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“There was some disappointment coming away from Spa with no points but I always like to look positively and the pace that we showed in the early stages of the race was encouraging. With Le Mans so close now, I suppose that we are fortunate to get any bad luck out of the way before the big one next month at the 24 hours.

“The start of the Spa 1000kms was actually very challenging, one of the most challenging things I have done in recent years because it is definitely not easy when it’s wet and you are on slicks. It was super tricky entering Eau Rouge but it was even worse in the middle of the corner and hard to keep the car straight.  On my first lap I was actually off the road in Eau Rouge, somehow I saved the car and then thought, ‘I’ll take it a little bit easier now’. We had a safety car because of a shunt at the top of Eau Rouge and on the re-start I actually had better pace than the Audis and caught them up. It was a nice feeling to fight with them and really attack, overtaking Allan McNish, which was a nice moment.  In the middle sector we were really quick because we had a good car, good grip and even though it was a bit damp, the Lola-Rebellion went really well in those conditions.

From then on I just tried to get through traffic and tried to stay together with Jean-Christophe. It was all good and then obviously the red flag came out (due to the power failure). I didn’t know exactly what was happening, so I stopped on the starting grid as everybody else did.  My engineer (Lola’s Adam Airey) told me what the problem was and I thought, ‘well that’s rather different, even for Spa!’ We then decided as soon as the race would restart that we would just come into the pits and do a change under safety car. 

So, Nico went out and a few laps later he was out of the race with a gearbox problem. I didn’t feel anything in the car, for me the gearbox was going well, so it must have happened really just as soon as he got in and it was a shame because I think we had good pace and we could have finished around 5th or 6th.

Earlier in the race I was right behind Jean Christophe when there was the incident with Panis in the ORECA car. It looked to me as if Jean-Christophe couldn’t do a lot to avoid Panis.  Basically it was a race incident because it was a little bit damp and every movement you do with the steering wheel at that speed on top of Eau Rouge on slick tyres means you can go off very easily. He couldn’t just move the car over, as he will have a huge shunt himself.  For sure he didn’t do it on purpose as I know him and he wouldn’t jeopardise himself or another driver like that.’

Before Le Mans I will fly next week to Indianapolis for the Indy 500 because I had a few talks this year with some Indy car teams and I am going to meet them again to talk about future possibilities. After Indy, I am flying directly to Austria where I have a training week before Le Mans. Nico (Prost) and I will train in Austria with my personal trainer, Helmut Fink, who used to be Nick Heidfeld’s trainer and dietician.

Nico and I will be joined by Marco Andretti for Le Mans and I am really looking forward to racing with him again. I think Marco will do okay and I guess the night driving will be pretty special for him as it is his first time at the track. He raced the Acura a few times and did the Ricard test so will at least have some knowledge of the Lola-Rebellion.

I look forward to telling you all about our Le Mans adventure where I hope we can build on the good pace that the Rebellion Lola has shown so far this season. For sure, Le Mans is going to be an epic and I believe that we can fight for a very good result in the world’s greatest motor race.

Bye for now

Neel

Photos copyright David Lord Photography

Adam Airey has worked at Lola since 1999, designing the successful B2K/40 sports car and Lola F3 cars. He also engineered one of the works MG-Lola LMP675 cars at Le Mans in 2001 and 2002. For 2010, 34 year old Airey will engineer the #12 Rebellion Racing Lola LMP1 challenger in the Le Mans Series and at the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Friday

Friday wasn’t easy for us and I think we got caught out a little because the track was still so green as it had been raining a few days before.  We had a new tyre from Michelin that we had selected in freezing temperature from when we were there for the test in March, but in actual fact in first practice we were only 6/10th off the Audi. We were maybe a little too cautious after the first free practice session.  In actual fact, it was the circuit that was not working for us.  But we worked through, tried a few different things and got the car better and better and better through free practice 1, 2 and 3.

Saturday

We knew there was a potential for a few cars around us to be quite a lot faster than us on the straight and that was a real issue.  You can be as fast as you want round the rest of the lap but if you are not fast on the straight, then you are obviously on the back foot, so we knew we had to get a reasonable grid position.  We were actually a little disappointed with where we ended up (5th) with and the Lola-Aston surprised us with its pace, as did the Oreca-AIM, but they have done thousands of test miles around Ricard. However, we were confident that the Lola-Rebellion would be faster than ORECA in the race.

In terms of how the engineering team works at the race, generally speaking, it’s my call what we do, when we stop and what we change is my call but I always run it by Hugh and Bart (Hayden – team managers) beforehand. So, for instance we talked about the possibility in the race of changing left side tyres only, because they tended to wear out faster than the right side and we looked at it and decided we actually wouldn’t do it in the end. On Saturday evening we decided to double stint the tyres rather than single stint the left side only. Things like that I always discuss with Bart and Hugh. We also have a great relationship with Stan Hall from Engine Developments Ltd who gives me a back-up calculation when we need to stop for fuel and what fuel filler we are using.

