It took Lola five attempts to win the International Formula 3000 championship in 1989. But its 1987 T87/50 was the first to truly make an impression on the rung below Formula 1 and finished runner-up in the standings with Luis Perez Sala. It therefore was an important machine both for establishing Lola in a battle largely dominated by March and Ralt, and also for the Spaniard who picks it as his favourite car.
Perez Sala mustered a single F1 point for Minardi in the 1989 British Grand Prix, becoming only the third driver from his nation to score a world championship point and the first in over 30 years. But finding the cockpit of the Cosworth-powered M189 and its M188 predecessor cramped and uncomfortable, the 64-year-old struggled to match team-mate Pierluigi Martini and as such he “didn’t find [them] maybe as happy as the Lola”.
“It was not as powerful as Formula 1, not as good in terms of braking power and not as good in terms of speed on the corners,” reflects Perez Sala, “but very well-balanced and I also feel very comfortable inside the cockpit. [In the Minardis] I was not comfortable in the cockpit. I was touching with the shoulders, with the knuckles of the hands turning the steering wheel, it was hard to drive.
“In the Lola I had the space to move, and the car was fantastic as well. I remember the team was almost a Formula 1 team with the chief engineer, Lola behind, testing new parts. It was very professional.”
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Perez Sala had established himself as an F3000 winner during his 1986 rookie year in the Pavesi Ralt team, taking a breakthrough victory at Enna and splashing to a half points maximum score in the rain-shortened inaugural Birmingham Superprix. Between he and team-mate Martini (who stepped back to F3000 after a rough rookie season with Minardi in 1985), Pavesi won more races than Ron Tauranac’s works Ralt team.
But the loss of Perez Sala’s main backer Campsa meant a return to the Italian squad he’d also driven for in Formula 3 wasn’t on the cards for 1987 and this put his continued F3000 participation in jeopardy. So when Jean-Francois Mosnier got in touch about driving for his Lola Motorsport team, with no obligation to pay unless Perez Sala reached F1 within two seasons, a deal was quickly concluded.
“[Mosnier] bet with me – no?” says a grateful Perez Sala, who remains active as a driver today through his role developing Hispano Suiza’s Carmen Boulogne electric hypercar. “He had a lot of pressure as well. He believed in me, he pushed and he supported me to be there and that is something that I appreciate a lot.”
Source: Autosport