2012 Lola B12/60 Mazda LMP1

This car, B12/60 HU02

The Lola B12/60 we have the pleasure of offering today, chassis number HU02, was the second top-line LMP1 chassis built by Lola in 2012, the final year in which Lola manufactured new cars for motorsport’s premier classes, making HU02 the last LMP1 chassis manufactured by Lola.

Ultra-successful Dyson Motorsport had campaigned the earlier sister chassis, B12/60 HU01, through the 2012 season in the American Le Mans series with victory at Road America. Powered by AER’s P70, a development of the purpose-built, lightweight Mazda 2.0-litre turbocharged four cylinder, the Dyson B12/60 was incredibly effective.

After the opening Sebring 12 Hours round of 2013 ALMS season, Dyson retired the HU01 chassis and the new HU02 took its place. Paired with AER’s latest development of the Mazda engine, it made its race debut at Long Beach in April. HU02 set second fastest time in qualifying with Chris Dyson and ‘Bentley Boy’, former Le Mans winner Guy Smith at the helm. Despite the qualifying pace, ultimately the race ended with retirement caused by mechanical failure.

Round 3 of the ALMS came at Laguna Seca in early May, and HU02 again set second fastest time in qualifying, ahead of the HPD of Lucas Luhr. In the race, fuel pressure troubles hit the Dyson team and HU02 retired.

Fortunes improved at Lime Rock for round 4. Dyson and Smith set second fastest time in qualifying and raced through to take 2nd place at the chequered flag. At Mosport, the driver line-up changed, with HU02 instead being driven by Tony Burgess and Chris McMurry. The new pairing clocked the second fastest time to line up 2nd on the grid. In their first race with the P1 class HU02, Burgess and McMurry finished 6th overall.

At Road America in August, Burgess and McMurry repeated their 2nd place qualifying result. In the 2 hour 45 minute race, they and HU02 had a very strong showing, taking the fight all the way to the finish with the Muscle Milk HPD P1 car of Luhr and Graf. As the flag fell, the margin was just 0.3 seconds, with HU02 taking 2nd place.

The Baltimore street circuit formed round 7 of the ALMS series. Dyson and Smith returned to driving duties and swiftly set second fastest time in qualifying. The race on the streets of Baltimore proved chaotic from the off. Dyson took the lead in HU02 only to get a penalty which slowed their progress. However, Smith regained time and got past Luhr to lead the race, only to be passed by Luhr just before the finish, with HU02 missing the victory by 3 seconds.

Round 8 of the ALMS was held at the new Circuit of the Americas facility in Austin, Texas in September. Driving duties switched back to the pairing of Burgess and McMurry, who qualified HU02 in 2nd place. The 2 hour 45 minute race saw HU02 hold it’s position to finish 2nd overall.

The penultimate ALMS race of 2013 was the Oak Tree Grand Prix at the Virginia International Raceway. HU02 had Guy Smith return to driving duties, but this time with Johnny Mowlem standing in for Chris Dyson. Smith to be the pace-setter at VIR, setting the fastest time and taking HU02’s first pole position in what would be Smith’s last ALMS outing.

Mowlem took the start in HU02 and battled for the lead with Graf, dropping to second briefly, but retaking the lead and holding it until he handed the car over to Smith. Dyson Racing and HU02 lost track position with a slower pitstop however.

Smith closed the gap to Luhr and after a brief battle, regained the lead. Dyson pitted Smith under a safety car, dropping him down the order while Luhr stayed out. As the race got back underway to the finish, Smith lapped fastest again but couldn’t close the gap to Luhr, and HU02 finished 2nd.

Petit Le Mans signalled the final race of HU02’s contemporary career with Dyson Racing, and it retired to their collection in New York State. In 2017, UK based historic race Steve Tandy acquired HU02 along with a large spares package. Upon its arrival in the UK, Tandy tasked Peter Chambers Automotive to recommission it ready to race with Masters in their Endurance Legends series for 2018. Tandy made his debut in HU02 in early 2018 at Imola, where a 2nd place finish was achieved.

As Tandy began to settle into racing HU02, the potential shone through. The 2018 Silverstone Classic saw HU02 take pole position and win both races convincingly. Further success followed with a win at the Nurburgring and two 2nd places at Spa.

2019 bore more success with wins at Monza and in a night race at Spa, with several podium results at Paul Ricard, Monza and Silverstone Classic too. The COVID pandemic halted HU02’s exploits until it raced again at the Silverstone Classic in 2021. Tandy shared HU02 with Rob Weldon there, and HU02 set the then outright lap record for the Historic Grand Prix circuit with a time of 1:45.277 while on course for victory.

The lap record time was more than 1.5 seconds faster than the next best car, set amongst distinguished company including multiple Peugeot 908/90Xs and a Porsche RS Spyder with none other than former works Porsche driver Emmanuel Collard at the wheel.

In late 2021, HU02 was bought from Tandy by Steve Brooks. Having experienced the thrill of Historic Formula 1 cars, Brooks furthered his journey in HU02. O’C Racing ran HU02 for Brooks and carried out crack-testing ahead of the 2022 season. His first race weekend with HU02 was at Barcelona in 2022, sharing with Martin O’Connell. The pair set the fastest time in qualifying and finished the race 1st on the road, only for a pro-driver penalty to drop them to 5th in the official classification.

Brooks then took HU02 to Brands Hatch for the Masters Festival on the Grand Prix circuit. Sharing again with O’Connell, HU02 was qualified in 3rd position and went on to win the Endurance Legends race, bolstered further by having achieved the fastest lap. Brooks’ final outing with HU02 was at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. The AER P70 engine was then rebuilt by AER themselves, and refitted into the car. Brooks then sold HU02 over the winter of 2022 to the current owner.

With the enclosed, safety-cell nature of the carbon monocoque appealing along with the huge performance levels that HU02 has demonstrated, the current owner got on track with assistance from Nigel Greensall with preparation handled by RW Racing Services. A very positive first run was had by all in testing, however other commitments meant there were limited opportunities to use HU02 through 2023 and have led to its availability for sale.

As the car sits today, limited running has been put on the AER P70 engine since its rebuild, with less than 2 hours use. The 2020 fuel cell remains valid until January 2025. HU02 is accompanied by an extensive spares package including two sets of spare wheels, spare bodywork, brake parts, suspension, radiators, air-conditioning parts and more. On the paperwork side, HU02 has a Masters Endurance Legends Technical Passport and the new owner will benefit from the running sheets accompanying HU02 in its file, along with a full Lola Information Manual for the car.

With the 2024 European Masters calendar already showing exciting circuits such as Paul Ricard, Brands Hatch, Zandvoort, Brno, Spa and Mugello, there is also likely to be plenty of running in the USA. HU02’s eligibility extends to HSR’s events with the Classic Daytona 24 Hours and Classic Sebring 12 Hours races. HU02 represents an exciting, highly effective and practical LMP1 contender to challenge for overall victory with, as shown in recent years.