It’s been some 45 years since the Lola T332 was a dominant force on the international motorsport scene, making it only fitting that they return to the top of the podium at Manfeild’s MG Classic over the weekend.
In the opening round of the 20th anniversary season of the SAS Autoparts MSC NZ F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series, a 12-strong field took part in a qualifying session and three races at Manfeild Circuit Chris Amon with the 332s proving a force.
It was hometown driver Kevin Ingram who immediately appeared the man to beat, setting the benchmark in his Lola 332 on Saturday morning’s qualifying session. A 1min 7.16sec lap time was enough to top Tony Galbraith by .55 of a second whilst the Lola T400 of Glenn Richards was a further 1.5 seconds back in third.
Ingram backed up his qualifying performance with a dominant win in Race 1, showcasing the pace of the historic racer over the six-lap run. Galbraith and Richards battled it out behind for the runner-up position for the race entirety, the T400 getting the better of the T332 on this occasion to finish second.
Richards went about hunting down Ingram in the lead but quickly ran out of laps, .69 of a second the difference between himself and the race winner. Galbraith held on for a comfortable third.
Only one car failed to finish the first race, the Talon MR1A of Grant Martin suffering a broken gearbox input shaft.
Thankfully for Martin, the team had brought a spare to the meet and were able to repair it, with help from crewman Stu Lush, and return to the track come Sunday.
The 6-lap reverse grid race on Sunday morning saw a change of fortunes for the Aucklander, going on to take victory over Richards and Galbraith in a thrilling encounter.
The longer 8-lap feature concluded the weekend on Sunday afternoon, Ingram again returning to the top step ahead of Richards, who settled for his third runner-up medal of the meet.
The longer format suited the racers, a rhythm more established seeing consistent 1min 5sec lap times belted out by the leading Lolas.
Race 2 winner, Martin, was lucky to finish the feature, his luck running out on the hairpin with an off. He was able to rejoin proceedings, albeit slowly, to recover to an impressive sixth.
With the meet concluded, the T332 is back on top with round and race winning performances in New Zealand’s thriving historic motor racing scene.
The SAS Autoparts MSC NZ F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series will next return to action at the Taupo Historic Grand Prix over January 20-22.
Header Image: Kevin Ingram (Lola T332) leads Glenn Richards (Lola T400) in the SAS Autoparts MSC NZ F5000 Tasman Cup Revival Series feature race at Feilding’s Manfeild Circuit Chris Amon on Sunday. Credit: Geoff Ridder (Fast Company).
