64 replies to this topic

[D.M.N.]

Bad news this morning out of Lola: http://www.autosport...rt.php/id/99638

[Scotracer]

Big shame. I had wanted to work for them at some point.

[JRizzle86]

Massive shame for a great British name in Motorsport and technology industries. I hope someone beings in a deal to save them as they are much a worthy cause.

[Haribo]

That's terrible news

[Rob]

This will be the second time in fifteen years. Not a good day for British motorsport.

[maverick69]

It's a real shame that they never got the Indycar gig - especially given the history of Lola in the US.

Also, their proposal didn't look like a bumper car......

[dank]

What is Martin Birrane up to these days? He has a bob or two, doesn't he?

[Ali_G]

Let's hope they don't got the way of Reynard.

[Ali_G]

About 100 threads on Pirelli and hardly a reply in this thread where Lola could go out of existance. Truly amazing.

[Victor_RO]

About 100 threads on Pirelli and hardly a reply in this thread where Lola could go out of existance. Truly amazing.

It's not bankrupcy though, so it's not over for them. I certainly hope it doesn't mean the end for Lola, hopefully they find a source of financing that enables them to come back to a reasonable state as a company.

[ForeverF1]

About 100 threads on Pirelli and hardly a reply in this thread where Lola could go out of existence. Truly amazing.

Not really, there is nothing for a 'Primary School Playground' bickering to be had.

[Ross Stonefeld]

Well it's not that big a deal either. It's an unfortunate story but what impact will it really have on current racing? The lack of a few prototypes in a series no one is watching? If it was Dallara it'd be an "uh oh" moment.

[midgrid]

Here's the full statement. It's bad news but by no means the end of the road - hopefully this measure is more of an administrative procedure to attract more investment than a sign of imminent financial collapse. The company survived the MasterCard Lola fiasco in 1997 so I believe that it should be able to overcome its current problems.

[onewingedangel]

If the price was right, would be a good investment for Tony Fernandes - lot of overlap with what he is looking to achieve with Caterham composites/technology.

[Victor_RO]

If the price was right, would be a good investment for Tony Fernandes - lot of overlap with what he is looking to achieve with Caterham composites/technology.

And, coincidentally, the Caterham SP/300.R was developed in conjunction with Lola.

[HaydenFan]

Well it's not that big a deal either. It's an unfortunate story but what impact will it really have on current racing? The lack of a few prototypes in a series no one is watching? If it was Dallara it'd be an "uh oh" moment.

Dallara has become what Lola was in the 90's. Build chassis for about every series in the world, whether it be F3 or IndyCar, or F1. But seeing how the IRL is not tearing wings and cars apart with the new chassis, they might soon see some money trouble.

After losing the Champ Car chassis bid in '06 and then the IndyCar bid in '09, they have not had much hpe of operating as a major company. And in sportscars, it isn't that big of a deal. The teams don't receive support from Lola, so they will just switch builders. So maybe a team not able to afford the new model in 3-4 years will have to leave prototype racing, but if they can't afford to buy a new car, they probably were not running towards the front of the pack, and won't be missed on bit.

Tough time for them indeed, but they should have seen it coming.

[Fastcake]

A great shame, I hope they can either find a new investor or restructure their way out of trouble.

[Red17]

About 100 threads on Pirelli and hardly a reply in this thread where Lola could go out of existance. Truly amazing.

I suspect the lack of «NOOOOOOOOOO!» is happening because British constructors have been going the way of the Dodo for quite some time now.
So the reaction would be more like: «Another one. Those brits can't really get their act together.»

I too hope Lola can overturn it (again). The sport needs more than just one builder and it needs companies with the pedigree of Lola.

[ArnageWRC]

About 100 threads on Pirelli and hardly a reply in this thread where Lola could go out of existance. Truly amazing.

Not really, most people on here care only for F1, and are unaware of other series......

However, it is a great shame, let's hope something can be done.

[sesku]

Are we going to see Tony Fernandes buying Lola and merge it with Caterham?

[Disgrace]

Looks like the FIA were right not to grant them F1 entry in 2009.

