I recently had the pleasure of talking to long time GGLC member and Historic Grand Prix racer Chris Locke at the Monterey Motorsports Reunion. Chris has been campaigning his ex-Andretti JPS Lotus 77 in historic grand prix for five years and graciously agreed to share his experiences with the rest of the GGLC. The following is our exclusive interview with him discussing the Historic Grand Prix experience, the history of his car and comparing the 77 to other cars both new and old.
You can see more pictures of the Lotus 77 on the Flickr set below while video from the Monterey Motorsports Reunion Historic Grand prix is available here. For more info on Chris and his cars please visit Checkered Past Racing.
The main feature race of the 2010 Monterey Motorsports Reunion celebrated 60 years of Formula 1 and had a grid featuring an incredible 24 F1 cars including 3 Lotus (Types 77, 79 and 81) and 6 championship winning cars (Lotus 79, Williams FW07, 2 Williams FW08, Tyrrell 006, Ferrari 312 T2). The following are some quick video snippets showing the action as it went down.
The most iconic turn at Laguna Seca is the Corkscrew and we got this quick clip of the cars navigating it during the Sunday morning practice session. You can also see another video from a different angle here.
This clip shows the cars lining up for the grid and labels them for the folks who don’t remember all their historic F1 liveries 🙂
Unlike Europe, Historic Grand Prix racing in the US generally uses a rolling start. The Williams FW 07B and FW 08C make up the front row.
A clip showing Turn 11 passing from lap 2. We have the two Williams FW 08C cars trying up and under moves while the Lotus 79 outbrakes the Penske PC4
The final turn of the race featured a finish line drag race between the Lotus 77 (driven by GGLC member Chris Locke) and the McLaren M30.
The full results and entry list are now posted on the official website.
The GGLC was proud to attend the world premier of the new Lotus Exos Type 125 at the Monterey Motorsports Pre-Reunion today. The Lotus T125 is an F1 inspired track only car that uses Formula technology and a Cosworth V8 to provide stunning performance for the ultimate track day toy.
The first things that strikes you when you walk in is how much it looks like a current generation F1 car. The chassis is a carbon fiber monocoque with both the wide front wing and the narrow rear wings of the 2009-spec F1 cars. It also has the coke bottle shape, top exit exhaust and shark fin engine covers that have been in vogue. Other technical similarities include carbon ceramic brakes and a carbon fiber pushrod suspension.
The F1 technology continues inside the cockpit there the car uses paddle shifters to control the semi automatic gearbox as well as a multi function screen on the steering wheel that allows drivers to set the various parameters on the fly.
The engine is a 3.5L Cosworth GPV8 that has been detuned to produce 650 bhp with a 10,300 rpm redline (10,800 push to pass). Weighing just 650kg the car will have a power to weight ratio just shy of 1000 bhp per ton and should be faster than anything this side of a recent Formula 1 car.
Unlike an F1 engine, the GPV8 is designed to run 4500 km between rebuilds and has a starter motor (note the alternator above) so that you don’t need a support crew to be able to run the car at the track. Notably absent chassis features include double-diffusers, exhaust blown diffusers, flexi wings, f-ducts and other F1 innovations that were created to get around the various rules. Being a track only car and not built to a particular series, Lotus has been able to use the best features of F1 without having to use the various rules workarounds. Its a clean sheet design where the designers were told to “have at it boys”.
Lotus plans to make just 25 Exos next year and will be pricing then at one million dollars apiece. Apart from the car itself, the Exos program will also include 5 “driver events” at various race tracks that will allow the owners to slowly come up to speed with the performance of their new car by getting instruction and advice from a variety of current and past Lotus drivers (a little birdy tells us that Mika Häkkinen and Jarno Trulli will be involved).
For more on the Exos please watch this video of Stephen Wright from Lotus Motorsports explaining the philosphy behind the Exos.
You can also see the rest of our Exos pictures in the slideshow below or head directly on to Flickr. We request blogs and news outlets that use our content, photos and video to please credit Rahul Nair and the Golden Gate Lotus Club as well as link back to this post.
Over 120,000 fans are expected on race day at Hockenheim, and, for many of them, seeing the green and yellow Lotus Racing livery back on track will be an emotional moment. The team itself is excited about the next round of the 2010 FIA Formula One™ World Championship, and is looking to build on the strong two car finish they enjoyed last weekend at Silverstone. The layout of the track should suit the T127 better than the flat-out dash around the Northamptonshire countryside, and with the experience they have on both sides of the garage, Lotus Racing is again looking forward to taking the fight to the teams ahead.
Dieter Gass, Lotus Racing Sporting Director “We’re all looking forward to Hockenheim. Obviously the circuit is quite different now from how it used to be in the past – then, it was an extremely difficult circuit on which to find a decent set up – long straights that took you into the forest and then slow corners in the Motodrom stadium section meant it was hard to find a suitable compromise between downforce and grip – you don’t have to make such a big compromise anymore because the straights simply aren’t as long now. But, you still don’t run maximum downforce here – you take a bit of wing off to take account of the straight, and give the driver the chance to overtake at the end of that, in turn six.
