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Lola Submits Chassis Design to IndyCar

As the IndyCar Series is preparing to debut a brand new chassis for their 2012 campaign, several chassis manufacturers have entered the bid to become suppliers for the premier North American single-seater championship. Among those, Lola also announced its interest to join the competition, as they used to build racing chassis for the defunct Champ Car World Series until a couple of years ago.

Since the ChampCar Series and the Indy Racing League merged a few seasons ago, Lola lost its privileges, as Italian company Dallara was the one holding the monopoly over building cars in the series. However, with the new regulations introduced by the IndyCar officials for the 2012 season, several other manufacturers were invited to bid for the sole supplier function.

Lola, the company that last year made an attempt to enter Formula One in 2010, today revealed their package to the IRL officials, becoming the second bidder to do that (after Dallara, last week).

At the heart of Lola's presentation to the IRL Board was a carefully considered modern dual body style approach. This concept will provide two ready to race aero performance balanced Indycars that could compete even safer side by side and very close behind one another on all circuits,” said a press release from Lola.

This would provide a unique focus for drivers, teams and fans alike without technical compromise or advantage and in addition would accommodate a dual engine supply situation if required.

The proposed Lola Indycar for 2012 focuses on several key areas. These are safety, efficiency, engine adaptability, weight reduction (proposed 1380lbs v current 1540lbs), pleasing aesthetics with good sponsor exposure and a concentrated evaluation on significantly improving overtaking,” added the statement.

Following Dallara and Lola, two more companies are expected to issue their chassis designs to the IRL board in the upcoming few days, namely Delta Wing and Swift. The championship officials are to make their decision later this year, as the new design will replace the existing one from Dallara, which was last updated back in 2003.
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