The Lola car company are apparently still "ready and waiting" for another chance to bid for the 13th and final vacant spot on the Formula One grid, according to comments from the company's managing director Robin Brundle.
Lola were one of a number of outfits to bid for a spot on the Formula One grid for the 2010 season, after the FIA looked to get new teams into the sport.Their bid was unsuccessful, with the slots eventually going to Team Lotus, Virgin Racing and the HRT squad.
But Brundle has said that the company is still interested in establishing a team on the F1 grid, and would be prepared to bid for the vacant 13th slot as and when the FIA reopen bids.
"We're ready and waiting," Brundle was quoted as saying by the Autoweek website.
He went on: "Motorsport is a third of our business, and we're happy to expand in any direction. We're on schedule to hit a turnover of [$40 million] this year, and within five years, we expect to top [$77 million].
"But a Formula One program will take us up by tens of millions."
He insisted that the company still has the facilities to very quickly build a Formula One car, should they be given the chance to join the grid.
"We've retained the capability," he explained, "We can do everything in one building, and we're hopeful that, if the FIA bring back the 13th license, we can bid for it.
"We'd need to finalize an engine partner so we can design the back of the car when the new engine regulations come [in 2014], but we're ready for it."
Lola remain active in motorsport, primarily in sportscars, where they have designed a number of prototype chassis for teams, including Aston Martin.
The company was last involved in Formula One with their disastrous 1996 Mastercard Lola team, which folded after failing to qualify for their first race in Australia.
The FIA did not re-open bidding for the 13th grid slot for 2012, after failing to find a suitable candidate for the spot in a second round of bidding last year.
The slot became available again at the start of 2010, when the USF1 team withdrew from the sport before the start of the season.
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