Cost-capping regulations and technical requirements expected for the 2010 season are part of the attraction to Lola. Making F1 less insanely expensive - the cap is still expected to be set at $50 million, a healthy budget - could draw in more manufacturers and more teams, growing competition and variety on the F1 grid.
“The announcement that Formula One™ teams may opt for a prudent, financially responsible ‘cost capped’ regime from 2010 has resulted in us deciding to fully evaluate the opportunity to develop a car to compete in the FIA Formula One World Championship™,” said Martin Birrane, Executive Chairman of Lola Group.
"Lola possesses the technical resources, capability and know-how to develop cars capable of competing at the very highest levels of international motor sport, including Formula One," said Birrane. "We are therefore embracing the WMSC’s timely announcements and assessing a relevant program for F1 with a view to making formal entry in the coming weeks.”
The Lola announcement fills in some of the mystery to Bernie Ecclestone's announcement in late March that 3 new teams could be joining the F1 grid next year. An American team formerly known as USF1 and now known as USGPE - U.S. Grand Prix Engineering - is one of the three, and Korean carmaker Hyundai is rumored to be the third.
Lola currently builds cars for LMP1 and LMP2 divisions of the Le Mans Endurance Series and its U.S. counterpart, the American Le Mans Series.
Source: http://car.ohbabe.info/ver2/?cmd=act:news|newsid:2227
