The COAT - Round Three - Lotus 72 vs Lotus 79

[crmalcolm]

The seventh match in the third round, and we see Lotus take on Lotus.
The 72 has ended up being paired with the 79; the 72 defeated the Red Bull RB7 in the second round, whilst the 79 defeated the Tyrrell P34 6-1.

So which Lotus do you think was greater?

Lotus 72 (goodwood.com):
Seventy-five races and 20 wins does not sound that impressive in the present company. But the Lotus 72 has an ace up its sleeve. It won three Constructors’ Championships and two Drivers’ Championships in six seasons of racing and its 20 victories are spread out over five seasons, not just one. The Lotus 72 is a special racing car.

A complete innovation when it was launched, with inboard brakes, side-mounted radiators, and an overhead air intake the 72 was possibly Colin Chapman’s masterpiece. The wedge shape was a departure from the cigar-style Formula 1 cars that had preceded it, and was inspired by the pure-wedge form of the Lotus 56 IndyCar. At first it wasn’t quite right, with the anti-dive and anti-squat suspension (designed to stop the nose dipping under braking or the back squatting down under acceleration) causing issues for the drivers, but after some modification the car was unstoppable. The 72 made its debut in the middle of the 1970 season and, after retiring from his first race with it, Jochen Rindt proceeded to reel off four wins in a row. Sadly a crash at Monza robbed the world of Rindt, but he and the 72 had already been dominant enough that he won the title posthumously. In the penultimate race of the season, in a perfect memorial to Rindt, and foreshadowing what was to come, Emerson Fittipaldi took the car’s fifth victory. 1971 was a fallow year, as the car developed through the 72C to become the 72D, complete with iconic John Player Special livery. In 1972 Fittipaldi took five wins and the title, in ‘73 he took three, Ronnie Petersen another four and Lotus won the constructors' title. Petersen would take three more wins for the 72, now in 72E form in 1974, before the car struggled in ’75, while the 77 was developed for Lotus’s next F1 revolution.

No other car has had such longevity of success as the 72. It holds the record for the longest time between first and last victories for an F1 chassis, and to be competitive for five consecutive seasons (and race on for a sixth) seems mind-boggling in the world of pretty-much disposable racing cars we live in today. If you were amazed that the F2002, 500 and 158’s careers spanned across a couple of seasons, the 72 is in a completely different world.

Lotus 79 (snaplap.net):
Lotus 79 was the car that won both Drivers’ and Constructors’ Formula 1 World Championship titles in 1978.

Colin Chapman, the owner of Lotus Team, always was ready for the innovations and experiments on his F1 cars. Some of them weren’t glorious but many were revolutionary and extremely successful. Lotus 79 definitely was one of them. After good try with Lotus 78, its successor took full advantage of aerodynamics and produced significantly more ground effect.

Lotus 79 was built around its predecessor but went through many changes and modifications. Much of the honeycomb used for the chassis was replaced by more conventional sheet aluminium, even larger sidepods were fitted to the car while the rear suspension was also redesigned to allow the air to exit the rear more cleanly.

The new car was powered by Ford Cosworth engine, the fuel tank became a single cell located behind the driver what helped in moving the center of gravity to the middle of the car. Additionally, the Lotus 79 was the first F1 car to be designed using wind tunnel and computer design aids. In fact, it was the first car in Formula 1 to use computers to analyze it in the pits during race weekends.

Lotus 79 was tested for the first time late in 1977 and before the season went through many modifications. However, it wasn’t fully prepared for the start of 1978 campaign. However, when it was seen at the racetrack for the first time, the new car immediately was named ’The Black Beauty’, after its famous and legendary John Player Special black and gold livery. This car is still considered as probably the most elegant in the history of motorsport.

The American driver secured 1978 Formula 1 title by finishing 6th in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza but that race was marked with Peterson crash at the start of the race. Ronnie’s car hit the guardrail head-on after the multiple incidents. Both his legs were broken and although his injuries were not thought to be life-threatening he died of post-operation complications. Peterson posthumously finished the season as a runner-up.

Andretti didn’t win any of the remaining three races in 1978, while Jean-Pierre Jarier, who replaced Peterson, wasn’t capable of pulling out the maximum from the car that was superior that season. Lotus finished the campaign with two trophies after winning the Constructors’ Championship, beating his nearest rival Ferrari by 28 points.

However, the Lotus 79 has a special place in the history of Formula 1, being the first F1 car to take full advantage of ground effects. The underbody aerodynamics, one of Chapman’s many great innovations still plays a vital role in the racing car design although the full ground effect cars are no longer eligible.

[S griffin]

The Lotus 79. Although it wasn’t quite long lived as the 72, it swept all before. In Mario’s words ‘it was like it was painted on the road’

[Aysedasi]

Lotus against Lotus, tough and unfortunate.....

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

Lotus against Lotus, tough and unfortunate.....

Always expected the bracket would throw up matches like this - I hadn't envisaged it happening so early from a manufacturer with such little representation. As it is, we have seen the Ferrari F2002 vs F2004 and the 72 vs 79 in the third round.

The seeding suggested that the Ferrari match would happen, but not the Lotus one.