On paper, it sounded affordable sufficient: Lola T97/30 chassis, Ford Zetec-R V8 engines and, most significantly, main company backing from Mastercard.
However F1 groups don’t race on paper, and the fact was a complete catastrophe.
The motive force of the undertaking was Mastercard’s eagerness to launch the ‘F1 Membership’ for card holders that was speculated to fund the staff. It meant that the undertaking was horribly rushed – mainly one 12 months sooner than initially deliberate. Banking rival HSBC was becoming a member of F1 with the brand new Stewart Grand Prix staff, which had a full 12 months of preparation below its belt and a long-term works help cope with Ford.
The automotive was desperately undercooked, and gave drivers Vincenzo Sospiri and Ricardo Rosset little likelihood of creating the beginning grid for a lot of causes…
Vincenzo Sospiri, Lola T97/30 Ford
Picture by: Sutton Photographs
The IndyCar-based chassis hadn’t been designed for the Ford V8 engine, as Al Melling was speculated to be creating a V10 Lola-badged engine in-house – however that by no means acquired to see the sunshine of day.
The Ford buyer provide got here from the Forti staff, which had folded in ’96, and the staff had struggled with reliability – even struggling a failure straight-line operating on the Santa Pod dragstrip. Plus, there’d been no time for windtunnel testing both!
Vincenzo Sospiri, Lola T97/30 Ford
Picture by: Sutton Photographs
Ricardo Rosset and Vincenzo Sospiri, Lola
Picture by: Sutton Photographs
Former FIA Method 3000 champion Sospiri gave it his greatest shot in qualifying, however fell manner wanting the 107 per cent cut-off required to make the race.
Fairly fatefully, Lola founder Eric Broadley had stated on the automotive’s launch in London: “The 107% rule is definitely fairly a big margin. If we will’t do this, then we shouldn’t be in it.”
Eric Broadley, Lola Group Principal, a visitor, Ricardo Rosset, Lola and Vincenzo Sospiri, Lola
Picture by: Sutton Photographs
Oddly, Sospiri blames Jacques Villeneuve for the actual fact he’s by no means began a grand prix…
“If he hadn’t completed that implausible pole lap, I’d have certified,” he claims of JV’s pole time, which was some 1.75secs away from the opposition. Nearer evaluation reveals that Sospiri’s time was virtually 12secs slower than Villeneuve, and that Arrows’ Pedro Diniz was in reality the unlucky soul who solely simply missed the 107%.
However, after some arguing from Tom Walkinshaw, Diniz was allowed to race anyway because of his velocity in free follow, in contrast to the tardy Lolas, which have been manner off the tempo.
Ricardo Rosset, Mastercard Lola T97/30
Picture by: Sutton Photographs
“Ricardo was 1.5secs slower than me anyway,” shrugs Sospiri, who no less than may take solace in that. “The automotive was not the very best to drive.
“We had completed 12 laps [of testing] at Silverstone, that’s all. It was very tough to deal with within the corners, and lacked aerodynamic grip. Even in a straight line it was going left and proper! No-one appeared to know why.”
Rosset summed up his expertise thus in Autosport: “It has been onerous, as I knew it might be. We’ve had a variety of issues. We’ve acquired an absence of downforce and an excessive amount of drag. The most important downside is that we don’t have a primary setup for the automotive, so we guessed on the settings and after they have been unsuitable we panicked a little bit.”
Ricardo Rosset, Mastercard Lola together with his staff mate Vincenzo Sospiri, Mastercard Lola
Picture by: Sutton Photographs
Vincenzo Sospiri, Lola T97/30 Ford
Picture by: Motorsport Photographs
Ricardo Rosset, Lola T97/30 Ford
Picture by: Motorsport Photographs
Ricardo Rosset, Lola
Picture by: Sutton Photographs
Issues got here to a head earlier than the subsequent race, the Brazilian GP at Interlagos. All set to attempt to qualify once more, Sospiri’s F1 dream fell aside in comical circumstances. Not solely was there no tempo within the automotive, there was no cash within the financial institution both!
In reality, the undertaking was £6million in debt and despatched the complete firm into receivership a number of weeks later.
“I truly came upon the staff was over from a Brazilian newspaper on the Thursday morning earlier than the grand prix,” he says. “The paper stated ‘Lola is out’ so I assumed, ‘What’s occurring?’ and phoned Ricardo [above right], and he stated it was true. He was within the truck, and stated it was about to be locked up, so I requested him to get my stuff and my helmet too!
“I went to the observe, and every little thing was sealed. It was throughout.”
The Lola Mastercard Group withdrew their vehicles from the race
Picture by: Sutton Photographs
Regardless of having beforehand examined for Benetton, Ligier and Simtek, Sospiri’s F1 profession was over after only one failed try at qualifying.
He displays: “It sounded such a very good deal, I left my take a look at position with Benetton and signed up for 4 years. They’d plans to make their very own engines the subsequent 12 months, however the finances was by no means there.
“Every part they’d informed me wasn’t true. In F1, when that occurs, it doesn’t take lengthy to search out out.”
As an alternative, he turned to America, the place he raced IndyCars (beginning on the entrance row of that 12 months’s Indy 500 behind solely Arie Luyendyk and Tony Stewart) and sportscars – the place he had nice success driving the Ferrari 333SP – earlier than hanging up his helmet and transferring into staff and driver administration, most notably with Luca Filippi.
