Having served Lola and the company's customers very well for five seasons, the T70 was finally discontinued in 1969. Building a replacement and finding an engine that would be a match for the might of the Porsche 917 and Ferrari 512 was, not surprisingly, beyond the specialist manufacturer's modest means. Instead Lola set its sights on the European Two Litre Championship with the all-new T210 and T212 with a lightweight aluminium monocoque for which customers lined up in large numbers and competitive engines were readily available. Jo Bonnier won the 1970 2L championship and Helmut Marko the 1971 championship with their Lola.
For the 1972season, the sports car racing regulations were dramatically revised. The existing 'Group 5' big-bore machines were effectively banned and replaced by what in previous years had been labelled 'Group 6'. The new 'Group 5' regulations scratched all homologation requirements and featured a three litre displacement limit. Conveniently, this was an exact copy of the contemporary Formula 1 engine regulations. For specialist manufacturers like Lola, this re-opened the door to the World Championship as with the Cosworth DFV a competitive engine was once again available. A Hewland DG300 gearbox could be used easily.
Lola's Eric Broadley jumped at the opportunity and assisted by chief engineer Bob Marston and talented young designers John Barnard and Patrick Head developed a brand new sports prototype racer for the 1972 season in the factory at Huntingdon. Using the resources economically, a basic design was laid down that formed the basis for both a new three-litre and two-litre racer, known as the T280 and T290 respectively.
HU-1 and HU-2 for Team Bonnier
Clothed in a slippery fibre-glass body, the first two T280s were sold to Jo Bonnier. The two cars were fielded by Ecurie Bonnier in the World Championship where they faced very strong competition from the likes of Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Matra and also fellow DFV runners Mirage. The cars were painted yellow. Bonnier started his 20th racing year and took Reine Wisell, Gerard Larousse and Chris craft on board.
After a training session at Le Castellet, the Bonnier team had to fly to Argentina for the season opening 1000 km race at Buenos Aires. The HU1(Bonnier-Wisell) was fifth in practice; the HU2 seventh. But, the Wisell car would not start, so he lost already half a lap at the start. He came in the lead when the leading Ferrari did his pitstop. Bonnier was not informed that a faster fuelling system could be used and they had to change the tyres manually, so time was lost for both Lola’s at every pitstop. Wisell became the hero of the day with the fastest lap and a final rush ending the race seventh. The other car did not finish due to transmission problems. For the history, this car was put out of the race for 15 minutes due to a misunderstanding with the organisation.
The race in Argentina would be the best of the 1972 season mainly because of financial problems and a more artisanal approach than the top teams. In the 6 hours of Daytona, both cars were out.
To get some money flowing in the team, Jo Bonnier opted for a pay-driver and took the Belgian Hugues de Fierlant on board instead of Chris Craft. It started off well with a win of the HU-1 in the 4 hours of Le Mans.
In the media, the Bonnier Lola was frequently compared with the new Mirage M6 from John Wyer, also with a Cosworth engine. That car made his first race in Sebring. They would show progression throughout the season; the Lola’s suffered enormous little problems. They were quick, but also demonstrated the DFV's tendency to vibrate itself and/or the car to pieces.
In Sebring, Larousse-Bonnier-Wisell (HU-2) were sixth with 46 laps down of the winner and both cars did not end the following races in Brands Hatch and Monza.
Bonnier was able to keep his team afloat thanks to a new sponsor: Switzerland; the Swiss syndicate of cheese makers. This enabled the team to make some new spare items, instead of repairing. Jo Bonnier decided not to participate in the Targa Florio, but to put all efforts in the 24 heures du Mans.
Early may, car HU2 raced in the 1000 km Spa under the Belgian Racing Team with Gerard Larousse and baron de Fierlant. They finished fifth. End may, a general repetition in the 1000 km Nurburgring with three cars in the race. The #17 for Larousse- Bonnier-de Fierlandt , the #51 for de Bagration/de Fierlant / Basche (HU-9) and the #28 for Swietlik- Cabral (HU-5). The car of Bonnier finished sixth !
1000 km Nürburgring
24 heures Le Mans 1972 - fatal accident
Two weeks later chassis HU1 and HU2 were entered in Le Mans. At the pésage, it was obvious that the cars were well taken care of with enforced suspensions and integrated head lights. This good impression was even more clear when you looked at the decorations of two pieces of gruyere cheese. Reine Wisell was not there; he had to race the BRM F1 at the Gold Cup. He was replaced by Gijs Van Lennep, winner of the 1971 24 hours and free because there was no Mirage entered.
The #7 (HU1) was driven by Hughes de Fierlant, Jorge de Bagration ( Escuderia Montjuich) and Mario Araujo Cabral . The HU2, #8, was for the boss Bonnier, Gérard Larrousse and van Lennep.
At the start of the 24h after 9 laps, both Lola were in front. The Bonnier car had some troubles with the gearbox, so de Fierlant had the lead. But not for long. The Matra came storming up the field and took over. At 9.00 pm, the #7 was still 5th but the car stopped at Mulsanne with a transmission problem. The surviving #8 drove around in the GT group due to numerous small problems. During the night, the team could make their way up to P08. After a pitstop of an hour to replace the brakes, the car tumbled again down in the standings, but was still on the go at 8.00 am Sunday morning. Jo Bonnier was chasing the Alfa. It was then that the accident took place. Between Mulsanne and Arnage he came up to the Daytona Filipinetti, driven by Florian Vetsch. Bonnier dived to the inside of the curve and both cars touched. The Ferrrari was stopped by the armco barrier, but the Lola went up in the air and landed in the forest next to the track. Vic Elford stopped his Alfa, but realized quickly that the Swedish driver was dead.
The end
To honour her husband, Marianne Bonnier decided to continue the season. They were helped by Heini Mader. Two weeks after Le Mans, Elford and Larousse participated in the 1000 km at Zeltweg. No finish because of ignition problems. At Watkins Glenn, the car had an accident in lap 5. After that, the car was rented out to Scuderia Brescia Corse. Then HU1 was sold to Daniel Rouveyran who brought the car back to the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1973. It was driven by Daniel Rouveyran himself, Christian Mons and Christian Ethuin. Unfortunately, a wheel failure ended the race prematurely.
A new chassis (HU5) was constructed for the 1000 km Paris at Rouen (see photo below). It was the Lola prototype for the 1973 season, a modest evolution of the T280/2. Drivers JP Beltoise and Larousse brought the car to pole position. Despite gearbox and brake issues, they won the race. That was a homage to their boss. In the practice session of the 9 hours Kyalami, the HU5, this time with Gitanes as a sponsor, was destroyed in an freaky accident of Jean-Louis Lafosse.
The Gitanes company would go on to sponsor the Lola Filipinetti for 1973 and the Bonnier name would only appear in 1973 on the Portuguese Lola from team BIP.
Jo Bonnier will always be remembered as one of the last privateers to enter the world endurance scene. That scene would get more and more professionalised after the seventies. But his passion and his relationship with Cosworth made him to try it in 1972 remaining faithful to Lola.
A distinguished and almost regal character was lost after a highly distinguished career in both Formula One and sports car racing.
