03 Lola B3/51 - Motorsports Almanac

Lola B3/51 Formula Nippon car
Hideki Noda in his ÖHLINS sponsored Lola B3/51.
Technical Specifications (2003)
The new B3/51 is derived from the International
F3000 concept but has many updated parts
including sidepods and suspension geometry. The
carbon-aluminium honeycomb composite
monocoque of the new Lola B3/51 was
constructed using a new specification of carbon
fibre manufacturing process, offering greater
strength, whilst maintaining the same stiffness
characteristics and greater impact resistance. The
chassis is a one-piece monocoque construction
based on the highly successful; pioneering chassis
used on the Lola B02/50 and has been adapted to
accept the Mugen MF 308 engine. With the unique
demands of the Formula Nippon in mind, the
aerodynamics of the car have been improved, with
completely re-designed sidepods, radiator ducts
and engine cover in order to accommodate the
Mugen engine, while retaining the B02/50
underbody and diffuser. The design of the B3/51's
transverse six-speed gearbox is based on Lola's
highly successful Champ car unit.
DESIGN TEAM
Project leader : Andrew Burston
CHASSIS
Type : Carbon fibre skins, aluminium honeycomb core
ENGINE
Model : Mugen Honda MF308
Preparation : Ogawa Jidosha, Tomei Engine, Sierra Sports or Ken Matsuura Racing Service.
Type : 90-degree V8, DOHC, 4VPC
Capacity : 2997 cc
Bore x Stroke : 86.00 x 64.50 mm
Max Power : 490 PS @ 8500 rpm
Max Torque : +363 Nm @ 7000 rpm
Fuel System : Honda PGM-FI
Ignition : Honda PGM-IG
Cooling : LH water radiator, RH split oil/water radiator
TRANSMISSION
Gearbox : 6-speed Lola/Hewland, transverse, sequential shift
Differential : Lola/Hewland mechanical plate type
Drive Line : Tripod jointed driveshafts
Clutch : 3-plate AP Racing carbon/carbon, aluminium or steel hub.
SUSPENSIONS
Front and rear : Double wishbones, pushrod operated twin Eibach 36mm ID 750 lb./in coil over Öhlins
Dampers. Lola Canister Link Anti-roll bar.
Front and rear : Double wishbones, pushrod operated twin Eibach 36mm ID 750 lb./in coil over Öhlins
Dampers. T-Bar & twin canister link Anti-roll bar.
BRAKES
Front and rear : Vented PFC 25mm thick steel discs, Brembo 4-piston calipers, PFC Carbon-Metallic 01
Compound Pads. Brembo master cylinders 19mm dia front & 20mm dia rear.
WHEELS
Front : 10.50 x 13” One-piece OZ/Reynard Magnesium
Rear : 14.96 x 13” One-piece OZ/Reynard Magnesium
TYRES
Front and rear : Bridgestone control tyres
STEERING
Type : Titan bevel drop-gear rack and pinion 14DP 8-tooth, 280mm Sparco Steering Wheel
INTERIOR
Instrumentation : PI Delta or Sigma Display.
Safety equipment : Sparco seat-harness, Lifeline Zero 2000 3.375 Litre Foam Extinguisher.
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase : 3000 mm
Front Track : 1503 mm
Rear Track : 1389 mm
Weight : Approx. 600 Kg ready to run (minus fuel and driver)
Fuel Cell : ATL, approximately 135 Litres capacity

LOLA ANNOUNCES CONTRACT TO SUPPLY CHASSIS FOR 2003 FORMULA NIPPON 30/09/2002
World's leading racing car constructors win prestigious order from Japan's top formula.
Huntingdon, England. - Lola Cars International today announced the completion of a formal agreement between the
company and Japan Racing Promotions (JRP), organisers of the Japanese Formula Nippon Championship, to supply
Lola's 03/51 chassis for the Nippon series for the forthcoming 2003 and subsequent race seasons. With strong grid
numbers, excellent television and high sponsor involvement, Formula Nippon is again set to continue its impressive
growth. The Formula has long been established as a very positive career option for race drivers headed towards
Formula One. Of the current Grand Prix drivers, Michael Schumacher, Jacques Villeneuve, Ralf Schumacher (Nippon
Champion 1996), Eddie Irvine, Pedro de la Rosa (Nippon Champion 1997) and Mika Salo have all raced in Nippon, en
route to Formula One. Formula Nippon began in April 1996 as the replacement of the former Japanese Formula 3000
Championship and has developed since this time with safety and performance always being the two most important
criteria for the series. The 2003 Lola Nippon chassis, for the next generation of the Formula, is a new specification
from Lola which upholds the ethos of the Championship for highly competitive, safe, racing. The 2003 formula will
run Honda Mugen engines, Bridgestone slick tyres and advanced wing and suspension packages. The move into
Formula Nippon marks a return to Japan for Lola, the company having enjoyed great success there during the 1980's
and early 1990's, before Lola then re-focussed on the US Champ Car Series. Rick Gorne, international consultant for
Lola Cars International, has been working with Katsu Homma, JRP director, to finalise the arrangements for the
introduction of the Lola chassis. Gorne says, "Lola has all the credentials required of a chassis manufacturer for this
Championship, with so much of the company's experience being highly relevant. Both the JRP and Lola know that it is
important for F Nippon to have a chassis of the very highest international technical standards. The new Lola B3/51
will fulfil this need and ensure that the teams racing in F Nippon will be equipped with a sophisticated chassis that
offers all the safety and performance advantages expected from the world's leading customer racecar company."
