Honda Lola B11/80 HPD 2011 v1.01

For the 2011 season the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) heavily revised the technical and sporting regulations for the two prototype class. The 24 Hours of Le Mans organisers effectively turned the existing LMP2 class into LMP1 in order to bring the overall speeds down and introduced a new cost-capped LMP2 class.

Both chassis and engine are subject to the cost restrictions with the price of the car limited at EUR 345,000 and the engine at EUR 75,000. This engine also has to be directly derived from a production unit and needs to last at least 30 hours between rebuilds. Lola were among the first to announce a 2011-spec LMP2 car in July of 2010.

The British specialist manufacturer actually did not announce one but two cars; the open top B11/40 and the fixed head B11/80. Although both cars have obvious differences, the two do share the same basic architecture. This familiar design has its roots in the past generation of LMP2 cars originally introduced in 2005 as the open topped B05/40.

The two Lola LMP2 variants feature a carbon-fibre monocoque chassis with double wishbone / push-rod suspension at both ends. Lola also supplies its own gearbox, which can be run with a choice of hydraulically operated paddle-shift system. The B11s can be easily distinguished from its successful predecessors by the mandatory fin on the rear-deck.

Lola offers the B11/40 and B11/80 with a choice of engine installation kits. These include the HPD developed Honda V6 twin-turbo, the BMW M3 V8 by Judd and the Zytek prepared Nissan V8. Although the new Lolas have struggled for pace in the opening races of the season, the HPD enigned Level 5 B11/40 did manage to score a class win in the Sebring 12 Hours.

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