JUNE 17, 2009

Lola withdraws F1 plan

The Lola F1 Team Ltd has today advised the FIA of its decision to withdraw its application to enter the 2010 FIA Formula 1 World Championship. The team thanked the FIA for considering its application but said that significant financial investment had been made in producing its 2010 contender and the FIA had requested that the Lola F1 Team remain in a state of readiness for a possible future entry.

The Lola F1 Team Ltd has today advised the FIA of its decision to withdraw its application to enter the 2010 FIA Formula 1 World Championship. The team thanked the FIA for considering its application but said that significant financial investment had been made in producing its 2010 contender and the FIA had requested that the Lola F1 Team remain in a state of readiness for a possible future entry.

The company says it will make no further comment.

The announcement means that Lola has either given up on its ideas of racing again in F1 or that it could possibly join a rival FOTA series, if one was to materialise. If that were to be the case, Lola would mean that FOTA would have a ninth team.