Eric Broadley

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Eric Broadley
MBE
Born(1928-09-22)22 September 1928
Bromley, England
Died28 May 2017(2017-05-28) (aged 88)
Cambridge, England
NationalityBritish
Occupation(s)Race car designer, entrepreneur

Eric Harrison Broadley

IndyCar, and sports car racing. Broadley sold Lola to Martin Birrane
in 1997.

Biography

Early years

Eric Broadley was indentured to a building company as a young man in the late 1940s,[1] and after completing his studies took a job as a quantity surveyor.[2] In his spare time Broadley was heavily involved in motor racing with the 750 Motor Club. In common with the majority of other competitors – including Colin Chapman, Frank Costin and Brian Hart – he built his own cars around Austin 7 chassis, using home-made and proprietary parts. His first car, the Broadley Special)[3] was built in 1956[4] to comply with rules governing the "Ford Ten Special" (or "1172 Special"[4]) class, using an 1172cc (72ci) side valve engine, originally introduced for the pre-war Ford Model C.

The Broadley Special was an instant success, winning a number of local and national events in the UK. On the back of this record Broadley, at the request of a number of drivers seeking something besides a

Lola Cars Ltd.
was born.

Staying largely at

mid-engined Mk3 consistently finished behind contemporary Lotuses and Coopers
.

1960s and 1970s: Formula One and international fame

On the back of his initial success, and despite his inexperience (and the failure of the Mark 2), in 1961 Broadley was approached by

radius arms, while the rear had upper and lower transverse links and radius arm; Broadley's idea continued to be used into the 1970s.[6] The Mark 4 originally used the common Coventry-Climax four, while a 1.5-litre[7] (91ci) V8 later became available. Though John Surtees and Roy Salvadori proved quick in them,[6] and a one was put on the pole in its first ever race, the 1962 Dutch Grand Prix, by Surtees, the car failed to finish. Surtees went on to win the 2000 Guineas at Mallory Park, and placed second at the British and German Grands Prix.[6]

Bowmaker-Yeoman got out of Grand Prix at the end of 1962, selling their Mark 4s to the

World Championship event). For 1963, Parnell sold one to Bob Anderson and ran another for Chris Amon, who was rarely successful, though he ran seventh in the British Grand Prix; Anderson did better, winning the (non-championship) Rome Grand Prix as a privateer.[6]

Efforts on a Formula Junior car, Mark 5, through 1962 led to nine sales but only limited success; an improved Mark 5A gave Richard Attwood a win in the Monaco Grand Prix Junior event.[6]

The 1963 Racing Car Show debuted the sensational Mark 6 (Lola GT), a trendsetter into the '70s. It featured a Ford 4.2-litre (255ci) V8 and Colotti four-speed box under a sleek fiberglass body, showing good handling and "a remarkable turn of speed"[8] for only 250 hp (186 kW), enough to put it in the running for the 1963 Vingt-Quatre Heurs du Mans until the gearbox balked and David Hobbs crashed.[8]

This performance attracted the attention of Ford, who were looking for a way to win Le Mans, and offered Broadley a two-year deal to redesign the GT, setting up Ford Advanced Vehicles, in a factory on the

GT-40, which differed in many respects from the Mark 6, not least in using a steel chassis rather than the aluminium of the Mark 6. This was one of many points at which Broadley found himself at odds with his American employers.[8]

Broadley, used to being his own boss, quit after 12 months, and as the FAV factory was in the name of Lola Cars, retained the plant forcing Ford to move to a different factory on the estate.

FIA created Group 9 (later Group 7) just for the T70, while Surtees drove one in British races, including a Guards Trophy victory at Brands Hatch in a works car.[10] Fifteen were sold in 1965, as well as thirty-two of the improved Mk2, introduced in 1966.[10]

In his first venture at

Indianapolis, Broadley's Type 80, with the 4.2-litre Ford, were unsuccessful. For 1966, team owner John Mecom ordered three improved T90s for Jackie Stewart, Graham Hill, and Rodger Ward; Stewart's fell out in the lead on Lap 190, giving Hill the win. A heavily modified T90 would put Al Unser in second in 1967.[10]

Improving the T70 in 1967, Broadley came up against the

SCCA events during 1969–70, as well as its first World Championship sports car race, in the hands of Mark Donohue and Chuck Parsons at the 24 Hours of Daytona (a one-two Lola finish), plus second by Jo Bonnier and Herbert Muller at the Austrian 1000km, giving Lola third in the championship.[10]

Lola T142 Formula 5000

Nor did Broadley neglect single-seaters. In 1967, he created an all-new monocoque, the F2 T100, only to waste considerable effort and money on the problematic

Formula A, Broadley built the spaceframe T140 once-seater; it became T142 for the British equivalent, Formula 5000.[10]

In 1968, Broadley returned to Indianapolis with the T150, suitable for either two- or four-wheel-drive; four-wheel-drive proved preferable, but even the greater traction could not prevent Unser from crashing.[10] He also prepared the T160, to replace the outclassed T70, for Can-Am, providing several to American privateers, while Surtees, who planned to run a Chevy-powered Weslake-prepared car, broke with Lola and was uncompetitive.[10]

For 1969, Broadley's T162 Can-Am car was run over by the dominant McLarens, and only seven were built. The subsequent T163 was little better, though Parsons earned one second and two-thirds.[10] Additionally, the new T190 FA/F5000 car had a monocoque, more advanced than the T142, but a handful to drive.[10] Partly in response, Frank Gardner was brought on board, perfecting the T190 so it was competitive, scoring wins at Thruxton and Silverstone, and getting Broadley's attention. Broadley stretched it further, into the T192, and asked Gardner to oversee development testing from then on.[11]

