28th March 2011
Welcome to the first newsletter for drivers, teams and prospective drivers of the Caterham-Lola SP/300.R The development programme for this fabulous new car continues to progress on schedule and as key milestones are being reached, we thought we would give you some insight into our progress. Of course, the goal that everyone has in sight is the first running of a final specification car, which will be in July.
A large number of key automotive and motorsport manufacturers are keen to be involved in this exciting project and associate themselves with the Caterham-Lola brand, enabling us to choose the best possible components for the car. The largest single component is obviously the aluminium honeycomb monocoque chassis and we are pleased to announce that Birmingham based honeycomb metal specialist Radshape has been awarded the contract for the production build. Radshape is a well respected name in several industry sectors, including automotive, where they are a supplier to Bentley and Rolls Royce, whilst also building the Morgan Aero chassis. Importantly, like chief SP/300.R project partner Lola, Radshape have a defence engineering business and bring the precision of the latest military hardware to the motorsport sector.
With the chassis sorted, we will shortly be announcing an engine partner for both production and race support. In the meantime, the latest news from the dyno is that the engine massively exceeded its power target of 300bhp. Rather than squeeze every bhp out of the power unit (although at the moment it’s more a matter of holding them in, rather than squeezing them out…) the SP/300.R will be rated at 300bhp, making it a breeze for the engine. This will contribute to our goal of making the most overwhelmingly durable car of its type. Ever.
As the engine development phase of the programme nears completion, the key area of focus becomes finalising the unique bodywork system. This is being done in conjunction with the aerodynamicists at Lola who are fine tuning the downforce, drag and cooling properties of the car... and as with the engine, we’ve annihilated our targets. Although the key criteria for the design was actually the aesthetic appearance of the car, with aerodynamic performance making concessions to this, the very first tests showed that our stylist, John Keogh, had managed to produce a very slippery design with great downforce; the Holy Grail of race car design! At present, the ‘virtual’ SP/300.R is running through a CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) programme. This is the same way that the A1GP single-seater race car was developed. Our prototype currently has the same downforce as a Formula 3 car but with 30% less drag and nearly 50% more power, which should tell you everything you need to know about its speed! The final specification car is likely to have a toned down aerodynamic package so that we retain the Caterham-esque handling characteristics which are so important to us.
Early sketches of the SP/300.R lights
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Following discussions with teams and drivers since the hugely successful launch of the SP/300.R at the Autosport International Show in January, we have been tweaking the specification of the car. One significant outcome of these discussions has been an
increase in the capacity of the fuel tank, which is now over 85 litres. This makes the SP/300.R more suitable for those customers who are considering endurance racing. Parallel to the engineering programme of the car, many other areas of our business are developing as we prepare to start the track test programme and set up for production later in the year. The SP/300.R will be assembled in a separate facility to the regular Caterham factory, although the location of this has yet to be determined. Look out for updates on this in further newsletters.
Autosport International Launch, January 2011
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So that’s all from the SP/300.R project for now but we’ll keep you apprised of the latest developments as they happen. In the meantime, the show car is usually in one of our showrooms so please do stop in for a look if you’re in the area.
