Lola LC88

Lola LC88 Cosworth in the livery of the 1988 Monaco Grand Prix

The Lola LC88 was a racing car used by the French racing team Larrousse Calmels in the 1988 Formula 1 World Championship . It was powered by a Cosworth suction engine. The revised Lola LC88B had a Lamborghini engine and appeared in a race in the 1989 season .

technology

The Lola LC88 was developed by the British racing car manufacturer Lola Cars on behalf of the Formula 1 team Larrousse Calmels. The responsible designer was Ralph Bellamy . From a technical point of view, the LC88 largely corresponded to the predecessor model LC87 , which in turn was based on a Lola vehicle for the Formula 3000 junior series. The main difference between the LC88 and the 1987 car was a modified front suspension that now used push rods. In addition, the wheelbase was slightly extended. Lola finally modified the cladding of the roll bar. As in the previous year, an engine cover was not used throughout; in most races the engine was exposed. As with the LC87, it was powered by a Cosworth DFZ eight-cylinder naturally aspirated engine prepared by Heini Mader Racing Components . The power transmission took place via a six-speed transmission from Hewland .

Lola made a total of five chassis during the season. Two of them were converted in late 1988 to accommodate a Lamborghini engine.

Races in 1988

1988 was the second season of the French racing team Larrousse. Unlike the previous year, he ran two cars throughout 1988. One vehicle was driven by Philippe Alliot in all races . The second car went to Yannick Dalmas , who fell ill in autumn 1988 and was replaced by Aguri Suzuki and Pierre-Henri Raphanel in the last two races .

The car turned out to be insufficiently efficient. None of the drivers could get a championship point with him. The best result was two seventh places for Dalmas at the Monaco Grand Prix and the USA . Alliot dropped out eight times, Dalmas only four times, but Dalmas failed to qualify once - at the Canadian Grand Prix .

The poor performance of the LC88 resulted in its designer Ralph Bellamy being fired by Lola earlier in the year.

The chassis were used during the year as follows:

Grand Prix	Lola LC88-1	Lola LC88-2	Lola LC88-3	Lola LC88-4	Lola LC88-5
Brazil	Philippe Alliot	Yannick Dalmas
San Marino	Philippe Alliot	Yannick Dalmas
Monaco		Yannick Dalmas	Philippe Alliot
Mexico	Philippe Alliot	Yannick Dalmas
Canada	Yannick Dalmas			Philippe Alliot
United States	Yannick Dalmas			Philippe Alliot
France			Yannick Dalmas	Philippe Alliot
Great Britain			Yannick Dalmas	Philippe Alliot
Germany			Yannick Dalmas	Philippe Alliot
Hungary	Yannick Dalmas			Philippe Alliot
Belgium				Philippe Alliot	Yannick Dalmas
Italy				Philippe Alliot	Yannick Dalmas
Portugal			Yannick Dalmas	Philippe Alliot
Spain			Yannick Dalmas	Philippe Alliot
Japan			Philippe Alliot		Aguri Suzuki
Australia			Philippe Alliot		Pierre-Henri Raphanel

LC88B: Modifications with Lamborghini engine

In the summer of 1988, team boss Gérard Larrousse managed to obtain a newly developed twelve-cylinder engine from Lamborghini Engineering exclusively for the coming season. After the last race of the 1988 season, two LC88 chassis were converted to accommodate the Italian engine. The changes in the engine environment were significant; the wheelbase has also been changed.

The first test drive with an LC88 equipped with a Lamborghini engine took place two months later than planned on December 12, 1988 on the Misano race track . Here the cars still used the Hewland gearbox, which soon turned out to be too weak. Lamborghini's own transverse six-speed gearbox was first used in test drives at the Paul Ricard Circuit in late February 1989.

The car, mostly known as LC88B (according to other sources: LC88D), was a transitional model that was not intended for racing. Much had been changed in the course of the development work, so that Alliot described the LC88B as "built in". He was long, unwieldy, and overweight. One observer summarized the characteristics of the LC88B as follows: "The car made no impression except when it was weighed."

