A fraternal dream has delivered an Aussie-rules track car brimmed with top-flight engineering nous...
epic? I’m referring particularly to the stuffing of a Porsche 917 and Ferrari 512. Well, those crash scenes didn’t destroy the precious originals, you’ll be pleased to hear. No, those were Lola T70 chassis disguised with Ferrari and Porsche bodywork. The poor old Lola was seen as expendable at the time, so it seems right that now the Lola – a successful racer in its own right, don’t forget – has had its pretty skin stretched over a spaceframe that’s not its own.
On the aero side, that expert was a guy called Dr. Sammy Diasinos. Diasinos is an aerodynamicist who has worked for Williams’ and Toyota’s F1 programmes, and the brief he was given was to make the Spartan fast but fun and driveable. He realised that, yes, 800kg of peak downforce was possible. It would’ve been a good headline, too - but this isn’t a competition car. It’s meant for pleasure, and you’d have to be a very accomplished driver to deal with that level of downforce.
This pre-production car currently has two default maps, Road and Race, but the production version, which is nearly ready, will advance that. That will have Road, Track, Wet and Custom modes, along with Party mode that will soften the rear for more showboaty fun. Every setup has been honed with feedback from another Australian, this time ex-Formula 3 and touring car racer Barton Mawer.
To help ingress and egress the steering wheel is quick release, and once you're in and it’s back on, the Tillet carbon-shell seat is snug but comfortable. When you’re strapped in tight by the Sabelt harness, looking over the minimalist windscreen, with the minimalist interior – and that gorgeous, milled aluminium gear lever with its exposed mechanism glinting in the late-spring spring sunshine – the Spartan feels proper.
Harry, our snapper, insisted I wear sunglasses instead of a crash helmet for the shoot, and on the way to our first stop I want to kill him. The K24 was loud at idle but without a lid on it’s full-on huffing and puffing and parping away on part-throttle. Combined with the rush of air firing past my ears I wonder how much of my hearing will be left after the day is over. When we stop, there’s some swearing and Harry pulls out some earplugs to placate me.
It makes the braking distances so short, yet even with no ABS and very little time for your brain to compute the stopping phase, somehow there’s no drama. The un-servoed AP Racing setup provides not only a solid, reassuring pedal action, but exquisite feel right up to the moment of locking. Then there’s the way it changes direction, which is insect-like. The unassisted wheel is direct and pure.
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