[Petroltorque]

Where is the Market for Lola. Dallara superceeded them back in the 90s and there's not much money in building chassis' for lesser formulae.
A high risk and highly speculative option would be to apply for the final F1 slot for 2013. It would mean getting FIA approval and finding €25 million surety. Lola already have the facilities to design and build an F1 car and it would put their technology on a world stage.
Tony fernandes has got his hands full with his airline business, F1 team and QPR.

[pingu666]

they might of been in better shape with a f1 entry, or might of been worse, who knows.

but there main money getter was stuff for defense industry, so hopefull the MOD will go yell at HMRC

[Myrvold]

Looks like the FIA were right not to grant them F1 entry in 2009.

I think the F1 entry would've helped them.

[Ross Stonefeld]

How? It's not like Marussia and HRT are printing money.

[Myrvold]

How? It's not like Marussia and HRT are printing money.

No, but they are not making chassis for others either.

It is better PR to run a smaller formula series, with cars made by "current F1 team Lola". Than "90's F1 failure Lola" :=)

[DrProzac]

Damn shame.

[ensign14]

Dallara has become what Lola was in the 90's. Build chassis for about every series in the world, whether it be F3 or IndyCar, or F1. But seeing how the IRL is not tearing wings and cars apart with the new chassis, they might soon see some money trouble.

Anyone know what the profit margin is? No competition, which helps, but on the other hand price it too high and an entire formula is lost.

[PNSD]

Visited the factory on two occasions. Good facility, good people.

Awesome contribution in the aerospace sector that does not get mentioned a lot. Great bunch if guys who really know a lot about how to build good race cars. Unfortunately they haven't had the cash flow in the last decade or so and have been forced to look at other alternatives such as electric sports car's etc to try nad get more coverage and sponsorship, but it's a hard economic climate.

A total shame if they fall through. You will struggle to find a race car manufacturer with as much engineering quality, and assurance as these guys.

The question I'm asking is, if they were allowed into F1 in 2009, would their financial woes been solved by sponsorship and coverage, OR would it have been hastened?

[Petroltorque]

Depends how thin they spread themselves. If they did F1 as the core business they might have been able to drum up additional business.

[dave12]

Such a shame

[Ross Stonefeld]

Anyone know what the profit margin is? No competition, which helps, but on the other hand price it too high and an entire formula is lost.

I dunno, GP2 seems to increase their budgets without losing cars.

[pingu666]

spares is where the money is, and dallara is still charging plenty for them. I think the radiators on the new indycar are over 10,000 or something insane, each
wiping out the side of the car could cost you 250,000 dollars, quite easily.

on radio le mans they said its not as bad as people are making out, for lola.

[HaydenFan]

spares is where the money is, and dallara is still charging plenty for them. I think the radiators on the new indycar are over 10,000 or something insane, each
wiping out the side of the car could cost you 250,000 dollars, quite easily.

on radio le mans they said its not as bad as people are making out, for lola.

During the Sao Paulo race, they mentioned something like the front wing was 10 thousand USD, and the rear wing (comes with the wing and the bumpers) ran you like 25 thousand. Yes, the money is made in the breakable bits on the car.

It didn't sound like Lola was going under, just the cash flow wasn't where they and their creditors wanted.

[midgrid]

Looks like the FIA were right not to grant them F1 entry in 2009.

I was thinking the same thing, but didn't want to be the one to post it in case I opened a can of worms.

Just goes to show that, despite much derision, Marussia and particularly HRT are doing good jobs with a severely limited budget.

on radio le mans they said its not as bad as people are making out, for lola.

Good news from people in the know. Hopefully this supports my "administrative procedure, not a collapse" wish above.

Edited by midgrid, 16 May 2012 - 23:15.

[pingu666]

even the amounts hrt and marussia are spending would be a massive amount compared to the normal budget/turnover of lmp cars I would think, even if you combined all there customers, maybe similer turnover then.

so its a really big difference, may of been better, maybe worse.

just a thought but maybe they where trying to writeoff the costs of there not chosen indycar proposal and dp car etc ?