Offerings in Formula Two, Formula Three, Formula Ford, Formula Vee, Formula Super Vee, Formula Atlantic, and Can-Am kept Broadley very busy in the '70s.[11] By 1972, Lola were virtually alone in providing customer cars. They were as quick as ever, as the T280 (built by request of Jo Bonnier) demonstrated, but they were still hampered by the absence of a dedicated development team,[12] despite Gardner's presence. For all that, and for all the "bewildering variety", few Lolas were real failures.[12]

1980s and 1990s: Haas-Lola, customer teams in F1, failed Mastercard-sponsored works team and sale of Lola Cars

Main articles:
Mastercard Lola, and Lola T97/30

Broadley had very minor involvement in the

V8 engine, the same specification V8 as used by the defunct Forti team in the 1996 season.[15] During pre-season in early-February 1997 before Lola had launched even launched their 1997 car Broadley declared that Lola in their first season as a team should be looking to beat another team that was also newly entered into Formula One for 1997-Stewart Grand Prix.[16] Broadley also cited the Arrows team who would also use Bridgestone tyres in 1997 like Lola (along with Prost, Minardi and Stewart) and had signed 1996 champion Damon Hill as another team Lola could benchmark itself against during its debut season. The car which Lola had created to enter the 1997 Formula One World Championship - the T97/30 - designed by Broadley and Chris Saunders was launched on 20 February 1997 at the Hilton Hotel, London,England. At this launch, Broadley stated it was the longer-term aim of him team to win the World Championship within four years.[17]

Formula One qualifying rules used between 1996 and 2002 stated drivers would only be allowed to start a race if they set a qualifying time within 107% of the pole position time or if under exceptional circumstances, so with Sospiri and Rosset qualifying more than 11 and 12 seconds respectively off the pace of polesitter Jacques Villeneuve in his Renault V10-powered Williams FW19 the Lola cars therefore did not qualify for the Melbourne race in accordance with this rule. By contrast both of the cars run by the other new 1997 entrant, Stewart Grand Prix comfortably qualified for the same race.[18] The cars were tested at Silverstone shortly after the Australian Grand Prix but both were again slowest with times in excess of 10 seconds off the front runners.[19]
On 26 March 1997, the Wednesday before the Brazilian Grand Prix, Lola announced it was withdrawing from the Brazil race due to "financial and technical problems". Lola's staff, who had already travelled to Interlagos, returned to the team's base in Huntingdon, England. Shortly afterwards, Lola withdrew from the World Championship outright thus ending Broadley's dream of a successful full works Lola F1 team.[20] The disastrous F1 effort caused Lola Cars to enter administration in 1997, with the company sold the same year to businessman Martin Birrane, who owned the company until it closed in 2012.[21] Broadley admitted in a 2008 feature for Motor Sport that the F1 project was a disaster and he only decided to enter the sport as a works team due to Broadley's separate composites business struggling to get off the ground as well as his declining health and heart bypass surgery right before the F1 project which Broadley stated meant he "didn't have the energy" to address the problems of the T97/30.[22]

Death

He died on 28 May 2017, at Cambridge, aged 88.

References

Citations

  1. ^ Diane Broadley
  2. ^ Williams (2017)
  3. ^ Twite, Mike, "Lola: A prolific racing builder", in Northey, Tom, ed. World of Automobiles (London: Orbis, 1974), Volume 11, p.1213, calls her Lola Special.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Twite, p.1213.
  5. ^ "People: Eric Broadley". grandprix.com. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Twite, p.1214.
  7. ^ Twite, p.1217 caption.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Twite, p.1215.
  9. ^ Wyer, John "The Certain Sound" (Lausanne: Automobile Year, 1981) p.128
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Twite, p.1216.
  11. ^ a b Twite, p.1217.
  12. ^ a b Twite, p.1218.
  13. ^ "Whatever happened to Lola's F1 plans?". GrandPrix.com. Inside F1. 29 January 1996. Retrieved 22 December 2008.
  14. ^ a b Bradley, Charles (26 March 2020). "What happens when your big F1 break spirals into a farce". motorsport.com. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  15. ^ "Features – Technical – The Lola T97/30". Grandprix.com. 1 February 1997. Archived from the original on 30 January 2013. Retrieved 26 December 2010.
  16. ^ Saward, Joe. "The Lola T97/30". www.grandprix.com. GrandPrix.com. Retrieved 1 February 2007.
  17. ^ "Lola's last-minute launch". www.grandprix.com. GrandPrix.com. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  18. ^ "Bring Back V10s Podcast: Lola's disastrous 1997 F1 team". The Race. The Race Media. 11 February 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  19. ^ "... while Ralf is fastest". www.grandprix.com. 24 March 1997. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  20. ^ "Lola out of Brazilian GP and out of season?..." - Autosport.com, 26 March 1997. Retrieved 25 October 2007.
  21. ^ Watkins, Gary. "Obituary: Former Lola boss and Mondello Park owner Martin Birrane". www.autosport.xom. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  22. ^ https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/september-2008/74/lunch-lola/

Notes

  1. ^ The Embassy Hill team which competed during the 1970s in Formula One with Lola designed chassis, however these cars were designed by Andy Smallman rather than Broadley.

Bibliography

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