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The secret weapon behind Lola's revival

In the late 1990s Lola went from the brink of collapse to thriving again, and a major windtunnel breakthrough was a big part of the reason for that resurgence

Kevin Turner Aug 23, 2018, 11:59 AM

The early decades of Lola's story were marked by the design genius of founder Eric Broadley, but as racing cars became more complicated and sophisticated - and aerodynamics came to the fore - more was required. Lola's answer was the Technology Centre.

The facility, owned and operated by Wind Tunnel Developments Limited and now up for sale, played a key part in Lola's post-1997 revival under Martin Birrane and has proved its worth far beyond motorsport.

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Author Kevin Turner

Kevin Turner is Autosport’s Chief Editor. While studying History at the University of York, Kevin began covering UK club events as a freelance reporter for Autosport and Motorsport News. He joined the Autosport staff as Editorial Assistant on the magazine in 2006, winning what is now known as the Motorsport UK Young Journalist of the Year Award. He became National Editor in 2008 and over the next few seasons covered a range of international events, including the Le Mans 24 Hours, as well as the British Touring Car Championship and British GT. Kevin became Features Editor before switching to edit Motorsport News in 2014.

He returned to Autosport in 2016 to become editor of the magazine, a dream job that is still part of his role.

He became Chief Editor in 2020, helping to plan content for autosport.com and Autosport’s podcast as well as seeing the magazine through the coronavirus pandemic. Kevin also led work on the special publication celebrating 70 years of Autosport and has been a judge on the Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver Award, formerly known as the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award, since 2008. He lives in Warboys with his wife and two children.