Lola has acquired the ownership of the Formula E entrant licence previously owned by the Abt organisation, The Race can reveal.
Lola, which was re-animated from a decade long fallow period between 2012 and 2022 by American-based British businessman Till Bechtolsheimer, is now the sole owner of the licence as well as being one of the seven registered manufacturers in Formula E.
Abt remains as the operational element of the Lola Yamaha Abt Formula E Team which will run Lucas di Grassi and Zane Maloney in the pair of Lola T001 cars this season.
Confirming the recent takeover of the entry to The Race at the pre-season Jarama test today, Bechtolsheimer said that “for Lola the first and most important step was establishing the partnership with ABT as an operator".
“But then it was a little bit of an open question in terms of what exactly the kind of deal structure and financial arrangement would look like off the back of that, and we've now finalised that as well," he added.
“To be honest, team ownership in Formula E was never something I was aspiring towards, or necessarily the be-all and end-all for Lola. It was more our role as a manufacturer that was important to us. But we were always open to it, and it depended on what was the most efficient pathway in.”
Lola also brought Yamaha into Formula E as a key technical partner with the Lola element committing to the Gen4 rules set which begins in 2026.
Bechtolsheimer had been in negotiations with promoter Formula E in 2023 about the possibility of acquiring the so-called 12th licence to enter as a bespoke team but these broke down at an early stage. Lola also held discussions with both the MSG and then ERT entrants about buying into those operations before cultivating the deal with Abt for this coming season.
“I think what has definitely been certain is that this is the most efficient pathway for us,” added Bechtolsheimer.
“But also, my view on Formula E has evolved as well, and I do think there are certainly some interesting ingredients in place now that make the teams look more attractive as well.
“Obviously with Liberty's recent involvement [becoming the majority owner of Formula E], I think that's exciting for Formula E, and it's quite necessary for Formula E to have a backer like that, so that's exciting.
“The technical trajectory that Formula E is on is exciting. The four-wheel drive element is a nice step, but I think really as we get into Gen 4, it's going to get super exciting. We [Lola] own the asset now and I’m really happy with where we are at."
Lola owner buys into specialist software firm
Bechtolsheimer also confirmed to The Race that the specialist German-based software company PACETEQ is working with Lola after Bechtolsheimer also bought a majority stake in the company.
The co-founder and CEO of PACETEQ is engineer Alexander Bodo, who himself has been a key technical part of both the Mercedes and NEOM McLaren race teams in recent seasons. It is widely recognised as one of the best software and data tech companies in motorsport.
“Software is such an important part of motorsport, automotive, everything really going forward. And I think when we started out rebuilding the technical capabilities of Lola, the question was 'how do we approach the software side? Do we build out an in-house software department, or do we look to essentially partner with an established group?',” said Bechtolsheimer.
“And I just think the culture of software developers, it's quite a different culture, I think how you manage them, how you get the most out of software developers and how to build a team is very different to traditional motorsport or traditional automotive.
“That is why I think you see a lot of the big OEM struggle with software departments, and you've seen some much larger transactions in the automotive world, where big companies are trying to get exposure to that.
“In our mini way, we've done something similar, partnered with PACETEQ. It's an arm's length partnership where it's board-level involvement, not day-to-day operational involvement, in terms of what Lola has in PACETEQ's business, but PACETEQ are very much integrated into the software development, the on-car software development of this particular project, and others as well.”
