MG-Lola EX257
The MG-Lola EX257 (sometimes referred to as simply MG EX257) is a
It was Lola's only car built specifically to
Development
Following a resurgence for the MG brand in the beginnings of the 21st century, the decision was made to expand the brand into motorsports including touring car and sports car racing. MG had previously had success at the 24 Hours of Le Mans many decades ago, yet had never scored an overall win. At approximately the same time, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) had changed the Le Mans Prototype regulations for Le Mans, making it possible for two different classes of prototype to be capable of taking an overall win. This class, known as LMP675, would use smaller turbocharged engines yet would be lighter and more nimble, making it possible for them to compete with the larger, more powerful LMP900 class.
Seeing an opportunity to use a production-based engine in an LMP675 instead of a custom-built engine that would be larger than anything MG had in their production cars at the time, MG decided to enter into this new class in agreement with
For an engine, MG turned to Advanced Engine Research (AER) for construction of their engine and Garrett for turbocharging it. Using some elements of MG's production engines, the new 2.0 Litre turbocharged Inline-4 known as the MG XP20 (AER designation P07) came to approximately 500 hp, limited by air restrictors put in place by the ACO to equalize cars.
Modifications
In 2003, the Intersport Racing team considered that the MG engine was lacking the power necessary for tracks used in the American Le Mans Series. The team transplanted a Judd KV675 naturally aspirated V8 engine in place of the MG XP20. This required the removal of the large turbo inlet, replacing it with an air inlet mounted behind the cockpit. This car, referred to by its Lola designation only due to the loss of the MG engine, had a short career with some success.
Racing history
The new MG-Lola EX257 made its competition debut at the
For 2002, the EX257s were offered to customers for the first time. Two American teams, KnightHawk Racing and Intersport Racing, would seize the opportunity and purchase one chassis each, for competition throughout the American Le Mans Series season. Improvements to the EX257 provided greater durability, shown at Sebring with Intersport taking the LMP675 win and seventh overall, while KnightHawk took third in LMP675. Over the rest of the season, the pair of EX257s dominated the series, taking four more wins. KnightHawk took the LMP675 championship by a single point over Intersport. Also, for the final four races of the season, a third EX257 joined the series, in the hands of Dyson Racing, who managed fifth in the championship although taking part in just a handful of races. Back at Le Mans, the factory MG team again returned with their two EX257s. Their reliability was improved, as both cars survived further than they had the previous year. Gearbox problems eliminated one car after 129 laps. The second car was running strong until the final few hours of the race, when the engine let go. The American KnightHawk team also participated, but their car succumbed to fire during the night.
After two years of being unable to finish at Le Mans and financial strain on the
The ACO decided to alter the Le Mans Prototype rules due to the inherent problems of the LMP675 class. The classes were restructured into LMP1 and LMP2, and the MG's found themselves moved into the top LMP1 class. Over in Europe,
Following the dismal performance of Intersport's hybrid B01/60, the car was retired for 2005. This left only the two-car Dyson team in the
For 2006, Dyson Racing decided that the old EX257 was no longer competitive, and purchased newer
2007 began to see the end of the EX257. The final original car still in competition, Autocon Motorsport's entry, began the
Chassis history
The following is a list of the owners of each EX257 or B01/60 chassis. Intersport's #HU-01 and RML's #HU-03 were the chassis modified to fit a Judd engine. #HU-05 was planned but never built.
#HU-01:
- MGSport & Racing, Ltd. (2001)
- Intersport Racing (2002–2004)
#HU-02:
- MGSport & Racing, Ltd. (2001–2002)
- Ray Mallock Ltd.(2003–2011)
#HU-03:
- MGSport & Racing, Ltd. (2001–2002)
- Chamberlain Engineering (2003)
- Intersport Racing (2003, under lease)
- Mike Newton (2007 - 2011)
- [For sale at Ascott Collection] (2020)
#HU-04:
- KnightHawk Racing (2002)
- Dyson Racing (2003–2005)
- Autocon Motorsports (2006–2007)
#HU-06:
- Dyson Racing (2002–2005)
- Highcroft Racing (2006)
References
External links
- Mulsannes Corner - Lola B01/60 technical analysis
- rml-adgroup.com - MG Collection, including two EX257's for sale
- Ascott Collection- Ascott Collection, EX 257 chassis HU MG-LMP003 for sale