph
3
George Ralph
(unknown)
DNF 43 laps Transmission
1968 Road America 500 Elkhart Lake July 28 Round 8 US Road Racing Championship
George L. Ralph
31
George Ralph Bruce Jennings
(unknown)
DNF 30 laps (unknown)
1968 200 miles Road America Elkhart Lake September 1 Round 1 Can-Am Challenge Cup
George L. Ralph
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George Ralph
21st (2.21,800)
11th -4 laps
1968 Bridgehampton Grand Prix Bridgehampton September 15 Round 2 Can-Am Challenge Cup
George L. Ralph
37
George Ralph
19th (1.36,930)
DNF 23 laps Gear lever
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Lola T70 Mk2
RACING HISTORY 24
SL71/43 TODAY
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Lola T70 Mk2
RACING HISTORY 26
SL71/43 TODAY
SL71/43 Still Racing Today The 1966 Chevrolet powered Lola T70 Mk2 chassis SL71/43 is today as ready to race as it was when it last competed as a Team Surtees car in the 1967 Can-Am finale at Las Vegas. Having won three Can-Am races and effectively sealing the very first Can-Am title for Team Surtees and Lola, this T70 has one of the most significant racing histories. The car has been completely restored mechanically and cosmetically and is constantly and intensively maintained in pristine condition. The car is still being raced regularly in major historic events such as the Goodwood Revival and the Silverstone Classic.
An M&Jays production. Photography John Brooks, Jerry Melton and LAT Š Dane Collection
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Lola T70 Mk2 Chassis SL71/43
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C O L L E C T I O N