Competition
In November 2007 Aston Martin reached an agreement with Lola to purchase the first B08/60 and installing the 6.0 litre V12 from the DBR9 race car. This is Aston Martin's first attempt at running a sports-prototype since the AMR1 in 1989. Prodrive, Aston Martin's racing partner, chose Charouz Racing System to run the new team for a full entry in the Le Mans Series and 24 Hours of Le Mans. The B08/60 was not designed with the Aston V12 engine in mind, so the standard Lola gearbox had to be replaced by a more compact X-trac 6 speed. The Lola Aston Martin gained further advantage from a regulation change that gives production-derived engines bigger air restrictors.
During the 2008 LMS season the Charouz Lola proved to be the fastest petrol car on the grid, although they still cannot match the diesels. At 2008 Le Mans the B08/60 outqualified the No.1 Audi but a collision and subsequent repairs dropped them to the back. The spirited drive back to the front is rewarded with 9th overall. In Silverstone later in the year Charouz finished as high as 2nd overall, behind an Audi. Charouz Racing finish 5th in the 2008 LMS championship.
Further B08/60s will be available to other customers, with a variety of engines able to be adapted to fit the chassis. The B08/60 also forms the basis for the Lola-Aston Martin B09/60, co-developed by Lola and Prodrive.
The B08/60 would be run by the Speedy Sebah racing team throughout the 2009 LMS season.
For 2010 Rebellion Racing ran 2 modified B08/60, dubbed the B10/60. The old Aston V12 was replaced by Rebellion 5.5L V10. At Le Mans, lap times were 8 seconds slower compared to Charouz 2 years earlier.
The B08/60 was entered for the full American Le Mans Series season in 2010 by Drayson Racing. It won its first race from the pole in the hands of Jonny Cocker and Paul Drayson at the Road America 500. The Drayson Lola was restricted due to ALMS rules bringing LMP1 and LMP2 cars on par, trying to archieve the same pace between both class.
Currently, the Lola B08/60 runs in upgraded form as the Lola B12/60. Two teams run the LMP1 chassis: Rebellion Racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship and Dyson Racing in the American Le Mans Series. Dyson Racing also runs a 2011-spec B11/66 in the shorter events.
Read more about this topic: Lola B08/60
Famous quotes containing the word competition:
“Competition has been shown to be useful up to a certain point and no further, but cooperation, which is the thing we must strive for today, begins where competition leaves off.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)
“Playing games with agreed upon rules helps children learn to live by rules, establish the delicate balance between competition and cooperation, between fair play and justice and exploitation and abuse of these for personal gain. It helps them learn to manage the warmth of winning and the hurt of losing; it helps them to believe that there will be another chance to win the next time.”
—James P. Comer (20th century)
“So long as the system of competition in the production and exchange of the means of life goes on, the degradation of the arts will go on; and if that system is to last for ever, then art is doomed, and will surely die; that is to say, civilization will die.”
—William Morris (1834–1896)