WTCC 2005
Vladimir Arabadzhiev Pembrey Cruze Test
Prototype Sportscar Racing
In 1982 Ray was recruited to drive the new Aston Martin Nimrod for the private team entered by Lord Downe in the World Sports Car Championship and Le Mans. Ray quickly made an impact not only as a driver but also as the teams development engineer where he tuned and developed the Lola designed and built car. The RS Williams managed team collected more championship points than the factory entered Nimrod by the end of the season.
Thrilled with the prospect of even better results Lord Downe and Victor Gauntlett provided further development budget ahead of the 1983 season which allowed Ray to undertake a wind tunnel development programme. This resulted in a total re-design of the bodywork and when the car returned to Le Mans it recorded a lap time 11 seconds faster than the previous year. The team went on to claim third place in the World Championship.
RML was formed in 1984 and immediately attracted additional projects. The Downe Nimrod project continued with addittional support from Aston Martin majority shareholder Peter Livanos but was forced to stop mid season after both team cars were involved in the same multi car accident at over 200mph on the infamous Mulsanne Straight at Le Mans. The second project being undertaken was for a group of Scottish businessmen who had re-launched the famous Ecurie Ecosse team. Based upon a de Cadenet chassis RML developed the car to accept a completely new bodywork package, a shape that would be familiar in sportscar racing throughout the eighties.
As the Nimrod project drew to a close the Ecurie Ecosse project took off and RML were tasked with the responsibility of designing a new chassis to mate up with the bodywork package created a year earlier. Racing in the C2 category the RML Ecurie Ecosse team/car secured second place in the 1985 World Sportscar Championship, and in 1986, with an engine and support from Austin Rover won the World Championship title. In 1987 the team reverted to Ford power and once again secured second place in the World Championship.
Next was an Aston Martin C1 category design with carbon-composite chassis and bodywork, the AMR-1. The car finished on its debut at Le Mans and by the end of the season had accumulated more points than the 1987 World Champions - TWR Jaguar. When Aston Martin withdrew suddenly from racing on the brink of the 1990 season RML was engaged by Nissan to develop and assist with running its Nissan Performance Technology Le Mans entry.
It was a potential race winning programme as the team battled with the front runners, including the eventual TWR Jaguar victor, for over 16 hours. The car led the race for over 5 hours, setting a new lap record in the process but was sidelined on Sunday morning with a fuel tank failure.
In 1999 RML designed and produced the new Mallock Supersports car in collaboration with Richard Mallock, Ray's brother, of Mallock Sports. RML produced the car with the aim of advancing the competitiveness, user friendliness and world-wide sales of the Mallock sports cars. The cars debut outing at Silverstone in the 1999 National Supersports Championship proved successful with an outright victory, 21 seconds clear of its nearest rival. The following year saw further success when Michael Mallock, Ray's son, took overall championship honours.
After a long absence from prototype sportscar racing RML teamed up with a new sponsor Dedicated Micro's to develop and race an MG Lola LMP1 car in the 2004 Le Mans and Le Mans Endurance Series. The package proved to be a regular top ten finisher. Dedicated Micro's decided to continue with the Le Mans and LMES programme in 2005 but this time in the LMP2 class with a new MG Lola EX264. Their decision proved to be a good one as a successful campaign followed that saw the team collect class honours in the Le Mans 24 Hours and 2 nd place in the LMES class championship. Another class victory followed at La Sarthe in 2006, an engine failure ended the squad's chances in 2007. Despite that setback, drivers Thomas Erdos and Mike Newton claimed the 2007 Le Mans Series LMP2 Championship.
The upgraded MG-Lola EX265 made it debut in 2008 and by the end of September that same year, the 265 Coupe emerged. After a short partnership in 2009 with Mazda engines, RML returned to the Le Mans Series and Le Mans 24 hr in 2010 with the Lola HPD LMP2 Coupe. The move to HPD power proved succesful with the RML AD Group winning both the team and drivers 2010 LMS Championships.
For 2011 the team moved over to the HPD ARX-01d chassis, powered by the new HPD 2.8 litre twin turbo V6. Regular drivers Mike Newton and Tommy Erdos will be joined for the year by Ben Collins.
Production Based Race Cars
Recognising its massive promotional value to automotive manufacturers, in 1992 RML moved into the BTCC (British Touring Car Championship) running the privately entered Ecurie Ecosse (ex factory) Vauxhall Cavaliers. In 1993, running with the first RML designed and manufactured touring car, the team frequently outpaced the factory-supported cars, and in 1994 was awarded the Vauxhall 'works' contract. This early touring car success also led to the company's first customer race programme when Nissan Motorsport South Africa contracted RML to design and build Sentra/Sunny touring cars for its national championship.