[Cranclive]

I was interviewed on ITV's Anglia News last night with regards to Lola's position. As is often the case re. news broadcasts much of what I said was cut. I believe that it may be a case of yet another 'British' company which ultimately benefits from overseas investment. Lola has pedigree, it has infrastructure, it has 'motorsport DNA'. It is a brand that has currency. Critically Lola has the three 'p's... people, people, people. This is its greatest asset. JLR has benefited significantly from Tata's commitment with substantial investment, especially in people and in R & D. Let's hope we don't see another Reynard. Even if a % of the UK's motorsport valley ends up in foreign ownership, the key thing is that the companies continue to operate from the UK to exploit the potential of emerging markets around the globe. Yes there are huge problems in the Eurozone. Yes Lola lost out big time in North America but Lola has sought to diversify with less dependancy on motorsport. It is not a one trick pony.

[HeskethBoy]

Surely the Administrators will see that the business can survive with a restructure - even to simply continue as an ongoing parts and technical supplier in the short term?
Down the road the opportunity to design and develop other/new chassis might well appear - but, for the time being, the wise move is to shrink and stick to what turns over the currency - especially in the current gloabl financial mess that we see all around.
Sadly, this may impact more heavily on the design side of the business.

[loki]

spares is where the money is, and dallara is still charging plenty for them. I think the radiators on the new indycar are over 10,000 or something insane, each
wiping out the side of the car could cost you 250,000 dollars, quite easily.

on radio le mans they said its not as bad as people are making out, for lola.

Parts costs were one of the primary drivers in choosing the current Indycar. Bringing that fab to the US is a move to speed up the availability of parts and reduce costs. I know they assembled the first cars in Speedway from parts made in Italy. Don't know if the carbon fab in Speedway is online yet.

[pingu666]

its still *very* expensive for what you get though
atleast the new car has raced well

[Amizade]

Very sad news - here's hoping they will receive the necessary investment.

How will this affect LMP2 parts for Le Mans?

[ensign14]

spares is where the money is, and dallara is still charging plenty for them. I think the radiators on the new indycar are over 10,000 or something insane, each
wiping out the side of the car could cost you 250,000 dollars, quite easily.

Bloody hell, EJ Viso is basically keeping Dallara going then.

[Victor_RO]

Very sad news - here's hoping they will receive the necessary investment.

How will this affect LMP2 parts for Le Mans?

It won't affect Le Mans, most teams probably have their spares package already in the workshop, the question is for the rest of the season and it depends on how quickly a new investor is found. It might affect Le Mans if a team running a Lola suffers tub damage in practice, because I'm not sure whether they can send people and tooling to France to repair tubs like they did for KSM in 2008 and for Rebellion in 2010.

[Amizade]

It won't affect Le Mans, most teams probably have their spares package already in the workshop, the question is for the rest of the season and it depends on how quickly a new investor is found. It might affect Le Mans if a team running a Lola suffers tub damage in practice, because I'm not sure whether they can send people and tooling to France to repair tubs like they did for KSM in 2008 and for Rebellion in 2010.

After the off's @ Spa - let's hope so & that everyone has arranged adequate Le Mans cover from composite repairers

[Victor_RO]

After the off's @ Spa - let's hope so & that everyone has arranged adequate Le Mans cover from composite repairers

That's precisely why Status pulled out from Spa after their shunt, they didn't want to raid into their stock of spares for Le Mans.

[Cavani]

personally i dont care about lola going bankrupt or being caught in fire , the only thing i love about this team is that its the name of my nephew

[DrProzac]

I always though it was a female name

[Cavani]

sorry i meant niece , she is my sister's daughter

[midgrid]

Autosport is reporting in this week's issue that Martin Birrane has made the decision to stop personally subsidising Lola, and that a number of employees have been laid off, which doesn't sound good. On the other hand, Lola sportscar customers should not be affected as they have already purchased their spares packages.

[Cranclive]

Autosport is reporting in this week's issue that Martin Birrane has made the decision to stop personally subsidising Lola, and that a number of employees have been laid off, which doesn't sound good. On the other hand, Lola sportscar customers should not be affected as they have already purchased their spares packages.

Martin Birrane's business is the Peer Group http://www.peergroup.co.uk/ Prop;erty development is not the easiest of businesses to dervive the margins from at present to cross subsidise a business such as the Lola Group.