Lola T97/30

The Lola T97/30 was the car with which the MasterCard Lola Formula One team attempted to compete in the 1997 Formula One season. It was driven by Vincenzo Sospiri, the 1995 Formula 3000 champion who had previously served as a test driver for Benetton, and Ricardo Rosset, who moved from Footwork.

Lola T97/30

Vincenzo Sospiri driving the T97/30 during the qualifying session at the Australian Grand Prix
Category	Formula One
Constructor	Lola
Designer(s)	Eric Broadley (Chassis) Chris Saunders (Aerodynamics)
Predecessor	Lola T93/30 (BMS Scuderia Italia) Lola T95/30 (test car only)
Successor	Lola B10/30/Lola MB-01 (never raced)
Technical specifications[1]
Chassis	Carbon fibre/aluminium honeycomb monocoque
Suspension (front)	Inboard pushrod/bellcrank-actuated double wishbones
Suspension (rear)	As front
Length	Unknown
Width	Unknown
Height	Unknown
Axle track	Unknown
Wheelbase	Unknown
Engine	Ford ECA Zetec-R 75-degree V8
Transmission	Lola 6-speed sequential
Weight	520 kilograms (1,150 lb)
Fuel	Texaco
Lubricants	Pennzoil
Tyres	Bridgestone
Competition history
Notable entrants	MasterCard Lola F1 Team
Notable drivers	24. Vincenzo Sospiri 25. Ricardo Rosset TD. Andrea Montermini
Debut	1997 Australian Grand Prix (Did not qualify)
Races Wins Poles F/Laps 1 (0 starts) 0 0 0
Teams' Championships	0
Constructors' Championships	0
Drivers' Championships	0

However, the team's tenure in F1 was brief. The T97/30 was the first Lola chassis to compete in the sport since the uncompetitive T93/30 that had been used by BMS Scuderia Italia in 1993. The T97/30 had initially planned around an entry for the 1998 season. However, due to pressure from main sponsor MasterCard, the car was rushed into service a year before the initial plan. The T97/30 proved to be a slow and underdeveloped car in comparison to those being used by other teams, failing to qualify with either Sospiri or Rosset at its only attempt(s) which was the opening round of the 1997 season in Australia before the team and cars were withdrawn from the next race in Brazil. Neither the T97/30 nor the team would be seen again competing at a Grand Prix thereafter as Lola withdrew from the 1997 championship due to financial and technical difficulties having only competed (and performed very poorly) in one race weekend. As of January 2024, the T97/30 is last Lola chassis to compete at a Formula One World Championship Grand Prix weekend.

Competition history

Pre season and launch

Lola was the second new team for the 1997 season, the other being Stewart Grand Prix, whom team founder and the T97/30's designer Eric Broadley claimed in pre-season before his cars' launch in early-1997 was the team he felt his outfit should be beating. Broadley also cited fellow Bridgestone tyre using outfit Arrows -that had had signed then-defending World Champion Damon Hill for 1997 as another team that would be a benchmark for Lola's 1997 performance.^[2] Because of sponsor MasterCard's eagerness to get the team running a year earlier than planned, the team hastily built the T97/30 just weeks before the season began. Whilst Stewart (who had announced their entry even before the start of the 1996 season) had completed weeks of testing, Lola had barely covered any mileage before the season opener. The T97/30 was launched at the Hilton Hotel in London on 20 February 1997.^[3]

Australia weekend and Silverstone test

Broadley's pre-season ambitions of competing with and beating the Ford-backed Stewart team proved to be very far wide of the mark at first round of the season in Melbourne, where first brief tests showed that both cars were slow in a straight line and also in the corners; the aerodynamics producing too much drag and not enough downforce. This also meant the cars could not get the tyres up to the right temperature. Neither driver could get near a good enough time to qualify, as they struggled in the difficult-handling cars. In the end both Sospiri and Rosset failed to qualify, 11.6 and 12.7 seconds respectively off the pace, whilst both Stewart Grand Prix cars comfortably qualified for the same race. The cars were tested at Silverstone shortly after the Australian Grand Prix but both were again slowest with times in excess of 9 seconds off the front runners.^[4]

End of the road for car and team

The cars were transported to Brazil for the race at Interlagos, but title sponsor MasterCard withdrew their support (with all other sponsors later following MasterCard's suit at the last minute) and they remained in the garage for the rest of the weekend, subsequently withdrawing from the championship. ^[5][6]

The team were unclassified in the Constructors' Championship, with no race starts or finishes, nor points.

Complete Formula One results

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Entrant	Engine	Tyres	Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Points	WCC
1997	MasterCard Lola	Ford Zetec R ECA 3.0 V8	B		AUS	BRA	ARG	SMR	MON	ESP	CAN	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	AUT	LUX	JPN	EUR	0	NC
				Vincenzo Sospiri	DNQ	WD
				Ricardo Rosset	DNQ	WD
Source:[7]

Locations

The locations of the four T97/30 chassis (as of 2007) are as follows:^[8]

• T97/30-1 (Sospiri): Canadian racing school.
• T97/30-2 (Rosset): Canadian racing school.
• T97/30-3 (spare car): owned by Martin Birrane, the current owner of Lola. On display at the Mondello Park circuit museum.^[9]
• T97/30-4 (unfinished): Lola factory, Huntingdon.