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<\/p>\nIt\u2019s been an important few months for Lola as it continues its comeback after a decade largely in mothballs. Back in March, the giant of international motorsport slowly waking from its slumber launched its second project: sustainable recreations of its T70 Mk3B for both track and road.<\/p>\n
Then, at the start of July, project number one came good. The Lola-Yamaha Formula E operation notched up a maiden victory at Shanghai. Yet for Till\u00a0Bechtolsheimer \u2013 owner or, as he likes to put it, custodian of Lola \u2013 it is only the beginning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There\u2019s more good news to come for Lola Cars, he insists, at a time when the company is moving into new headquarters at Silverstone. It\u2019s crossing the Dadford Road that runs past the circuit\u2019s main entrance, from the Aston Martin side to the Innovation Centre side, and into a new facility.<\/p>\n
The existing building, from where development of two generations of Lola-Yamaha FE powertrain has been led, will become the base for its latest simulator delivered earlier in the summer. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Such is the US-based Brit\u2019s confidence for the future that he\u2019s worried the new building might not be big enough. \u201cI was kind of joking with the team that we risk outgrowing the new building before we even move in,\u201d he laughs. \u201cWe are expanding pretty rapidly.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The new premises will become the operating base for the FE team: Lola is bringing the running of the cars in-house after two seasons partnering with Abt Sportsline, though the all-important test car was always run from the UK. Bechtolsheimer describes the German team\u2019s role as \u201csomewhere between a partner and a service provider\u201d.<\/p>\n
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Lola \u2018custodian\u2019 Bechtolsheimer exudes confidence<\/p>\n
Photo by: Andrew Ferraro \/ LAT Images via Getty Images<\/p>\n
The arrangement followed Lola\u2019s purchase of Abt\u2019s franchise ahead of its FE entry for the 2024-25 season. Now was the right time to consolidate as FE begins the Gen4 era with the kick-off of the 2026-27 season at the end of this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are a lot of efficiencies that can be gained, both from a cost perspective but more importantly from a performance perspective,\u201d he explains. \u201cHaving the design and development teams operating under one roof, and the simulator on site, is going to drive a lot of efficiency. As we look forward in FE, we want to take that next step. This is part of that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Assembly of the 16 examples of the cars dubbed the T70S and the T70S GT will also be undertaken in the new building. (How many it will make of each will depend on customer demand.) Bechtolsheimer has promised that \u2018new Lola\u2019, which has reverted to the Lola Cars name after operating as Lola Cars International in the Martin Birrane era, will be a lean and efficient organisation that won\u2019t be employing hundreds of people.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel with where the automotive industry is at and all the change it is seeing, motorsport is becoming a very valuable tool for the wider car industry\u201d Till Bechtolsheimer<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t do manufacturing in-house and don\u2019t really plan to, but we have over the years been building up a very robust supply chain,\u201d he reckons. \u201cWe are slap bang in the middle of UK\u00a0motorsport valley, which has some of the most advanced supply chains. It is, if you like, an advantage for us to be able to take advantage of those supply chains.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The T70 programme looks to the future at the same time as cocking its hat to Lola\u2019s past by recreating one of the most emotive cars from its back catalogue. Bechtolsheimer, an angel investor in alternative energy, promised on his takeover of Lola that its focus would be on innovation and sustainability. As counterintuitive as it may seem, a late-1960s Group 4 racer is a good platform to showcase materials and processes that are relevant today. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel with where the automotive industry is at and all the change it is seeing, motorsport is becoming a very valuable tool for the wider car industry,\u201d he says. \u201cOn the one hand from a branding perspective, but equally as a platform for innovation that it really hasn\u2019t been for a while, at least not like it used to be.<\/p>\n
![\"Lucas](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/lucas-di-grassi-lola-yamaha-ab.jpg\")
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Lucas di Grassi scored breakthrough Formula E victory at Shanghai<\/p>\n
Photo by: Qian Jun \/ MB Media via Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have been looking for projects where we can innovate. FE checked a number of boxes, but we were looking for something where we could roll our sleeves up and get our hands dirty with some innovative materials. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we started out, we didn\u2019t know what that was going to mean. We needed something to build, something to anchor that exploration. It was my idea to say, \u2018Why don\u2019t we do this with the T70?\u2019 It is kind of this strange juxtaposition of a highly sustainable future and our past. It is a car with a lot of\u00a0metallics in it and the bodywork system allows us to experiment with materials that don\u2019t have to compete with the world\u2019s best carbon fibre in 2026.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The magnesium used in the manufacture of the T70S is extracted from sea water using solar-powered electrolysis, while the Lola Natural Composite System, which is patent pending, combines all-natural basalt fibres sourced from volcanic rock and plant-based flax. It offers improved tensile strength and stiffness over traditional GRP (glass-reinforced plastic).<\/p>\n
Bechtolsheimer explains that Lola has \u201cgone to extremes to calculate the carbon footprint of the car\u201d. That process will have a wider application, he adds. \u00a0<\/p>\n
The T70S test chassis, a race car, is liveried in the same blue as the Sunoco-sponsored Mk3B with which Penske won the Daytona 24 Hours in 1969. Another famous T70, #SL76\/150 first owned and run by David Piper, has been added to Bechtolsheimer\u2019s collection of Lolas, which started with the Mk1 1100cc sportscar he bought on his purchase of Lola\u2019s assets and trademarks in the summer of 2022.<\/p>\n
The \u2018Piper Racing Green\u2019 T70 was, he explains, \u201cdisassembled and scanned down to the last nut and bolt\u201d and that data combined with the original Mk3B drawings to create a three-dimensional CAD model for the latest project.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Recreation](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/lola-t70s.jpg\")
