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Lola not applying for 2011 grid slot

Lola has joined Prodrive in not putting forward an entry to the 2011 F1 championship.

It was one of the teams which made a bid to enter this year's championship under the proposal of a budget cap, but is now keen to focus on its other projects - including producing Aston Martin's Le Mans chassis alongside Prodrive. Executive chairman Martin Birrane said a Lola F1 entry was simply not viable at such short notice.

"A 2010 entry under the cost capped and performance balanced criteria was perfect for Lola," Birrane said. "We already have F1 standard facilities at our headquarters in Huntingdon. Sadly our well-developed 2010 F1 project, which included a significant wind tunnel programme, had to be frozen in June 2009. The recently announced applications for 2011 has left us with insufficient time to prepare for what would be a quite different programme."

Lola Managing Director, Robin Brundle, added: "Lola looks forward to strengthening its working partnerships with existing F1 Teams and the rich variety of customers throughout the Lola portfolio".

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