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Lola Cars International Ltd and Drayson Racing Technologies LLP today announced the formation of an official partnership that will initially deliver an all-electric prototype race car, the Lola-Drayson B12/69EV.
Lola Cars will have responsibility for developing the racing car chassis and Drayson Racing will have responsibility for developing the electric drivetrain.
The new project aims to fast-track the development of a range of new and next generation technologies including an all-electric drivetrain and sustainably sourced composite parts for the B12/69EV. These technologies will present a number of key opportunities to drive commercially viable innovation into many industries looking to improve energy efficiency and performance, such as aerospace, automotive, defence, renewables and of course motorsport.
The Lola-Drayson will be showcased during the last quarter of this year at a public test session where the aim will be to evidence the high performance of the electric powered race car on-track and to make public the innovative technologies being developed on the car. The ultimate goal of the Lola-Drayson partnership is to deliver an all-electric race car for the planned 2013 FIA electric car championship.
Martin Birrane, Executive Chairman, Lola Group said “Lola are pleased to welcome Drayson Racing to this unique and exciting partnership. I have known Lord Paul Drayson for sometime now and am aware of his many successes as a science entrepreneur in the UK. The team at Lola are looking forward to delivering many innovative programmes.”
Robin Brundle, Managing Director of Lola Cars International Ltd commented “This joint technology showcase programme will truly evidence the technical excellence that exists within Lola. We are delighted to work with Drayson Racing and on this very exciting and multi-industry led programme. You cannot fail to be impressed with the full range of new technology that will be used in this first project which will demonstrate performance in a different class.”
Lord Paul Drayson, Managing Partner of Drayson Racing Technologies said “This project aims to tap into the huge demand from high tech industry for innovative new technologies that improve vehicle performance and sustainability. The Lola-Drayson B12/69EV will act as a racing laboratory, catalysing technology innovation and driving commercial application in the automotive and related industries.”
In its 53rd year of business, Lola is one of the longest established and most successful designers and constructors of racing cars in the world, keeping itself at the forefront of design and technology by investing in state of the art facilities including Computational Fluid Dynamics, Finite Element Analysis, a 50% scale wind tunnel and a 7 post aerodynamic suspension and chassis set up rig. The company is equipped and has the skills to carry out any major motorsport programmes for a manufacturer from F1 through every category of motorsport.
Having built more customer racing cars than any other constructor in the history of motorsport, Lola now also services the Aerospace, Marine, Automotive, Defence and Communications industries with a complete design and build capability in advanced carbon composites.
Drayson Racing Technologies LLP is a research & development business based in the heart of the UK’s world-leading motorsport industry at Kidlington, near Oxford. Paul Drayson, a former biotechnology entrepreneur and the UK Minister for Science and Innovation in the previous government, formed Drayson Racing Technologies LLP in 2007 with his wife, Elspeth, to act as a racing laboratory to pioneer the development of green technologies in the challenging environment of motor racing. Since then Drayson Racing has achieved a number of notable firsts racing second-generation biofuels and has latterly focused on the emerging field of electric racing.