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Recreation of T70S honours Lola\u2019s past while also looking to the future with innovation in the use of sustainable materials<\/p>\n
Photo by: Dom Gall Lola Cars<\/p>\n
Bechtolsheimer is a fully paid-up sportscar racing fan and has indulged that passion in both the IMSA SportsCar Championship and GT World Challenge Europe since 2018 in Acura, Lamborghini and now Ford GT3 machinery. Lola has already made a move to get involved in a discipline that plays an important part in the marque\u2019s history, not only under founder Eric Broadley but also Birrane after he rescued the organisation in 1997.<\/p>\n
It entered the tender process launched for the next generation of LMP2 prototype \u2013 a class in which Lola was a major player under the Irishman \u2013 that will enter competition in 2028.\u00a0Bechtolsheimer says he wasn\u2019t surprised that Lola proved unsuccessful, losing out to ORECA Motorsport and Ligier Automotive in the chase for just two rather than the four licences of P2 in its present form; he reckons it was too early for the relaunched company. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it had happened next year, I think it would have been a different story,\u201d he muses. \u201cBeing in our new facility would have given us more tangible areas to focus on and the credibility the FIA and the Automobile Club de l\u2019Ouest [which jointly write the rules for the category] wanted to see. I understand that we were taken very seriously and that it was a pretty close call.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n
The future he sees for Lola in endurance racing involves working with a manufacturer on a project on which his company can stretch its legs technically<\/p>\n
Making the pitch was, reckons\u00a0Bechtolsheimer, a valuable experience. \u201cIt will get us ready for those processes in the future,\u201d he believes. \u201cWe definitely have a few ideas around championships that may have tenders coming up.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
But therein lies the problem for Lola Cars as the 44-year-old looks to re-establish the marque, one that he fully acknowledges. The single-seater categories and their successors that were once Lola\u2019s bread and butter are now one-make formulas. That makes them a closed shop for all but the chosen constructor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That\u2019s another reason why an involvement in sportscar racing is a firm target for Bechtolsheimer. The future he sees for Lola in endurance racing involves working with a manufacturer on a project on which his company can stretch its legs technically.<\/p>\n
![\"Binnie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/31-lola-b05-40-zytek-bill-binn.jpg\")
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Binnie Motorsports Lola- Zytek B05\/40 took LMP2 victory at Le Mans in 2007<\/p>\n
Photo by: Jeff Bloxham \/ LAT Images via Getty Images<\/p>\n
That\u2019s very much in its traditions. Lola might be best known in sportscar circles for its successes with customer machinery, whether the multiple iterations of the T70, the T600 Group 6 car that won both an IMSA title and a pair of world championship endurances races, or the line of prototypes \u2013 more than 70 in total \u2013 produced during the 15 active years of Lola under Birrane.<\/p>\n
But it also worked with major\u00a0OEMs. Punching above its weight with the MG EX257 at the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2001 and 2002 is still well remembered, but it is largely forgotten that Lola developed the 1990 pole-winning Nissan R90CK and that the Group C design would almost certainly have won the race but for inter-team politics within the Japanese manufacturer\u2019s roster of squads.<\/p>\n
The in-house Nissan Motorsports Europe squad had identified and solved a problem with the fuel system that wasn\u2019t passed on to the US Nissan Performance Technology Inc team running in conjunction with Ray Mallock Limited.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI am a huge lover of\u00a0sportscar racing and desperately want to see Lola back in sportscar paddocks around the world,\u201d declares Bechtolsheimer. \u201cThere is a lot of focus from me and the team in making that a reality. Putting my personal love of sportscars to one side, it represents a massive opportunity for a company like Lola because of the openness.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe got a glimpse of the new regulations for 2030 in the top category [Hypercar] for WEC at Le Mans this year. Although there are still a few questions that need to be answered in terms of chassis approach, I think there are still plenty of areas at the pinnacle of motorsport that we could get involved with.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The idea is that manufacturers participating in Hypercar 2.0 will be able to develop their own chassis, hybrid systems and batteries even though the ruleset will be closer to LMDh today than Le Mans Hypercar. \u201cYou can mix and match as you see fit,\u201d says Bechtolsheimer. \u201cThat opens up an opportunity for Lola.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Lola](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/24-nissan-motorsports-internat.jpg\")
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Lola developed 1990 Le Mans pole-winning Group C Nissan R90CK<\/p>\n
Photo by: LAT Images via Getty Images<\/p>\n
An involvement in GT3 is another avenue that Lola is pursuing: \u201cGT3 is one of the largest categories in\u00a0motorsport right now. Working with a manufacturer to deliver a GT3 project would absolutely be of interest. I think we could confidently deliver a project like that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Confidence is something Bechtolsheimer exudes as he talks about the future of Lola in his hands. He\u2019s promising more news \u201cif not by year end, probably and more realistically in 2027\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have got a lot of irons in the fire,\u201d he continues. \u201cWith these things, you never really know whether all the pieces are in place until you green light the project, but it is certainly looking very good on a few projects.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey range from the exciting but small to some projects adjacent to what we have been talking about [Hypercar and GT3] that would be massive in scope and ambition. They would be game-changing for Lola.\u201d<\/p>\n
This article is one of many in the monthly Autosport magazine. For more premium content, take a look at the September 2026 issue and subscribe today<\/a>.<\/p>\n New Hypercar regulations for 2030 could open up opportunities for Lola<\/p>\n Photo by: Jakob Ebrey \/ LAT Images via Getty Images<\/p>\n We want to hear from you!<\/p>\n Let us know what you would like to see from us in the future.<\/p>\n![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/race-start.jpg\")
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