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 Lola’s
successful British Formula 3 season may have finished with another
podium and a fine sixth place in the championship at Brands Hatch
last month, but testing continues apace in readiness for the 2005
season when the all-new Lola B05/30 will break cover.
The
latest test session took place at Donington Park yesterday (Thursday)
with Andrew Thompson getting his first taste of the Neil Brown prepared
Mugen-Honda powered Lola in the hands of the Promatecme squad and
ending the day fastest. The Scotsman immediately set some stunning
lap times during the day using 2005 development parts to peak with
a sensational 1m02.2s - a time that would have guaranteed him pole
position by some 0.5 seconds for the opening British F3 round held
earlier this year.
Thompson
had earlier set a best of 1m02.9 on a set of used Avon tyres, underlining
the cars continued progress throughout the season and its potential
for more victories in 2005, to enhance the results of this year
that included a famous win at Castle Combe, a pole position and
three further podium placings.
Promatecme team owner Chris Weller was very impressed with Thompson’s
performance and commented: “Andrew did a terrific job today
and really acclimatised well to the Lola after a couple of seasons
driving the Dallara. We felt really confident in Andrew’s abilities
straight away, especially his positive attitude and his inherent
pace. Considering the car was still set up for Danny (Watts) and
was, as a consequence, slightly overweight, made it a very successful
test indeed. We would love to run him in the new Lola next season.”
Thompson
himself was delighted with his first test in the Lola and said;
“I came to test the car with an open mind but straight away
I could see that it was a very good and confidence inspiring car.
I didn’t have to put the car on the edge at all to get that
time and the stability of it in the fast and medium speed corners
was extremely impressive. It was a revelation to me.”
 "The
Lola was quite different to the Dallara to drive but on the whole
was more stable and driver friendly. The most obvious difference
was in the aerodynamics, which on the whole just gave a lot more
grip than the Dallara. I have to say that after having seen and
heard a lot about the car, I have only good things to say about
it and on the strength of this test things look good for their 2005
campaign.”
The
existing Lola chassis scored 14 pole positions, 11 wins and 20 podium
finishes in the British/Italian and Japanese Formula 3 Championships
in 2004 alone. For 2005 the new B05/30 chassis will be ready to
considerably advance these achievements and to establish a clear
advantage over its rivals, whom Lola are looking forward to once
again competing with in Britain and Europe next season. The new
car is expected to test in the early New Year.
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