“I think our car will suit the circuit well. You have a different speed profile than Silverstone, which didn’t really suit our car, but in Hockenheim I think we’ll be better off. We had a big update package in Silverstone which we couldn’t exploit fully as we were lacking running and setup time, so we’ll be looking to get the best out of that in the Friday and Saturday practice sessions. We’ll be able to play with the ballast a bit more here as well, which will help us find a better balance, and the team have spent some time in the factory this week practicing pitstops, so we should see the times come down in Germany. All in all it should be a good weekend.”
Heikki Kovalainen (Chassis T127-01) “Germany’s always a good race – Hockenheim’s usually hot and the fans make sure there’s a great atmosphere around the whole circuit. The stadium section in particular is amazing – with all the horns blowing, the flags flying and the odd flare being set off, it feels like you are in a football stadium or something. That makes it a great place to watch from if you’re a spectator, and for the drivers it’s cool – we can see all the fans packed into the stands and it looks pretty hardcore.
“The circuit itself is pretty good. You can overtake at the end of the long straight at the hairpin but there aren’t many other places where you can get past. It’s relatively hard on tyres and in the past the heat has made the tyres blister, but we shouldn’t get any of those problems with this year’s tyres. Bridgestone are bringing a super soft and a hard, so there should be a clear performance difference between the two – we’ll see how that shapes up over the weekend.”
Jarno Trulli (Chassis T127-04) “Hockenheim has some real history and in its old guise it demanded a lot from the drivers, in terms of setup, driving and in getting all the little details right. However, now it’s a more conventional circuit, and while I like it, I preferred the old layout. I was on the podium there a while back, and I won the German F3 Championship there many years ago, so it does hold a lot of good memories for me. It’s always hot when we go there, and the fans are very passionate, so I hope we can put on a good show for them, and show what Lotus Racing is all about.”
Riad Asmat, Lotus Racing CEO “Firstly it was great to see Fairuz in the car in Silverstone on Friday; testing is obviously extremely limited so it was good for him to get some experience and practice in the car. He certainly deserved his time in the cockpit but mechanical problems unfortunately meant he didn’t get as much track time car as he could have – we are running him in FP1 in Hockenheim instead of Hungary, so he’s getting another chance to show what he can do a week early and it’ll be good to see him back on track again in Germany.
“I was in the car with Tony on the way to Silverstone on Saturday when he reminded me that it was at the British Grand Prix in 2009 that he first met Mike and the Lotus Racing dream began. He was quite nostalgic and was telling me that a year ago he couldn’t drive in certain places around the track without the sticker on his car, whereas now he is a Team Principal he can go everywhere! Well, almost… He has built so much out of the dreams he has pursued, with success of course, and he believes that Lotus Racing is another opportunity that will be a success. Last weekend was a year to the day that this adventure began, and now we’re already looking five years down the road and how far we can go.”
On 20th June 2010 at the Classic Team Lotus Festival at Snetterton, thanks to the generous participation of owners from all over the world, one of every type of Team Lotus Formula One car was gathered together for the first time.
They lined are up in type number order as follows:
100T
101
102
107
109
94T
95T
97T
98T
99T
87
88
91
92
93T
78
79
80
81
86
57
63
72
76
77
25
33
43
49
56
12
16
18
21
24
Between them these 35 cars represented the Lotus marque at 491 Grand Prix, from the 1958 Monaco Grand Prix to the 1994 Japan Grand Prix. They scored 79 World Championship Grand Prix victories, won by Stirling Moss (4), Innes Ireland (1), Jim Clark (25), Graham Hill (4), Jo Siffert (1), Jochen Rindt (6), Emerson Fittipaldi (9), Ronnie Peterson (9), Gunnar Nilsson (1), Mario Andretti (11), Elio De Angelis (2) and Ayrton Senna (6).
Team Lotus won the World Championship of Constructors in 1963, 1965, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1973 and 1978 and the World Championship of Drivers was won six times by Team Lotus Works drivers Jim Clark (1963 & 1965), Graham Hill (1968), Jochen Rindt (1970), Emerson Fittipaldi (1972) and Mario Andretti (1978).
This special occasion was captured by daredevil photographer, William Taylor, from 34 metres up on a hydraulic platform, positioned directly above the centre of the grid. Classic Team Lotus is producing 491 numbered prints of this unique image for sale (photo print quality, image dimensions 750 x 375, print dimensions 800 x 500).
79 will be signed by Hazel Chapman and Clive Chapman, and numbered in accordance with the Grand Prix victories, and priced at £200.
412 will be signed by Clive Chapman and Chris Dinnage, the Classic Team Lotus Team Manager, and priced at £100.
Dispatch is to commence by the end of July. The prints will be unframed and despatched in a large diameter, bespoke tube.
If you would like to order one of these prints of this special moment in Team Lotus history, please email Dave Massey at dave@classicteamlotus.co.uk.
