The
excellent debut season in Formula 1 in 1987 quite literally gives
wings to the small French team Larrousse-Calmels, which secures an
exclusive agreement to use the new Lamborghini V12 engine in 1989.
This engine was designed by none other than Mauro Forghieri, the same
engineer behind the Ferrari V12 Boxer that enjoyed great success in
the 1970s, powering the victorious Maranello single-seaters of the
312B and 312T series. Thus, 1988 serves as a transitional year for
the small French outfit, which is still forced to use the 3494 cc
Ford-Cosworth DFZ V8 customer engine, mounted on the same car as the
previous season.
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LARROUSSE-LOLA LC88, Yannick Dalmas
Jacarepaguà, Brazilian GP 1988
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The new Larrousse-Lola LC88 is in fact a simple
reworking of the LC87 by technical director Eric Broadley, an
engineer at Lola and responsible for the chassis design, together
with chief designer Chris Murphy and aerodynamic engineer Hans
Fouche. The new single-seater still uses the same carbon fiber
monocoque chassis from 1987, again manufactured by Lola Racing Cars,
although the front suspension has been completely redesigned to
address the excessive tire wear experienced during the 1987 season.
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LARROUSSE-LOLA LC88, Philippe Alliot
Montecarlo, Monaco GP 1988
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The rest of the car remains largely unchanged,
still featuring an "unfinished" rear end, with side pods
that end at engine height. The Ford-Cosworth V8, along with the new
Hewland FGC gearbox and rear suspension, are fully exposed, with no
sign of any bodywork or fairing.
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LARROUSSE-LOLA LC88, Yannick Dalmas
Jacarepaguà, Brazilian GP 1988
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For the 1988 season, the Larrousse-Calmels team
manages to field two drivers from the start of the championship,
pairing confirmed French driver Philippe Alliot with his young
compatriot Yannick Dalmas, who had impressed in the final three races
of 1987 behind the wheel of the LC87. However, due to a salmonella
infection, Dalmas is forced to miss the final races of the 1988
season and is replaced first by Japanese driver Aguri Suzuki and
later by rookie French driver Pierre-Henri Raphanel. With a car that
is a year old, in a sport where even a few months of development can
make a difference, the small French team has to settle for two
seventh-place finishes as its best results, both achieved by second
driver Dalmas.
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LARROUSSE-LOLA LC88, Philippe Alliot
Jerez, Spanish GP 1988 |
The team ends the season without scoring any
points. However, the future looks bright for team founders Gérard
Larrousse and Didier Calmels, who close out the season by adding
another key figure to their team for 1989: experienced French
engineer Gérard Ducarouge, formerly of Lotus.
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