The man behind putting Steve Tandy’s 2020 Lola B12/60 Judd together is a car prepared Pete Chambers, a man with a long history in the sport but who, as you’ll read later, was drawn back into the sport through links with Steve Tandy.
Here’s a confession, I arrived at the test believing that Tandy’s car was a rebuild of his Lola B12/60 Mazda, an ex Dyson Racing LMP1 car. Not so, that car is for sale in it’s beautifully presented condition (Details here).
The Lola B12/60 Judd replaces that car and was rebuilt from one of the Speedsource-run ex-factory Mazda Prototypes, raced in P2 form but with an identical tub to the original P1 spec B12/60.
So how has the car ended up with a Judd engine, something the B12/60 never had in period?
Pete Chambers explains:
“As people may or may not know that in 2011 there was a cost cap process undertaken which saw the non-factory LMP1 cars essentially inherit the engines that had been used for LMP2 previously and production-based motors for the revised LMP2 class cars.
“The category we race in now in Masters Endurance Legends covers cars from 2008 – 2012 so we’re still running with full P1 cars that essentially have more power, the aero probably isn’t as advanced as later cars but the power is greater.
For 2012 Lola offered the LMP1 B12/60 with Judd, Mazda (AER) and Toyota V8 engine fits.
“The Judd produced slightly more power but was a thirstier engine, so no one took it up. Nowadays with 40-minute sprint races, that doesn’t matter, so we set about building one with the Judd.”
How big a job was that?
“We were very, very lucky that Steve’s Dyson car came with a lot of 12/60 moulds and components, Steve then acquired a further big spares package to draw from.
“The big (front) wheel cars are very different from their predecessors and Dyson did a lot of development with the big wheels with a different top wishbone, front uprights and pickup points. So I wasn’t reinventing anything, I just cribbed it, it’s there, it exists!”
And some of that kind of development is lost in the contemporary world because from one week to another, you were reminded. These are called prototypes for a reason!
“Yes, exactly. And back in the day, Dyson would have done a lot of development on that car so, essentially, we ended up with what Dyson finished with. So let’s build that, it was as easy as that.
“The difficulties came because even though Pitlane Spares ended up with a basically the contents of the Lola factory when it closed, there were a lot of 12/60 Judd carbon components there that were unfinished, they weren’t cut because no one took an option upon a Judd.
“But I was lucky enough to go through the boxes to find much of what we needed. There were things that didn’t exist because the 12/60 has a longer wheelbase than, than 11 and 10/60s there were no gearbox casings, adaptor plates, bell housings in existence.
“So when you look at Steve’s car and you see that big adaptor, that’s because we’re using a 10/60 gearbox casing, then made an adapter to go between the two basically.
“Now, some people might listen to this and think, that sounds really expensive?
No, it isn’t. You know, if someone wants to talk to us about numbers, we can do that but it’s not as scary as people would think. And certainly, now that we’ve got everything sorted, we’ve got uprights we’ve got wishbones. It’s a known set of knowns!”
Steve has now got his hands on the car, but with 2020 being the year that it has he’s not had much opportunity to race it. He looks very happy with it though?
“Oh, he’s very happy. Because the potential is clearly there and has been straight out of the box.
“Today’s test is only the fourth time it’s been on a circuit. And I mean, straight out the box it was spot on and we’ve not had to fiddle with it.
“The nice thing about a quality car like the Lola is, from year to year the setup is very similar. There aren’t any idiosyncrasies, the operating windows are massive.
“It was an off the shelf car designed for different driver abilities and so it had to suit that so it’s not a knife-edge car. For Steve, we needn’t push anything further. He’s still behind the car, and enjoying finding more and more from it.”
What about the cost?
“Price-wise, if people are racing historic Formula One, or they’re doing Group C with Peter Autos it is compatible on an actual weekend’s running costs.
“But beyond that, there’s no comparison, once the investment is made in getting a Masters Endurance Legends car together properly, then it’s good for season after season.
