Lotus 43
 |
|||||||||
| Constructor: |
 Team Lotus
|
||||||||
| Designer: |
Colin Chapman
|
||||||||
| Predecessor: | Lotus 33 | ||||||||
| Successor: | Lotus 49 | ||||||||
| Technical specifications | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chassis: | Aluminum monocoque | ||||||||
| Engine: | BRM-H-16 engine, 2.9 liters | ||||||||
| Length: | 4112 mm | ||||||||
| Width: | 1853 mm | ||||||||
| Height: | 774 mm | ||||||||
| Weight: | 563 kg | ||||||||
| Tires: | Firestone | ||||||||
| Petrol: | Esso | ||||||||
| statistics | |||||||||
| Driver: |
Peter Arundell Jim Clark Graham Hill
|
||||||||
| First start: | 1966 Belgian Grand Prix | ||||||||
| Last start: | 1968 Grand Prix of South Africa | ||||||||
|
|||||||||
| World Cup points: | - | ||||||||
| Podiums: | - | ||||||||
| Leadership laps: | k. A. / tba | ||||||||
The Lotus 43 was a Formula 1 racing car that British racing car designer and owner of the Lotus F1 team , Colin Chapman , had designed for the 1966 season. With its heavy and unreliable BRM engine, it only won one race, the 1966 US Grand Prix.
Development history and technology
The Lotus 43 never got beyond the status of an "interim solution". In 1966, the 3-liter formula (based on cubic capacity) was introduced in Formula 1 and Lotus suddenly no longer had a suitable car. The engine of the predecessor model Lotus 33 from the 1.5-liter formula, which was valid until 1965, could only be drilled out to around 2 liters displacement, and because Coventry Climax, as a long-standing engine supplier, no longer had to develop a suitable unit for the new 3-liter formula the team look for a suitable replacement. The collaboration with Cosworth , which formed the basis for the successor model Lotus 49 , was only just beginning.
Lotus customers had already used some BRM engines before . The H-16 engines that BRM had developed for their own vehicles were therefore to be used for the 43 . Even when unloading the first engines in the factory, difficulties became apparent. It took four men to lift one engine at a time from the truck. The engine was far too heavy, very fragile due to its complexity and also never achieved the performance promised by BRM. The engine was mounted as a load-bearing part on a bulkhead behind the cockpit and carried the rear suspension. The monocoque was extremely short for a Formula 1 car, Colin Chapman based it on the Lotus 38 , which was very successful in Indianapolis .
Apart from the engine problems, which were largely attributable to the difficult-to-master 16-cylinder technology, the Type 43 chassis had an excellent design. Numerous elements of this flowed into its 1967 successor, the far more successful Lotus 49, including the use of the engine as a load-bearing structural element that saved weight while at the same time supporting the rear suspension.
Racing history
Jim Clark , Peter Arundell and the returning from BRM Graham Hill struggled with the excess weight of the car year round. Hill and Arundell therefore drove the 33rd at most of the world championship races that Lotus had converted to the new regulations. By the end of the season, the car seemed to be developing into a complete failure as not a single finish was made. It was only Jim Clark who saved the team from total failure when, completely surprisingly, he won the US Grand Prix in Watkins Glen . In 1967 the car was still used in South Africa and then replaced by the successful Model 49. The two 43 chassis were sold and were later used in the Formula 5000 for some time .
gallery
Lotus 43 at a demonstration run in 2014
Lotus 43 at a demonstration run in 2014
Lotus 43 at Goodwood Festival , 2016
The Lotus 43's BRM H-16 engine
.jpg)
Race results
| driver | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4th | 5 | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9 | 10 | 11 | Points | rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Formula 1 season 1966 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
13 | 5 | ||
|
Peter Arundell
|
DNS | NC | |||||||||||
|
Jim Clark
|
NC | 1 | NC |
In the 1966 season, both the Lotus 43-BRM and the Type33-BRM were used.
The total points refer to all drivers who started with Lotus BRM vehicles, including the 4 points that were achieved by pilots with the Lotus 33 .
| driver | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4th | 5 | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9 | 10 | 11 | Points | rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 Formula 1 season |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
6th | 8th |
|
Jim Clark
|
NC | ||||||||||||
|
Graham Hill
|
NC |
From the Monaco GP, the Type 43 was no longer used by the Lotus works team, but replaced by the Lotus 49 .
The total points refer to all drivers who started with Lotus BRM vehicles, including the 6 points scored by drivers using the Lotus 33.
| Legend | ||
|---|---|---|
| colour | abbreviation | meaning |
| gold | - | victory |
| silver | - | 2nd place |
| bronze | - | 3rd place |
| green | - | Placement in the points |
| blue | - | Classified outside the point ranks |
| violet | DNF | Race not finished (did not finish) |
| NC | not classified | |
| red | DNQ | did not qualify |
| DNPQ | failed in pre-qualification (did not pre-qualify) | |
| black | DSQ | disqualified |
| White | DNS | not at the start (did not start) |
| WD | withdrawn | |
| Light Blue | PO | only participated in the training (practiced only) |
| TD | Friday test driver | |
| without | DNP | did not participate in the training (did not practice) |
| INJ | injured or sick | |
| EX | excluded | |
| DNA | did not arrive | |
| C. | Race canceled | |
| no participation in the World Cup | ||
| other | P / bold | Pole position |
| SR / italic | Fastest race lap | |
| * | not at the finish, but counted due to the distance covered |
|
| () | Streak results | |
| underlined | Leader in the overall standings | |
literature
- David Hodges: Racing cars from A – Z after 1945. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-613-01477-7 .
Web links
- YouTube: "Lotus 43-BRM H16 - US Grand Prix Week" : Report about the Lotus 43-BRM H16 (English)
- YouTube: "Lotus 43 BRM 16 cylinder engine start" : Warm-up of the 16-cylinder BRM engine installed in the Lotus 43