Soon RML's customer business was booming with teams across the globe choosing to race in high profile championships with the RML built Vauxhall/Opel and Nissan touring cars.
The 1995 RML Cavalier/Vectra was one of the most successful cars of the Super Touring era and went on to claim numerous race wins and championship titles, including the BTCC Drivers' and Teams titles for the RML Vauxhallsport team.
Opel chose RML to design and develop its new Vectra model for the season. 18 cars were manufactured and raced around the world netting a number of championship titles in Thailand, Australia, Spain and South Africa.
When Nissan decided to return to the toughest touring car championship in the world (BTCC) they chose to do so with RML. In 1998, the second year of the programme, RML took the BTCC manufacturers and teams titles and in 1999 the RML Nissan team achieved a clean sweep of BTCC titles by retaining its '98 titles and adding the drivers' championship.
In 2004 Chevrolet began looking for a suitable platform to showcase their brand and were immediately convinced of the benefits of the FIA World Touring Car Championship. The manufacturer chose RML as their motorsport partner who immediately began the task of building three Chevrolet Lacetti WTC's for the start of the 2005 season. The RML Chevrolet partnership took its first WTCC race victory in 2006, and was in the drivers championship hunt until the final round with Nicola Larini in 2007. During that season, the team secured seven victories, with Alain Menu taking five wins and pole positions - a WTCC record.
2009 saw the introduction of the RML Chevrolet Cruze, taking six victories in its first year before securing the Teams, Manufacturers and Drivers Championships with Yvan Muller in 2010.
Americas first supercar, the Saleen S7, was designed and developed by RML throughout 2000. In parallel with this RML developed a racing version (S7R) which made its debut at the end of the 2000 American Le Mans Series. Six months later the car raced to victory in the famous 12 hours of Sebring having battled with the two factory GM Corvettes for the entire race.
RML raced its own Saleen S7R in the 2001 ELMS (European Le Mans Series) winning the Manufacturers, Teams and Drivers Championships. The team won four out of the five races in the GTS category, taking an outright victory in Estoril, Portugal. Throughout its first season the S7R won 11 times out of 16 starts in RML and customer hands.
RML constructed eight Saleen S7 race cars all of which competed in various national and international events throughout the 2002 and 2003 seasons in customer hands. For 2004 RML were re-united with two of the cars and entered them in the FIA GT Championship.
At the end of 1999 touring car racing suffered a downturn but by 2003 the BTCC was growing again with new manufacturers committing to the championship. SEAT decided to join the championship in 2004 and chose RML for its debut season, and what a season it was. The RML SEAT Toledo's won nine races, led more race laps than any other team and finished third in the driver's championship.
RML returned to the BTCC in 2009 running a privately entered team of Chevrolet Lacettis, missing out on the Drivers Championship by 5 points, and taking 11 victories. A switch to RML Cruzes and Chevrolet factory status saw Jason Plato secure the Drivers Championship for the team.
Production Based Rally Cars
RML embarked on its first rally programme in October 1997 when chosen by Opel to design and develop the Astra Formula 2 rally kit car. Soon after Vauxhall also chose RML to run its British Rally Championship team.
The Astra was designed from clean sheet to first prototype in less than five months. Its competition debut was one month later on the UK Vauxhall Rally of Wales. The first championship title came in Germany in 1998, the car's first year of competition.
In 1999, the RML Astra won titles in Germany, Norway and Sweden.
In 2000, the RML team won the British Rally Championship Manufacturers' title for Vauxhall. In the same year Opel Team Norway's Astra won their national championship title and again, an RML Astra won the German national championship title.
In late 2000 Opel asked RML to design and build the Corsa Super 1600 Rally Car to replace the Astra. The car made its competition debut in the 2002 Monte Carlo JWRC event and by the end of 2003 had secured its first championship title. Over 15 cars now successfully compete around the world in international and national events with technical and parts support from RML.
Oval Track Racing
In 2002, RML became one of the first European motorsport organisations to undertake oval racing programmes in the form of ASCAR (a European version of NASCAR) and the Champcar World Series.
In ASCAR, the RML team claimed the 2002 and 2003 championship titles with drivers Nicolas Minassian and Ben Collins.
For the 2002 Rockingham (UK) Champcar event, RML prepared and managed the Team St. George car driven by Darren Manning. This event marked the Champcar debut for both the driver and team, who were rewarded with a competitive 9th place finish after having led for part of the race.
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