A look back at Sunday June 20th’s Classic Team Lotus Festival at Snetterton where we joined Clive Chapman and an example of every Lotus F1 car that raced between 1958 and 1994. Our third driver, Fairuz Fauzy, used the event to shake down chassis T127-04, giving Lotus Racing fans an exclusive first public look at our 2010 challenger on UK soil, and Jarno, Heikki, Fairuz and Mike Gaascoyne all drove classic Lotus F1 cars – an amazing day out for everyone!
It seems appropriate that on the day Elliot Moss, Stirling’s son, drives a Lotus 18 for the first time, courtesy of Classic Team Lotus, Stirling was winning the 1960 Monaco Grand Prix, the first Formula 1 win for Lotus, exactly 50 years ago. This was also the first time Elliot had ever driven a single seater let alone a race car on a race track, so the timing and type of car driven was very fitting.
The reason for Elliot driving is to demonstrate the Lotus 18 at the Classic Team Lotus Festival on 20th June 2010 at the Snetterton Race Circuit, along with 33 Formula 1 cars from the Lotus’s Formula 1 history. The festival will also feature the newest Lotus Formula 1 car on track, the T127, and its drivers Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli.
As Stirling is still recovering from the injuries he sustained from his accident back in March, Elliot will drive the Lotus 18 in a demonstration run, alongside a other Lotus Formula 1 cars around the Snetterton track. Stirling’s son did not follow his fathers professional career path, he is a trained chef and now run’s the family’s property business with his wife Helen who was present at Hethel to witness a little bit of Lotus and Moss history being made.
Lotus Racing were having one of their best days of the season at the Turkish Grand Prix until a double hydraulics failure brought both Jarno and Heikki’s races to an end on laps 32 and 33 respectively, Jarno coming to a halt on track and Heikki retiring in the pit.
Jarno Trulli (Lotus Cosworth T127-03) Started 19th, DNF: “It was difficult at the beginning with the hard tyres, and the team were telling me Heikki was quicker on the options, and as he was on a different strategy he got past. Afterwards, I was pulling away from our competitors comfortably, but the failure put an end to the good race I was having. “
Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus Cosworth T127-01) Started 20th, DNF: “What a shame. I lost power steering in turn eight and it looks like it was a hydraulics failure. At first I thought I had a puncture as the steering suddenly felt really strange, but then I lost the gearbox, the clutch, and throttle. It’s so unfortunate as this was our strongest race so far. I was on the softer tyre and although I wasn’t sure how they would run at the beginning of the race, they did in fact hang on really well. I can’t help but feel disappointed, but as I’ve said before these things happen, and we will work through this, and come out stronger as a result.
“We’re only a few tenths off the other teams per kilometre, and we know the areas to work on to improve this car. I’m confident we can make a very big step for next year and for now, we’ll move on and put this behind us.”
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: “Obviously very disappointing to have two cars go out on the same lap when we were having such a strong race, our strongest performance all year. We started the cars with Jarno on the harder tyre, and Heikki on the soft – Heikki was slightly quicker on the option to start with, but towards the end of the stint Jarno was catching him. We were hanging on for the pitstops, monitoring the rain situation, but then had sudden hydraulic failures on both cars. Heikki’s was a leak from the power steering, and with Jarno we don’t know as yet what the specific issue was. Despite that we have to keep our chins up after what was a really strong weekend from the whole team, fix these problems and move on. ”
Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: “This looked like it was going to be a great weekend for us so it’s obviously very disappointing to have it all brought to an end in such a fashion, after what was probably our best race so far. Jarno and Heikki should be very proud of the times they put in, and the whole team should be pleased with how far we’ve come. This is a low but to be champions we have to deal with the lows, learn from them and move on. It all reminds me of the early days of AirAsia, but we have just been awarded the title of world’s best low cost airline for the second year running, so I know we can repeat that with this team, and one day be victorious. Onwards and upwards, and now we’ll focus on Montreal.”
The mailman just brought me this amazing piece of Lotus F1 history: a piston from the Cosworth DFV engine #339 used in the Lotus 81 Formula 1 car.
In the 70s and 80s, Team Lotus was in the habit of keeping the pistons from rebuilds to use as VIP gifts. Each engine’s pistons were labeled and stored but not all were presented. With reference to the team’s archives, Classic Team Lotus is able to identify the detailed competition history for the engines in which the pistons ran. A great deal of polishing, then mounting on a wooden plinth, complete with presentation plaque, makes a rather special item of memorabilia.
Now while a piston from an F1 engine is amazing in itself (Ferrari charges >$600 for a 2000 piston), this particular engine has some additional history that makes it even more unique. The DFV 339 was used by not one but two F1 world Champions: Mario Andretti used it in his final season at Lotus while Nigel Mansell used it during his first two seasons in F1.
The piston comes with documentation of the engines usage and you can see that while it was used primarily in practice and testing, it was also used by Andretti in the 1980 USA GP West where he retired after a first corner accident.
If you’d like to get your hands on some original Team Lotus history, head on over to the Classic Team Lotus webstore and be prepared to fight the temptation to buy out the entire store.
