1985 Beatrice Lola_Haas THL1

I photographed this car at the Donington Museum in October 1989 where it wasn't in a proper display, but tucked away in a corner together with a fire engine and a Maserati 250F that I was told didn't belong to the museum but which had been 'left behind after the last race meeting'.

It's the 1985 Beatrice Lola-Haas THL1 that was driven in three of the last five races of the 1985 season by Alan Jones. The car was designed by Neil Oatley and Ross Brawn, and built by the Formula One Race Car Engineering (FORCE) Company - the Lola Car Company had nothing to do with the construction of the car, the name Lola merely referencing the fact that Carl Haas was Lola's North American representative. An agreement had been made for the team to use Ford's twin-turbo Cosworth V6 engine, but as the engine was not ready in time a 4-cylinder inline 1,459cc turbocharged Hart 415T engine was used. In those last five races of the season the car was not allowed to start in the Belgian Grand Prix because the race had been rescheduled from earlier in the season and the car was not in the original entry list, missed the South African Grand Prix as Alan Jones was sick with the flu, and the car retired from the other three races in Italy, Austria and the European Grand Prix at Brands Hatch. The new Ford Cosworth powered THL2 car still wasn't ready for the start of the 1986 season so Alan Jones drove the 1985 car in the first two races in Brazil and Portugal, but he retired on each occasion. A second car had been built and was driven by Patrick Tambay in the first three races of the season, and he retired in Brazil and San Marino but finished in eighth place in Portugal.