Lotus 41
The Lotus 41 was a Formula 2 and Formula 3 racing car , built by the British motorsport team Lotus .
With the Lotus 41, Colin Chapman tried to fully enter the emerging market of Formula 3 vehicles . With the Lotus 41, the team also returned to the tubular space frame. The girders were reinforced by metal partitions. The engine was installed at an angle of 30 degrees and, like the gearbox, stiffened the car.
A MAE unit from Cosworth served as the engine . The lean lines of the racing car were emphasized by the unusually wide track. The front section, however, was smaller than on the previous model, the Lotus 35 .
The vehicles were used by the Charles Lucas team, which received massive support from Lotus. Piers Courage won several races in 1966 and scratched the superiority of the Brabham team. 61 vehicles were built and sold for £ 2,475 each . The Lotus 41B was the Formula 2 version with an FVA engine.
In 1967 the concept was revised. As the Lotus 41C, the Formula 3 cars were given new suspensions. Jackie Oliver drove his first races for Lotus with the 41C . However, the car was considered unstable and sales dropped in mid-1967.
A special version was the 41X , which had an extreme wedge shape. Only one piece of this vehicle was built and was driven by John Miles in 1968. This car later became the Lotus 55 .
literature
- David Hodges: Racing cars from A – Z after 1945. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-613-01477-7 .
