The Lola T102, also known as the BMW T102, is a

Formula 2 Formula Two (F2 or Formula 2) is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009–2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name return ...

car, designed, developed and built by

Lola Cars Lola Cars International Ltd. was a British race car engineering company in operation from 1958 to 2012. The company was founded by Eric Broadley in Bromley, England (then in Kent, now part of Greater London), before moving to new premises in S ...

, under the leadership and guidance of

Eric Broadley Eric Harrison Broadley MBE (22 September 1928 – 28 May 2017) was a British entrepreneur, engineer, and founder and chief designer of Lola Cars, the motor racing manufacturer and engineering company. He was arguably one of the most influentia ...

. It competed between 1968 and 1969. It entered and competed in one

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

Grand Prix; the

1968 German Grand Prix The 1968 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Nürburgring on 4 August 1968. It was race 8 of 12 in both the 1968 World Championship of Drivers and the 1968 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The race was h ...

; where German driver

Hubert Hahne Hubert Hahne (28 March 1935 – 24 April 2019) was a racing driver from Germany. He was the older brother of Armin Hahne, as well as the uncle of Jörg van Ommen. Career He participated in five Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, two of ...

finished in tenth place.

Design

The BMW T102 was built entirely by Lola but exclusively for BMW; hence the type designation BMW T102. The design came from the British racing car designer

Len Terry Leonard E. Terry (11 February 1924 – 25 August 2014) was an English racing car designer and engineer, known for his work with Team Lotus, Lotus, British Racing Motors, BRM and All American Racers, Eagle. He also designed chassis for many othe ...

. The T102 had Lola's then-typical bathtub monocoque. The body ran slim along with the cockpit and only got wider in the rear section to accommodate the engine. This was a design by Austrian BMW engineer Ludwig Apfelbeck. The 2-litre engine had four cylinders, each with four valves. When the engine had to be reduced to a displacement of 1.6 litres, problems arose with the valve control and BMW used a new unit.

1968 German Grand Prix

At the 1968 German Grand Prix, Hubert Hahne set the eighteenth qualifying time of 10 min 42.9 s, 1 min 38.9 s off the pole position time set by

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...

driver

Jacky Ickx Jacques Bernard "Jacky" Ickx (; born 1 January 1945) is a Belgian former racing driver who won the 24 Hours of Le Mans six times (second-highest of all time) and achieved eight wins and 25 podium finishes in Formula One. He greatly contributed ...

. In the race, the German overtook the

Cooper Cooper, Cooper's, Coopers and similar may refer to: * Cooper (profession), a maker of wooden casks and other staved vessels Arts and entertainment * Cooper (producers), alias of Dutch producers Klubbheads * Cooper (video game character), in ...

Lucien Bianchi Lucien Bianchi (10 November 1934 – 30 March 1969), born Luciano Bianchi, was an Italian-born Belgian racing driver who raced for the Cooper, ENB, UDT Laystall and Scuderia Centro Sud teams in Formula One. He entered a total of 19 Formula One ...

and the

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...

Bruce McLaren Bruce Leslie McLaren (30 August 1937 – 2 June 1970) was a New Zealand racing car designer, driver, engineer, and inventor. His name lives on in the McLaren team which has been one of the most successful in Formula One championship history, ...

to occupy sixteenth place at the end of the second lap. On the next lap, he got the better of

Dan Gurney Daniel Sexton Gurney (April 13, 1931 – January 14, 2018) was an American racing driver, race car constructor, and team owner who reached racing's highest levels starting in 1958. Gurney won races in the Formula One, Indy Car, NASCAR, Can-Am, ...

, then the

Lotus 49B The Lotus 49 was a Formula One racing car designed by Colin Chapman and Maurice Philippe for the 1967 F1 season. It was designed around the Cosworth DFV engine that would power most of the Formula One grid through the 1970s. It was one of the fi ...

s of

Jo Siffert Joseph Siffert (; 7 July 1936 – 24 October 1971) was a Swiss racing driver. Affectionately known as "Seppi" to his family and friends, Siffert was born in Fribourg, Switzerland, the son of a dairy owner. He initially made his name in racing ...

and

Jackie Oliver Keith Jack "Jackie" Oliver (born 14 August 1942 in Chadwell Heath, Essex) is a British former Formula One driver and team-owner from England. He became known as the founder of the Arrows team as well as a racing driver, although during his dr ...

, and grabbed eleventh place on lap seven. The second half of the event pitted him against Gurney who overtook him on lap eleven, but Hahne finished tenth in the race, 10 min 11.3 s behind winner

Jackie Stewart Sir John Young Stewart (born 11 June 1939), known as Jackie Stewart, is a British former Formula One racing driver from Scotland. Nicknamed the "Flying Scot", he competed in Formula One between 1965 and 1973, winning three World Drivers' Cha ...

Formula 2 career

After this brief interlude in the top motorsport series, the T102 continued to race in the

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Januar ...

and 1969 Formula 2 championships, finishing second in the drivers' championship in 1969, obtaining two outright second places as best results with Hahne at the Hockenheimring and with Jo Siffert at the Nürburgring, where the Swiss also managed to qualify on pole position. When there were no major successes in 1968, the two T102s were completely revised. At the 1969 Jim Clark race in Hockenheim, a round of the Formula 2 European Championship, Hahne achieved his first podium finish with second place behind

Jean-Pierre Beltoise Jean-Pierre Maurice Georges Beltoise (26 April 1937 – 5 January 2015) was a French Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and Formula One driver who raced for the Matra and BRM teams. He competed in 88 Grands Prix achieving a single victory, at th ...

in the

Matra MS7 The Matra MS7 was a Formula Two racing car built by Matra, which occasionally raced in Formula One as well between and . While only modestly successful in Formula One, the car dominated Formula Two from late 1967 through 1969. Jacky Ickx, Jean-P ...

. Fourteen days later, Siffert was only beaten by a Matra at the Eifel Race on the Nürburgring, this time with Jackie Stewart at the wheel. After further strong performances, Hahne finished second in the overall standings of the European Championships at the end of the season. The team also suffered a tragic accident.

Gerhard Mitter Gerhard Karl Mitter (30 August 1935 – 1 August 1969) was a German Formula One and sportscar driver. Early life and career Mitter was born in Schönlinde (Krásná Lípa) in Czechoslovakia, but his family was expelled from there, to Leonberg ...

had a fatal accident in a

BMW 269 The BMW 269, also known as the BMW F269, is an open-wheel Formula 2 race car. It was designed, developed and built by Lola Cars for BMW to participate in the 1969 and 1970 Formula 2 European Championships, as well as the 1969 Formula One World ...

, the successor to the T102, during practice for the

1969 German Grand Prix The 1969 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Nürburgring on 3 August 1969. It was race 7 of 11 in both the 1969 World Championship of Drivers and the 1969 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. Twelve Formula Two ...

after a technical defect.

Formula One World Championship results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

)

References

{{F1 cars 1968 T102 Lola racing cars Formula Two cars BMW racing cars