Lola Heritage

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THE LOLA T492

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

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

T492 SIGNIFICANT RACE WINS

1978

DATE	VENUE/MEETING	DRIVER	NOTES
12^th March	Thruxton - BARC Championship Meeting	Frank Sytner	SodaStream Sports 2000 Championship - Round 2
27^th March	Silverstone - BRDC Easter Bank Holiday Meeting	Frank Sytner	SodaStream Sports 2000 Championship - Round 3
9^th April	Donington Park - BRSCC Midland Centre	Frank Sytner	SodaStream Sports 2000 Championship - Round 4
16^th April	Snetterton - BRSCC	Frank Sytner	SodaStream Sports 2000 Championship - Round 5
18^th June	Thruxton - BARC	Ian Taylor	Marsh Bros/SodaStream Sports 2000 Championship - Round 9
25^th June	Brands Hatch - BRSCC	Frank Sytner	Arthur Cooper/SodaStream Sports 2000 Championship - Round 10
22^nd July	Oulton Park - BARC Co-Driver Races	Frank Sytner	SodaStream Sports 2000 Championship - Round 13
13^th August	Mallory Park - BRDC	Paul Haywood-Halfpenny	Peter Dominic/SodaStream Sports 2000 Championship - Round 14
20^th August	Thruxton - BARC	Nick Adams	Roberts Off-Licence/SodaStream Sports 2000 Championship - Round 15
3^rd September	Donington Park - Donington Racing Club	Nick Adams	Sports 2000 race
10^th September	Mallory Park - BARC	Frank Sytner	SodaStream Sports 2000 Championship - Round 16
8^th October	Snetterton - BARC	Wayne Wainwright	SodaStream Sports 2000 Championship - Round 17

1979

DATE	VENUE/MEETING	DRIVER	NOTES
25^th March	Silverstone	Jeremy Rossiter	Chequered Flag Sports 2000 Championship Race
3^rd June	Donington Park - Gunnar Nilsson Memorial Day	Frank Sytner	Howitt Printing Group Trophy for Sports 2000 Cars
30^th June	Oulton Park	Desiré Wilson	Chequered Flag Sports 2000 race

T492s to the fore at Brands Hatch, Wayne Wainwright leads Nick Adama and John Trevelyan.
(The Lola Archive)

1980

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

2012

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

2015

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

2016

DATE	VENUE/MEETING	DRIVER	NOTES
2^nd July	'Legends of Brands Hatch' Historic Race Meeting	Neal Stevenson	Pre 80 Endurance Challenge Series - Winner Class SP20
9^th October	Motorscup-Dijon	P. Stevenson/N. Stevenson	200km de Dijon - Race 1 - and Winner Class S20
9^th October	Motorscup-Dijon	P. Stevenson/N. Stevenson	200km de Dijon - Race 2 - and Winner Class S20