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THE LOLA T492

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The T492 at the Lola factory.
(The Lola Archive)
Sports 2000 had proven very popular in its first year in the UK and with the T490 dominating the season, winning nineteen out of twenty rounds, it's hardly surprising Lola's new offering for 1978 would be very popular. This was indeed the case and with other countries adopting the formula, Lola produced ninety-one T492s over the next two years, forty-six went to the US, thirty to the UK, eleven to Holland, seven to Sweden and one each to France, Switzerland and Denmark.

The new car was virtually identical to the T490 except that the single water radiator was moved from the front of the car to twin radiators, one either side of the tub just in front of the rear wheels. This change was offered to T490 owners as an update kit and many of them took advantage of the opportunity.

Once again, in the UK SodaStream Championship, the Lola's dominated with the T492 taking eleven rounds and with the T490 winning eight more nothing could stop the Huntingdon cars, in fact the top ten in the Championship were all Lola mounted. The T492 was similarly a winner in the US and Europe.

Year(s) of Construction: 1978-1979

Total Built: 91
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The T492 under construction.
(The Lola Archive)

T492 CHAMPIONSHIP WINS

YEAR
CHAMPIONSHIP
WINNER(S)
NOTES
1978 SodaStream Sports 2000 Championship Frank Sytner Lola T492-Ford
1979 Mid-Am Championship Sports 2000 Rick Galles Lola T492-Ford
1981 Mid-Am Championship Sports 2000 Tom Lamm Lola T492-Ford
1982 Mid-Am Championship Sports 2000 Glen Snapp Lola T492-Ford
1983 Mid-Am Championship Sports 2000 Glen Snapp Lola T492-Ford
1984 Mid-Am Championship Sports 2000 Glen Snapp Lola T492-Ford
1996 Castle Combe Special GT Championship (Overall and Class C) Keith Messer Lola T492-Ford
1997 Castle Combe Special GT Championship (Class C) Keith Messer Lola T492-Ford
2917 Sports 2000 Historic Pinto Championship Colin Feyerabend Lola T492-Ford

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(The Lola Archive)

T492 SIGNIFICANT RACE WINS


1978

DATE
VENUE/MEETING
DRIVER
NOTES
12th March Thruxton - BARC Championship Meeting Frank Sytner SodaStream Sports 2000 Championship - Round 2
24th March Oulton Park John Brindley SodaStream Sports 2000 Championship - Round 3
27th March Silverstone Frank Sytner SodaStream Sports 2000 Championship - Round 4
9th April Donington Park - BRSCC Midland Centre Frank Sytner SodaStream Sports 2000 Championship - Round 5
16th April Snetterton - BRSCC Frank Sytner SodaStream Sports 2000 Championship - Round 6
18th June Thruxton - BARC Ian Taylor Marsh Bros/SodaStream Sports 2000 Championship - Round 11
25th June Brands Hatch - BRSCC Frank Sytner Arthur Cooper/SodaStream Sports 2000 Championship - Round 12
22nd July Oulton Park - BARC Co-Driver Races Frank Sytner SodaStream Sports 2000 Championship - Round 15
6th August Brands Hatch John Brindley SodaStream Sports 2000 Championship - Round 16
13th August Mallory Park - BRDC Paul Haywood-Halfpenny Peter Dominic/SodaStream Sports 2000 Championship - Round 17
20th August Thruxton - BARC Nick Adams Roberts Off-Licence/SodaStream Sports 2000 Championship - Round 18
3rd September Donington Park - Donington Racing Club Nick Adams Sports 2000 race
10th September Mallory Park - BARC Frank Sytner SodaStream Sports 2000 Championship - Round 19
? September Jyllands-Ringen Thorkild Thyrring Sports 2000 - Winner Heat 3
8th October Snetterton - BARC Wayne Wainwright SodaStream Sports 2000 Championship - Round 20
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(The Lola Archive)

