In November 1986, former rally driver, endurance racer, and two-time Formula 1 participant in 1974, Gérard Larrousse (already sporting director for Renault and Ligier) and his friend Didier Calmels decided to establish a new Formula 1 team, naming it Team Larrousse Calmels. Their goal was to participate in the 1987 season, entering their team based in Antony, a small town located in northern France.
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| LARROUSSE-LOLA LC87, Yannick Dalmas Adelaide, Australian GP 1987 |
The newly formed French team reached an agreement with Lola Racing Cars for the construction of the chassis, after the British constructor had ended its collaboration with Carl Haas’s American team at the end of 1986. Eric Harrison Broadley, a former driver as well as designer and founder of Lola, agreed to design a Formula 1 car for the French team, basing it on the Lola T87/90, a single-seater built by the British company and homologated for the Formula 3000 championship.
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| LARROUSSE-LOLA LC87, Philippe Alliot Estoril, Portuguese GP 1987 |
The choice of engine naturally fell on the naturally aspirated 3.5-liter Ford-Cosworth DFZ, which was affordable, reliable, and, above all, much easier to manage than a turbo engine. The Larrousse-Lola LC87 project was entrusted to Australian engineer Ralph Bellamy, already known in Formula 1 for having designed cars for teams such as Brabham, Fittipaldi, and Ensign in past years, while Broadley took on the role of technical director.
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| LARROUSSE-LOLA LC87, Yannick Dalmas Hermanos Rodriguez, Mexican GP 1987 |
Around a carbon fiber monocoque chassis, they built a simple but sufficiently competitive car, managing to score points in four races during their debut season. As with the engine, an economical approach was also taken with the gearbox, opting for a five-speed Hewland FGB, while the suspension system consisted of double wishbones with pull-rod configuration. The decision to produce a low-cost single-seater, an unavoidable choice given the limited budget of the new team, resulted in a rather clumsy-looking car, with a bulky nose and a completely exposed engine/gearbox assembly, showing a total lack of aerodynamic development at the rear. This was typical of Formula 3000 cars, which the Lola engineers were more accustomed to working on. Despite the challenges of their first year in Formula 1 and the considerable disadvantage compared to turbo-powered cars, French driver Philippe Alliot, the team’s sole driver, managed to secure three sixth-place finishes.
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| LARROUSSE-LOLA LC87, Philippe Alliot Spa-Francorchamps, Belgian GP 1987 |
In the final three races of the season, Larrousse even managed to field a second car, assigning it to fellow Frenchman Yannick Dalmas, who achieved the team’s best result in 1987 by finishing fifth in the season’s final race, held in Australia. Unfortunately for Larrousse, since the second car had not been entered at the beginning of the championship, the world championship points earned by Dalmas were not awarded to the French team. Nevertheless, the team finished ninth in the Constructors’ Championship and came second in the Colin Chapman Trophy, which was reserved for naturally aspirated cars.
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