Katsu Homma of Japan Racing Promotions outlined the decision to award Lola the new contract by saying, "Bringing
Lola on board with the Formula Nippon Championship to deliver the next generation chassis is a new departure for us,
but is a very welcome progression. It will allow us to maintain the cost controls required, while providing us with a
high specification racecar. We're looking forward to working with Lola to introduce the new car next season, after an
extensive test programme." "This is an important new racecar for our portfolio," says Martin Birrane, Chairman, Lola
Cars International. "It is a prestigious contract for one of the top class series in motorsport today. So many young
drivers experience Formula Nippon on their way to the top and we're pleased that we're once more supplying this
excellent Championship."
2003 FORMULA NIPPON ENTRY LIST
Team – Team Director – Car No. – Driver, age – Nation – Date of Birth – Chassis – Engine – Tuner
PIAA NAKAJIMA RACING – Satoru Nakajima
1 Takashi Kogure, 23 JPN 1980.08.01 LOLA B3/51 MUGEN MF308/OGAWA JIDOSHA
2 André Lotterer, 22 GER 1981.10.19 LOLA B3/51 MUGEN MF308/OGAWA JIDOSHA
OLYMPIC KONDO RACING TEAM – Masahiko Kondo
3 Yuji Tachikawa, 28 JPN 1975.07.05 LOLA B3/51 MUGEN MF308/OGAWA JIDOSHA
4 Dominik Schwager , 27 GER 1976.09.18 LOLA B3/51 MUGEN MF308/OGAWA JIDOSHA
TEAM 5ZIGEN – Keiji Matsumoto
5 Ryo Michigami, 30 JPN 1973.03.01 LOLA B3/51 MUGEN MF308/TOMEI ENGINE
6 James Courtney, 23 AUS 1980.06.29 LOLA B3/51 MUGEN MF308/TOMEI ENGINE
6 Ryo Fukida, 24 JPN 1979.06.26 LOLA B3/51 MUGEN MF308/TOMEI ENGINE
TEAM LE MANS – Hiroyoshi Donuma
7 Toshihiro Kaneishi, 24 JPN 1978.12.19 LOLA B3/51 MUGEN MF308/TOMEI ENGINE
8 Takeshi Tsuchiya, 31 JPN 1972.11.04 LOLA B3/51 MUGEN MF308/TOMEI ENGINE
PLANEX EBBRO NOVA – Katsumi Kiyohara
9 Haruki Kurosawa, 26 JPN 1977.09.26 LOLA B3/51 MUGEN MF308/OGAWA JIDOSHA
OIZUMI TEAM NOVA – Katsumi Kiyohara
10 Hiroki Katoh, 35 JPN 1968.02.23 LOLA B3/51 MUGEN MF308/OGAWA JIDOSHA
10 Tetsuya Fujisawa, 38 JPN 1965.11.06 LOLA B3/51 MUGEN MF308/OGAWA JIDOSHA
10 Yudai Igarashi, 25 JPN 1978.09.24 LOLA B3/51 MUGEN MF308/OGAWA JIDOSHA
COSMO OIL RACING TEAM CERUMO – Naosuke Osawa
11 Tsugio Matsuda, 24 JPN 1979.06.18 LOLA B3/51 MUGEN MF308/OGAWA JIDOSHA
12 Yuji Ide, 28 JPN 1975.01.21 LOLA B3/51 MUGEN MF308/OGAWA JIDOSHA
TEAM IMPUL – Kazuyoshi Hoshino
19 Satoshi Motoyama, 32 JPN 1971.03.04 LOLA B3/51 MUGEN MF308/TOMEI ENGINE
20 Benoit Treluyer, 26 FRA 1976.12.07 LOLA B3/51 MUGEN MF308/TOMEI ENGINE
TEAM 22 – Akio Morimoto
22 Juichi Wakasaka, 31 JPN 1972.07.29 LOLA B3/51 MUGEN MF308/TOMEI ENGINE
CARROZZERIA Team MOHN – Minoru Ooba
28 Hideki Noda, 34 JPN 1969.03.07 LOLA B3/51 MUGEN MF308/SIERRA SPORTS
DoCoMo TEAM DANDELION RACING – Norimitsu Yoshida
40 Richard Lyons, 24 NIR 1979.08.08 LOLA B3/51 MUGEN MF308/TOMEI ENGINE
41 Naoki Hattori, 37 JPN 1966.06.13 LOLA B3/51 MUGEN MF308/TOMEI ENGINE

THE LOLA B3/51 – DESCRIPTION
Lola has competed in the highly competitive Japanese Formula Nippon series (Japan's premier national category)
since entering the fray in 1987, winning the championship 8 times in 11 seasons, including in 1997 with Nova
Engineering team and Pedro de la Rosa. 2003 sees the first new Nippon car by Lola since the B99/51.The new B3/51 is
derived from the International F3000 concept but has many updated parts including sidepods and suspension
geometry. Building on experience gained in cars for sole use in International series around the world over the last ten
years and making full use of the company's increased technical capabilities and resources, Lola have designed the
chassis to reflect the aesthetic qualities of contemporary Formula One cars, offering improved driver comfort and
increased passive safety measures. The carbon-aluminium honeycomb composite monocoque of the new Lola B3/51
was constructed using a new specification of carbon fibre manufacturing process, offering greater strength, whilst
maintaining the same stiffness characteristics and greater impact resistance. The chassis is a one-piece monocoque
