Q&A: Frank Dernie.

Frank Dernie, Senior Engineer at Lola Cars, has been deeply involved in the design of MG's Le Mans challenger, the MG Lola EX257 sports car. The car has been built to conform to the LMP 675 class rules, lighter than the main prototype class, and has the potential to battle at the front of the race. Vastly experienced with many years of Formula One behind him, Frank took time to talk to us about the design process of the car and his hopes for it in 2002...

Frank, is designing a sportscar capable of competing in a 24-Hour race a very different challenge to working on a single-seater race car?

Frank Dernie: "In some ways yes, in others no. The fundamentals of any racing car are pretty much the same, so cars have lots of things in common whether they are a sportscar or a single-seater.

"In any race car it is reliability that is important, and of course a single-seater races are not as long as those for sportscars and you have to take that into account. You'll do as much running at Le Mans as you would in virtually a full season of Formula One, from Melbourne through to Japan, and that means you have to beef up components such as the gearbox, and engineer it so that it will last the race. You calculate everything, test for reliability - and even then such a unique event as Le Mans means you need a multi-year programme to get the car right.

"Another important requirement for a car at Le Mans is it has to be pit-stop friendly. You need to keep the car out on the circuit as much as possible, and keep it lapping, not losing time stationary.

"On the MG the front of the car is held on by a number of bolts, so if the car pits with front end damage there is the option of rapidly changing the front of the car and then repairing the original while the car it still running. The car has a modular design and you can do the same in other areas of it, all things that are very difficult to do on a single-seater.

In testing the MG Lola EX257 is now putting in lap times comparable with the LMP 900 class cars - are you pleased with that level of performance and is there more to come?

FD: "We expected the car to be this quick. When we made the original design studies we looked at the rules and compared the LMP 900 and 675 options. We felt that we could make a very quick - but much cheaper - car in LMP 675 form.

"The cost savings are primarily in the engine. A two litre four cylinder engine is much cheaper than the sort of engines the LMP 900s are using, and we did simulations which proved that the weight benefits of LMP 675 more than compensate for the difference in horse power.

"Le Mans is in some ways an unfair comparison of the classes because the long straights do reward cars with lots of horsepower, but on more normal circuits - in the ALMS for example - the car will be very competitive overall. In fact, if you look at the cost of running a privateer Audi, the dominant car in that series, the MG Lola is the only other car that could see you challenging for an outright win, but on a greatly reduced budget.

"Interestingly, the LMP 675 class does not offer many savings on the chassis side. You have to make it strong enough to do the job, yet weigh 225kg less than the big prototypes, and that can mean you have to use some high-tech materials in certain places to do the job - you don't always have the option of just making a part bigger or heavier."

"The first privateer MG Lola has already been sold to KnightHawk Racing in the US, are you keen to sell more of the cars to teams?

FD: "Of course. We are a business and we'd love to see as many of the cars out there as possible. As I said, the car has the potential to be a real outright front-runner in the ALMS, and is the only real choice for a privateer who wants to run at the front in the races."

How good a chance do you think the MG Lola EX257 has of getting in a strong finish overall at Le Mans?

FD: "Most people assume that the big cars are going to be the quickest and dominate overall. In motorsport you are always looking for loopholes and areas to exploit in regulations, and when we did our calculations we realised that an LMP 675 class car could really perform and be competitive.

"We now believe that some of the top sportscar teams and manufacturers have done the same calculations and are aware of how strong a threat this car could be. 2001 was my first ever visit to Le Mans, and now I'm really looking forward to this year's race!"