“And given that it’s an endurance car, the gearbox, the engine, pretty much everything, the life on major parts is just fantastic!
“So the repeat costs that come with other historic cars with this sort of performance level are very significantly reduced because the car, and/ or its major components, don’t need a full rebuild every 2, 3, or 4 races
“With a Group C car you can tool up and maintain them – as we have with the Spice we run for Steve, we have made uprights and other major bits and pieces. But this Lola, we’ve got pretty much everything on the shelf. And it’s easier for the fabricators to repeat what is a known, and, for whatever reason they seem more enthusiastic about a project like this, they want to be a part of it.”
So this is a project to be proud of?
“Oh, absolutely. When you produce something like that, I guess it’s almost like an artist who has painted something who then stands back and says, “you know, I’m proud of that!”
“It’s a team effort, the boys in the workshop, we’re all proud of it. My background in modern racing went up to 2005 and then took a break from that because the workshop also works on performance road cars and so I focused on that until I met Steve who enticed me back into doing something with racing.
“Whatever category we do, we’re proud of our product. We’ve won many championships with Steve and with other drivers. But when you analyse everything, the reliability factor has been better than most. And I think that’s the whole key, you’ve got to look after the customer and putting them into a safe and reliable car is the key to that.”
You talk about customer focus and that’s an interesting point, it does seem that perhaps historic racing has the mindset in rather clearer focus on who their customers are than many areas of contemporary motorsport?
“Modern racing is a very cold playground, and it always has been, you can share a garage with another team and you won’t share a word, historics is very different.
You asked about me being proud of the car, the bottom line is that the owner’s got to be proud of that car. And, if they are, then they’re in a good frame of mind, they’re upbeat, and that feeds down into the whole atmosphere in the garage, the paddock, everywhere.
“The organisers feel that as well, you know and make them welcome, constantly and effortlessly. That’s all part of it.”
Let’s talk about safety, is that a key factor about these cars compared to some of the older machinery.
“We’ve got a Group C car in the workshop at the moment that had a heavy accident at Spa a couple of years ago. And when you strip it down, you take the body off that car, and you just look at the folded aluminium, yes they were fantastic, but you look over your shoulder to the Lola coupe tub, and it’s just different worlds.
“If I was introducing this Championship to someone coming into historic racing for the first time there’s little doubt that there would be a massive emphasis on the safety aspects as possible the main reason to look at it first.
“If you sit down with your wife, partner, whatever, and you say, I’m thinking of doing this. If they’re concerned about you, then that’s got to be the first question. How safe is it?
“Nothing’s totally safe. But, compared with a lot of categories, I’d rather have an accident in that car than many other cars. And it’s not only just the prototypes, the GT stuff as well have made significant steps in that area.”
And now you’re at the stage where what was absolutely cutting edge tech when that car was new. It’s now accessible to professional preparers.
Things like carbon fibre technology. There’s the opportunity now to actually fabricate with those materials where 15 years ago that was difficult. Whereas now it’s accessible and affordable.
How complex are these cars?
“Well, for starters, you don’t need a laptop to start it! If you look at them in period, they were off the jacks in the pit lane and gone, they start on the button.
“Yes, you do need someone that’s got a bit about them with a laptop, to plug in, check, everything’s within the right parameters. But the rest of it, whilst it’s clever, is a perfectly straightforward concept.”
Are we talking here a car that was at the time in that development, where we got the stage where you got a sensor suite to make diagnostics easier?
“I have built this car to be simple and serviceable.
“It hasn’t, for instance, got strain gauges on the pushrods. If you took the panels off the Mazda car and the panels off this car and put them side by side you’ be wondering where the wiring loom is on the Judd car!
“Because we’ve just simplified everything. You don’t need very many of those complex electrical and electronic systems, and, of course, that helps in terms of the running costs. It retains all of the performance, but has fewer of the expensive complexities.”
And what would you say to anyone wanting to take a look?
“Get in touch, I’m already building another identical car from a brand new Lola tub that was actually used as a show car. We’d love to show any real prospective customer what’s involved.”