Sunday

The race started in spectacular fashion with the Audi and the Peugeot going head to head. Neel (Jani) was set to pick up the pieces but got pushed off the Mistral by Ayari in the ORECA. After about 40mins Neel pitted with what we thought was just a puncture. We had a good look around the suspension and everything appeared to be in order.  There were no bend links, broken rod ends or anything like that, so we changed the tyres and sent him back out but the minute the car drove down the pitlane, it was apparent that the left rear suspension had a problem.  So Neel limped round that lap, which cost us even more time.

We got the Lola-Rebellion into the garage and fixed the suspension, put a new tyre on and went out again, intent on making up as much time as we could. It wasn’t finished there though as Neel got a 3 minutes stop and go penalty, as he was deemed to have spun the wheels when he left the pit after we affected the repairs. The pit marshal (who wasn’t an ACO marshal, he was a circuit marshal) based his decision on a black line on the concrete outside the garage and when we measured it, it wasn’t wide enough to be one of our tyre marks.  It was actually one of the Formula 3 cars that had been practising there earlier on.  So we were given a 3 minutes stop and go penalty, which was obviously very harsh and very frustrating.

As the race went on, the Lola got quicker and quicker relative to the rest of the field and Neel’s last lap was a 1m45.1s and the fastest lap the car did in the race was a 1m45:0s, so it goes to show that the pace was still there right at the end and nobody else was on that kind of pace at the end of the race. Both Neel and Nico (Prost) did a great job all weekend, as did the team who were really impressive on the pit stops.

Looking forward to Spa next month, we are very confident of good result for the Rebellion Racing Lola LMP1. We found that running a higher level of downforce was a better way around Paul Ricard and as a result we didn’t verify Le Mans aero figures and things like that.  And the same with Spa – Spa is medium/high downforce in terms of optimum lap time.  For us it’s a race in its own right but I think for Audi and Peugeot it will be shakedown for Le Mans and I think they have got three cars there each, plus the ORECA one, so it’s going to be a fairly tough race for us but we are definitely up for the fight.

Adam Airey
Lola Design Engineer

www.lola-group.com

My job throughout the season is to support the teams with any technical information such as assistance with setting up the cars for the circuit and generally getting the best out of their car.

There is also a troubleshooting element to my role. With endurance sports car racing also being about reliability I will also be on hand to assist with any mechanical issues that may crop up during the weekend. Quite often the teams will have questions on parts installation, particularly if we have significant updates, which for Lola is usually every season. They get a detailed manual from Lola but to have a point of contact at the track every time the car turns a wheel is a vital part of Lola’s customer service. As well as myself we will have a dedicated spare parts truck, specially seconded Lola design engineers with the teams and also roving engineers who go from team to team, essentially liaising with them to ensure there are solutions to any issues.

At Paul Ricard this week I was on hand to oversee the 2010 develop updates ran smoothly, which I am delighted to say they did. It was very windy and very cold so how representative the teams set up work is when we go back to Ricard next month is difficult to tell. Getting the tyre temperatures and also getting consistency of runs due to the strong winds was a little frustrating but all of the driver’s comments were very positive with regards to the aero feel of the Lola’s 2010 updates and that is very pleasing.

For most of the teams, the Monday was the better day in terms of conditions and most of our teams were concentrating on making new drivers comfortable in the car. Guys such as Marco Andretti and Guy Smith for Rebellion Racing were getting used to the car for the first time.

2010 is set to be a fantastic year of racing. The great thing about Lola in LMP racing is the sheer variety of teams, engines and even tyres that our cars run with. This year we have Aston Martin V12, Judd V10 and Honda V8 power in our cars using Michelin, Dunlop and Pirelli rubber. As I lead the design and the design team on the LMP project it is pleasing to see that we have this variety and adaptability in the product.

The RML team, who have been a Lola customer since 2004, have a new engine (HPD) and new tyres (Dunlop) and had a really strong test at Ricard this week. Andy Wallace has re-joined them and he was very happy with the way things went.

Having Mario Andretti and Alain Prost in the Rebellion Racing garage at Paul Ricard was terrific. While they didn’t get directly involved with the engineering their experience rubs off just in conversation with them. Mario is a huge Lola legend having won the CART title in 1984 with a Lola design. He was very happy to see his grandson become the third generation Andretti to drive a Lola!

When I got back to the factory on Tuesday, I immediately did an event report and inform the whole team of how the test went. The guys back at the factory are very passionate about seeing their creations succeed and this great start to the season was just the launch pad we are looking for ahead of the first race next month at Ricard. While we all can’t wait for that weekend to arrive, we are now working hard to find even more performance for our customers for this season and as soon as the 2011 regulations are finalised, for next season. The development never stops.

www.lola-group.com