construction based on the highly successful; pioneering chassis used on the Lola B02/50 and has been adapted to
accept the Mugen MF 308 engine. With the unique demands of the Formula Nippon in mind, the aerodynamics of the
car have been improved, with completely re-designed sidepods, radiator ducts and engine cover in order to
accommodate the Mugen engine, while retaining the B02/50 underbody and diffuser. The design of the hubs and
suspension has been modified from the B02/50 to allow teams to continue to use their existing stock of wheels and
tyres, underlining Lola's commitment to helping teams control costs in the new formula. The proven braking system
has been retained from the B2/50. The design of the B3/51's transverse six-speed gearbox is based on Lola's highly
successful Champ car unit, allowing ratio changes to be made without removing the underbody or draining the oil.
The gearbox has also been strengthened to accommodate the extra power and grip levels seen in Formula Nippon.
Lola have taken the opportunities afforded by their world-wide racing experience and drawn on these to produce a
car that has been designed specifically for Formula Nippon, but carries over many design features already proven to
provide reliability, longevity and cost-effective performance.
SUCCESSFUL TEST FOR LOLA FORMULA NIPPON CAR 27/11/2002
Richard Lyons is first to sample B3/51
Lola Cars International debuted their brand new Formula Nippon car at Snetterton today yesterday with the B3/51
completing 65 trouble free laps. After morning fog delayed the test until lunchtime, Formula Nippon frontrunner
Richard Lyons conducted the initial shakedown laps before embarking on more lengthy runs throughout the afternoon.
The Ulsterman, who intends to compete with the chassis in next years Formula Nippon series was very impressed as
he put the first miles on the car. " My initial impressions of the car are all good and we ran through everything that
we had planned," said the 23-year-old."As the track conditions were tricky to say the least, the car handled
excellently and gave me a lot of confidence. There is no doubt that it is a very capable car and to have no real
problems at the very first test is encouraging." With the wet track making lap times unrepresentative the first test of
the carbon-aluminium honeycomb composite chassis pleased Katsu Homma of Japan Racing Promotions, who was
overseeing the test. "We are very excited by this solid start to the programme and our relationship with Lola Cars.
The reliability and performance of the car are very confidence building." Co-ordinating the first run for the B3/51 was
Lola' s Formula Nippon project leader Andrew Burston who was more than pleased with the initial performance of the
car. " We didn't manage to get off wet tyres but we found a reasonable balance after just a handful of laps. The test
also proved to be 100% reliable so we are very satisfied." The first Formula Nippon chassis will now be freighted to
Japan later this week where it will be prepared for another test at Motegi on December 17. Lola Cars will then be
despatching another seventeen chassis direct to Japan by mid January. The car’s most striking features are the
sidepods, radiator ducts and engine cover that houses the Mugen MF 308 engine. Several Zytek engineers were on
hand at the test and were also pleased with the mating of the engine to the B3/51. Lola have taken the opportunities
afforded by their world-wide racing experience and drawn on these to produce a car that has been designed
specifically for Formula Nippon, but carries over many design features already proven to provide reliability, longevity
and cost-effective performance. Building on experience gained in cars for sole use in International series around the
world over the last ten years and making full use of the company's increased technical capabilities and resources,
Lola have designed the chassis to reflect the aesthetic qualities of contemporary Formula One cars, offering improved
driver comfort and increased passive safety measures.