1979

DATE
VENUE/MEETING
DRIVER
NOTES
25th March Silverstone Jeremy Rossiter Chequered Flag Sports 2000 Championship - Round 2
3rd June Donington Park - Gunnar Nilsson Memorial Day Frank Sytner Howitt Printing Group Trophy for Sports 2000 Cars
30th June Oulton Park Desiré Wilson Chequered Flag Sports 2000 Championship - Round 12
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T492s to the fore at Brands Hatch, Wayne Wainwright leads Nick Adama and John Trevelyan.
(The Lola Archive)

1980

DATE
VENUE/MEETING
DRIVER
NOTES
16th March Brands Hatch – 6 Hours John Sheldon/John Brindley/Juliette Slaughter First in S2000 class (9th overall) in round of World Championship for Make

1981

DATE
VENUE/MEETING
DRIVER
NOTES
3rd October Castle Combe BRSCC (SW) Peter Hall Formule Libre and Sports 2000 Race - Winner Sports 2000 Class

1983

DATE
VENUE/MEETING
DRIVER
NOTES
14th May Oulton Park - BARC (NW)



 Peter Hall Round of the Grand Prix International British Sports 2000 Championship - Winner Pre '80 Class
26th June Silverstone - AMOC David Ellison PAS Mobile Allcomers Scratch Race - Saloon, Sports and GT Cars Class Winner
3rd September Oulton Park - BRSCC (NW) Peter Hall Round of the Grand Prix International British Sports 2000 Championship - Winner Pre '80 Class
11th September Silverstone - BRDC Alan Rollinson Round of the Grand Prix International British Sports 2000 Championship - Winner Pre '80 Class
18th September Snetterton - BARC Peter Hall Round of the Grand Prix International British Sports 2000 Championship - Winner Pre '80 Class

1984

DATE
VENUE/MEETING
DRIVER
NOTES
12th May Lydden Mike Smith Round 2 of the Warecrete Britsh Sprint Championship - Class Winner
14th October Brands Hatch - BRSCC Keith Messer Round of the British Sports 2000 Championship - Winner Pre '80 Challenge Class
21st October Mallory Park - BARC Keith Messer Round of the British Sports 2000 Championship - Winner Pre '80 Challenge Class
4th November Brands Hatch - BRSCC Martyn Lane Sports 2000 World Cup Race - Winner Pre '80 Class'

2012

DATE
VENUE/MEETING
DRIVER
NOTES
30th June Brands Hatch - Superprix Keith Norris Martini Trophy with Supersports - Race 1 - Winner Class D
1st July Brands Hatch - Superprix Keith Norris Martini Trophy with Supersports - Race 2 - Winner Class D

2015

DATE
VENUE/MEETING
DRIVER
NOTES
12th July Brands Hatch Superprix P. Stevenson/N. Stevenson Pre 80 Endurance Series - Winner Class S20

2016

DATE
VENUE/MEETING
DRIVER
NOTES
2nd July 'Legends of Brands Hatch' Historic Race Meeting Neal Stevenson Pre 80 Endurance Challenge Series - Winner Class SP20
9th October Motorscup-Dijon P. Stevenson/N. Stevenson 200km de Dijon - Race 1 - and Winner Class S20
9th October Motorscup-Dijon P. Stevenson/N. Stevenson 200km de Dijon - Race 2 - and Winner Class S20
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Steve Haessley's car is HU18.
(Picture courtesy of Steve Haessley)
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(Picture courtesy of Steve Haessley)
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(Picture courtesy of Steve Haessley)
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(Picture courtesy of Steve Haessley)
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Nanni Galli at the 2015 Mugello Classic.
(Picture courtesy of Peter Collins)
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HU66 is owned by Paul Fox.
(Picture courtesy of Paul Fox)
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Graham Briggs at the 2017 Silverstone HSCC Finals.
(Picture courtesy of Peter Collins)
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Markus Deutsch on the track with HU68.
(Picture courtesy of Markus Deutsch)
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(Picture courtesy of Steve Haessly)
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(Picture courtesy of Steve Haessly)
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(Picture courtesy of Steve Haessly)
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(Picture courtesy of Steve Haessly)
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(Picture courtesy of Steve Haessly)

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