Timken Bearings Selected for 2003 Lola Champ Cars
CANTON, Ohio, March 6 -- When Lola Champ cars take the track for the 2003 CART season, the wheel ends will be equipped with Timken(R) tapered roller bearings. Lola Cars International Ltd. specified Timken bearings as part of the highly successful chassis they produce for the Champ Car World Series.
"It takes constant innovation and a good measure of creativity to ensure that Lola cars continue to lead the field," said Jeff Swartwout, Lola's vice president for North America. "Our designers and experts worked closely with Timken engineers to find a better bearing for the wheel-end uprights in the Champ car. We were very happy with the results. With the help of Timken expertise, Lola will give our drivers an edge on the track."
Team Rahal played a key role in bringing the advantages of Timken bearings to Lola's attention. Particularly on the large oval tracks, Team Rahal engineers were concerned about the ability of the existing wheel-end bearing design to hold up under brutal racing conditions. They turned to The Timken Company, a Rahal associate and technical sponsor since 1998, for advice on a bearing solution.
"We knew that our tapered roller bearings were uniquely qualified to handle the combination of high speeds, cornering forces and extreme loads generated by a CART racer traveling at over 220 mph," according to Russ Folger, vice president -- automotive -- The Timken Company. "We worked with Team Rahal and Lola design engineers to find a bearing solution that would deliver a performance and reliability edge on the track. Clearly, we achieved that goal."
The Timken Company is continuing its relationship with Team Rahal as an associate sponsor in the 2003 race season.
"Motorsports provides a remarkable test bed for bearings and related technologies," says Folger. "We have sophisticated performance modeling software, but with every lap around the track we gain real-life data that can be applied to continuing advancements for our customers in many areas of anti- friction technology. Of course, it's also exciting to work with the experts at Team Rahal, and to play a role in their continued success."
Team Rahal ( www.rahal.com ) is a franchise member of Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART). Based in Hilliard, Ohio and co-owned by three-time CART Champion Bobby Rahal and CBS LATE SHOW host David Letterman, the team currently fields a single-car effort in Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) for Michel Jourdain Jr. as well as an entry for 1999 Indy 500 winner and 1998 Indy Racing League champion Kenny Brack in the IRL.
The Timken Company ( www.timken.com ) is a leading international manufacturer of highly engineered bearings, alloy and specialty steels and components, and a provider of related products and services. Following its February 2003 acquisition of The Torrington Company, Timken employs 28,000 people worldwide in operations in 29 countries. In 2002, the combined companies had sales of approximately $3.8 billion.
Timken(R) is the registered trademark of The Timken Company.
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