Since the development of the new Lola LC89 , which was tailored to the Lamborghini engine, was delayed until March 1989, the team had to compete in the season opener in Brazil with two LC88Bs equipped with the Lamborghini engine and transmission were. Alliot and Dalmas were the pilots. Only Alliot managed to qualify with the LC Auto. Starting the race from last place on the grid, he finished the world championship run in 12th place.

At the following race, the San Marino Grand Prix , the LC88B was replaced by the newly developed LC89.

Results

1988: Lola LC88-Cosworth DFZ V8

driver	No.	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	Points	rank
1988 Formula 1 season																		0	-
Y. Dalmas	29	DNF	12	7th	9	DNQ	7th	13	13	DNF	9	DNF	DNF	DNF	11
A. Suzuki																16
P. Raphanel																	DNQ
P. Alliot	30th	DNF	17th	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	12	9	DNF	DNF	14th	9	DNF

1989: Lola LC88B-Lamborghini 3512 V12

driver	No.	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	Points	rank
1989 Formula 1 season																		0	-
Y. Dalmas	29	DNQ
P. Alliot	30th	12

Legend
colour	abbreviation	meaning
gold	-	victory
silver	-	2nd place
bronze	-	3rd place
green	-	Placement in the points
blue	-	Classified outside the point ranks
violet	DNF	Race not finished (did not finish)
	NC	not classified
red	DNQ	did not qualify
	DNPQ	failed in pre-qualification (did not pre-qualify)
black	DSQ	disqualified
White	DNS	not at the start (did not start)
	WD	withdrawn
Light Blue	PO	only participated in the training (practiced only)
	TD	Friday test driver
without	DNP	did not participate in the training (did not practice)
	INJ	injured or sick
	EX	excluded
	DNA	did not arrive
	C.	Race canceled
		no participation in the World Cup
other	P / bold	Pole position
	SR / italic	Fastest race lap
	*	not at the finish, but counted due to the distance covered
	()	Streak results
	underlined	Leader in the overall standings

literature

• Autocourse . Yearbook 1988–1989 (French edition). ISBN 2-85120-308-8 .
• Didier Braillon, Leslie Thacker: Équipe Larrousse F1 Grand Prix 1989 . Paris 1989 (Editions ACLA), no ISBN.
• Adriano Cimarosti: The Century of Racing , Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-613-01848-9
• David Hodges: A – Z of Grand Prix Cars 1906–2001 , 2001 (Crowood Press), ISBN 1-86126-339-2 (English)
• David Hodges: Racing Cars from A – Z after 1945 , Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-613-01477-7
• Pierre Ménard: La Grande Encyclopédie de la Formule 1 , 2nd edition, St. Sulpice, 2000, ISBN 2-940125-45-7 (French)

Web links

Commons : Lola LC88  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Image of a Lola LC88B with a Lamborghini engine

Individual evidence

1. ↑ To the whole: Hodges: Rennwagen von AZ nach 1945, p. 141.
2. ↑ Auto Course 1988/89, p. 41.
3. ↑ The information relates to the stakes in the races. Other chassis were occasionally used in the training runs. Information according to Auto Course 1988/89, p. 38.
4. ↑ Braillon, Thacker: Equipe Larrousse 1989, p. 10 ff.
5. ↑ Motorsport aktuell, issue 11/1989, p. 7.
6. ↑ The vehicle appears in the registration lists as Larrousse LC88B, cf. Entry list for the 1989 Brazilian Grand Prix on the website www.motorsport-total.com (accessed on August 21, 2012).
7. ↑ Larrousse uses the designation LC88D for the car in a works publication, cf. Braillon, Thacker: Larrousse F1 1989, S: 25.
8. ↑ Quoted from Motorsport aktuell, issue 13/1989, p. 4.
9. ^ Hodges: AZ of Grand Prix Cars 1906-2001, p. 129.
10. ↑ The LC89 experienced its first exit on April 4, 1989 in LeCastellet.