The Lola B05/40 is a

Le Mans Prototype A Le Mans Prototype (LMP) is the type of sports prototype race car used in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA SportsCar Championship, European Le Mans Series and Asian Le Mans Series. Le Mans Prototypes were crea ...

built by Lola Cars International for use in the LMP2 class for the

American Le Mans Series The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The American Le Mans' hea ...

Le Mans Series The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the fo ...

, and

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose ...

. Developed in 2005, it was intended as a replacement for both the

Lola B2K/40 The Lola B2K/40 was a Le Mans Prototype developed in 2000 by Lola Cars International as a cheaper, smaller, and lighter alternative to the similar Lola B2K/10. Although specifically designed to compete in the SR2 class of the Sports Racing Worl ...

and the

MG-Lola EX257 The MG-Lola EX257 (sometimes referred to as simply MG EX257) is a Le Mans Prototype built by Lola for the MG car company for their attempt to compete again at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in . The car has had many years of mixed success since its in ...

. It shares various structural elements with the larger LMP1-class

Lola B06/10 The Lola B06/10 is a Le Mans Prototype developed by Lola Cars International for use in the LMP1 class of the American Le Mans Series, Le Mans Series, and 24 Hours of Le Mans. It was developed in 2006 as a replacement for the Lola B2K/10 as wel ...

Development

Following a change to Le Mans regulations by the

Automobile Club de l'Ouest The Automobile Club de l'Ouest (English: Automobile Club of the West), sometimes abbreviated to ACO, is the largest automotive group in France. It was founded in 1906 by car building and racing enthusiasts, and is most famous for being the orga ...

(ACO), which saw the LMP900 and LMP675 classes eliminated in order to make way for the newer LMP1 and LMP2 classes, many teams found that their old chassis would no longer be legal when the new regulations came into full effect in 2007. Lola's older chassis would be among those deemed illegal, requiring them to develop an all new car to meet the new LMP2 regulations. The B05/40 can be seen as an evolution of the

(also known as Lola B01/60), in that many mechanical and aerodynamic elements are shared between the two cars. While the front fenders appear similar in shape, there are major dimensional differences between the two cars (1000 mm over hang vs. 810 mm) such that the B05/40's fenders are bespoke to the car. The nose is raised in a fashion similar to the EX257 while lacking the opening grill at the tip. This opening is instead replaced by two large

NACA duct A NACA duct, also sometimes called a NACA scoop or NACA inlet, is a common form of low- drag air inlet design, originally developed by the U.S. National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the precursor to NASA, in 1945. Design Prior s ...

s placed on either side of the nose. Behind the cockpit, now mandated twin rollover hoops replace the single roll hoop which originally sat behind just the driver. The air intake for the engine is placed in a nacelle between these rollover hoops, while turbocharged cars use a large duct placed to the left side of the cockpit. Various engines have been used in the B05/40, with no standard engine being used when designing the chassis. The B05/40 was designed to accept a wide variety due to its use as a customer chassis for privateers. Engines used included Nicholson-McLaren V8s, Judd V8s,

Zytek Gibson Technology is an automotive and motorsport company based at Repton, Derbyshire, England. It was founded by Bill Gibson as "Zytek Engineering" in 1981. In 1981 Gibson founded the "Zytech Group" with two main divisions: Zytek Automotive, ...

V8s, Acura V8s, AER turbocharged Inline-4s and

Mazda , commonly referred to as simply Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima, Japan. In 2015, Mazda produced 1.5 million vehicles for global sales, the majority of which (nearly one m ...

turbocharged Inline-4s.

Modifications

Since 2005, Lola continually upgraded the B05/40, including various bodywork upgrades for improved aerodynamics. In late 2006, a new chassis for

Fernández Racing Fernández Racing was a Mexican motor racing team that competed in the American Le Mans Series, Champ Car, the IRL IndyCar Series, and the Rolex Sports Car Series. The team was co-founded by Adrian Fernández and Tom Anderson in 2001. Open wheel ...

's Acura team was built which included slight upgrades, leading to Lola terming the car B06/40. However, for the beginning of the 2007 season, Lola unveiled further upgrades that were used by nearly all B05/40 customers. These upgrades included a redesigned front end, which replaced the NACA ducts with a single opening in the nose. Although all chassis have been upgraded, the naming of each car varies depending on the team, with B05/40, B06/40 and B07/40 all being used. Another modified B05/40 was used by Ray Mallock Ltd. While called a MG EX264, this car is effectively 90% B05/40. It was later upgraded to include the 2007 bodywork, while retaining the EX264 name.

Racing history

For their initial season in 2005, one B05/40 would be used by Intersport Racing in the

season, while Chamberlain-Synergy Motorsport, Lista Racing, Ray Mallock Ltd. and Binnie Motorsports competed in the

Le Mans Endurance Series The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the fo ...

. In the ALMS, Intersport would easily take the LMP2 championship with five victories over the season. Meanwhile, in the LMES, Chamberlain-Synergy would take the LMP2 championship, while Ray Mallock would take second and Horag fourth, with each of the three teams managing one win over the season. In the middle of the season, at the

, Intersport would join Ray Mallock and Chamberlain-Synergy for the endurance event, with Ray Mallock taking the LMP2 victory. Going into 2006, all of the B05/40 teams would remain, although Chamberlain-Synergy's team would be taken over by ASM Team Racing for Portugal midway through the

season. For Intersport, the

LMP2 championship could not be retained due to new competition from the

Porsche RS Spyder The RS Spyder (Type 9R6) is a racing car designed by Porsche in conjunction with Penske to compete in Le Mans Prototype Class 2 (LMP2) racing. The car takes its name from the legendary Porsche 550 Spyder of the 1950s (combined with Porsche's c ...

, even though Intersport scored three wins. A similar situation would occur in the LMS, with Barazi-Epsilon's

Courage Competition Courage (also called bravery or valor) is the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. Valor is courage or bravery, especially in battle. Physical courage is bravery in the face of physical pain, ...

outdoing the Ray Mallock EX264, which had one win. Although Chamberlain Synergy's chassis scored three wins during the season, their take over by ASM Team Racing for Portugal meant that the team's points were split, denying them the championship. For the

, Ray Mallock would again take the LMP2 victory, with Intersport, Binnie and Chamberlain-Synergy also participating. For the 2007 season, Intersport would move to the LMP1 class with a new chassis, while

would join the series with an upgraded B05/40 for use with the Acura Le Mans project. B-K Motorsports would also purchase a new B05/40 for use with their

project, switching from a previous Courage chassis. Ray Mallock, Horag, Binnie and ASM Team Racing for Portugal would all remain in the Le Mans Series, all running with the 2007 upgrades.

External links

* - B05/40 specifications
Mulsannes Corner
- Lola B05/40 technical analysis {{DEFAULTSORT:Lola B05 40 B05 40 Le Mans Prototypes 24 Hours of Le Mans race cars