FORMULA NIPPON - THE STAR MAKER
Formula Nippon replaced Formula 3000 in Japan. Lola chassis have won this Japanese premier national category,
Formula Nippon title eight times in twelve years. Lola Cars International announced the completion of a formal
agreement between the company and Japan Racing Promotions (JRP), organisers of the Japanese Formula Nippon
Championship, to supply Lola's 03/51 chassis for the Nippon series for the forthcoming 2003 and subsequent race
seasons. With strong grid numbers, excellent television and high sponsor involvement, Formula Nippon is again set to
continue its impressive growth. The Formula has long been established as a very positive career option for race
drivers headed towards Formula One. Of the current Grand Prix drivers, Michael Schumacher, Jacques Villeneuve,
Ralf Schumacher (Nippon Champion 1996), Eddie Irvine, Pedro de la Rosa (Nippon Champion 1997) and Mika Salo have
all raced in Nippon, en route to Formula One. More recently new Jordan F1 recruit Ralph Firman added his name to
that exclusive list after he was crowned champion in 2002. The B3/51 made its track debut at Snetterton in
November 2002 with the B3/51 completing 65 trouble free laps. Formula Nippon frontrunner Richard Lyons conducted
the initial shakedown laps, the Ulsterman, who intends to compete with the chassis in next years Formula Nippon
series was very impressed as he put the first miles on the car. "My initial impressions of the car are all good and we
ran through everything that we had planned," said the 23-year-old. "As the track conditions were tricky to say the
least, the car handled excellently and gave me a lot of confidence. There is no doubt that it is a very capable car and
to have no real problems at the very first test is encouraging."

2003 FORMULA NIPPON
Rank No. Driver Team Rd.1 Rd.2 Rd.3 Rd.4 Rd.5 Rd.6 Rd.7 Rd.8 Rd.9 Rd.10 TOTAL
1 19 SATOSHI MOTOYAMA IMPUL 10 10 10 0 0 10 6 0 6 4 56
2 20 BENOIT TRELUYER IMPUL 0 6 0 0 6 3 10 10 0 0 35
3 22 JUICHI WAKISAKA TEAM 22 0 2 0 10 4 4 0 1 0 10 31
4 7 TOSHIHIRO KANEISHI LeMans 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 6 10 0 22
4 2 ANDRE LOTTERER PIAA NAKAJIMA 6 3 0 1 0 6 4 0 2 0 22
6 40 RICHARD LYONS DoCoMo 0 0 0 4 10 2 0 0 4 0 20
7 12 YUJI IDE COSMO OIL 3 0 4 6 0 0 0 4 0 2 19
8 8 TAKESHI TSUCHIYA LeMans 0 0 6 3 2 0 1 0 1 3 16
9 5 RYO MICHIGAMI 5ZIGEN 0 4 3 2 3 0 0 0 0 1 13
10 1 TAKASHI KOGURE PIAA NAKAJIMA 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 6 11
11 11 TSUGIO MATSUDA COSMO OIL 2 0 0 0 0 1 2 2 0 0 7
12 41 NAOKI HATTORI DoCoMo 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 3
6 JAMES COURTNEY 5ZIGEN - - - - - - 3 0 0 0 3
14 28 HIDEKI NODA CARROZZERIA M. 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
6 RYO FUKUDA 5ZIGEN 0 0 1 0 0 - - - - - 1
Round 1 22-23March Suzuka Circuit
Round 2 5-6 April Fuji Speedway
Round 3 26-27 April MINE Circuit
Round 4 7-8 June Twin Ring Motegi
Round 5 5-6 July Suzuka Circuit
IMAGE GALLERY
Round 6 26-2 July Sportsland SUGO
Round 7 30-31 Aug. Fuji Speedway
Round 8 20- 21 Sept. MINE Circuit
Round 9 18-19 Oct. Twin Ring Motegi
Round 10 1-2 Nov. Suzuka Circuit
Tsugio Matsuda in his COSMO OILS sponsored machine. Yudai Igarashi at Suzuka ’03.
Dominik Schwager at Fuji Speedway with his OLYMPIC TEAM KONDO Lola B3/51.
SOURCES
http://www.so-net.ne.jp/yuratakuya/showten/customcar/p4.html
http://www.so-net.ne.jp/s-taikyu/sprgl/index_pg2003.html
http://www.mugen-power.com/en/fne.htm
http://www.superfaiths.com/mugen/fnippon/team.html
http://www.dandelion-racing.com/machine2003.html
http://www.lola-group.com/site/press/f3000-intro.cfm?choice=2&edit_id=746
http://www.f-nippon.co.jp/indexe.html
© Compilation by Rainer Nyberg 2003-11-05 Fact-sheet 03/120