Lotus 87
Constructor: |
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Designer: |
Colin Chapman Peter Wright Martin Ogilvie |
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Predecessor: | Lotus 81 | ||||||||
Successor: | Lotus 88 | ||||||||
Technical specifications | |||||||||
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Chassis: | Monocoque made of fiber-reinforced plastic | ||||||||
Wheelbase: | 2705 mm | ||||||||
Weight: | 587 kg | ||||||||
Tires: |
Michelin (1981) Goodyear (1981–1982) |
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Petrol: | Essex (1981) Valvoline (1982) |
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statistics | |||||||||
Driver: |
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First start: | 1981 Monaco Grand Prix | ||||||||
Last start: | 1982 South African Grand Prix | ||||||||
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World Cup points: | 13 | ||||||||
Podiums: | - | ||||||||
Leadership laps: | - |
The Lotus 87 was a Formula 1 racing car from the British racing team Lotus , which was used in the 1981 Formula 1 season and as a B version in 1982 .
Technical specifications
Basically, the Lotus 87 was a modified Lotus 88 without a secondary chassis. However, the body of the vehicle was so narrow that the downforce had to be generated by oversized wing surfaces. Nevertheless, the Lotus 87 suffered from severe understeer. The monocoque itself was made of synthetic resin reinforced with carbon and aramid fibers and weighed 34 kg. The front and rear suspension consisted of double wishbones , with the internal spring-damper units being actuated by the upper wishbones.
Both versions of the Lotus 87 were powered by a 163 kg water-cooled eight-cylinder V-engine with a 90 ° bank angle and a displacement of 2993 cm³ from Ford-Cosworth. At a speed of around 11,100 rpm it developed around 345 kW (470 hp). Ignition and injection system were obtained from Lucas, the shock absorbers from Koni . The manually shiftable, longitudinally installed Lotus-Hewland gearbox had five forward gears and one reverse gear. The track width of the vehicle was 1778 mm at the front and 1600 mm at the rear. The tank held 191 liters. Five chassis were built.
sponsor
The team's main sponsor was the mineral oil company Essex and the Swiss watch manufacturer Tissot . A new arrangement with John Player Special brought additional advertising income, which is why the vehicle was again painted in the black it was used to from 1972-78 from the Spanish Grand Prix . In countries with a ban on tobacco advertising, Courage , a British brewery , was used instead of the brand of cigarettes .
Season course
1981
The Lotus 87 made its racing debut at the Monaco Grand Prix, which ended in failure for both Elio de Angelis and his team-mate Nigel Mansell . In the race that followed, de Angelis was fifth and Mansell was sixth behind him, which meant the first world championship points for Lotus this year. A total of 13 of the 22 points were scored by a Lotus 87.
driver | No. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4th | 5 | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14th | 15th | Points | rank |
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1981 Formula 1 season |
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22nd | 7th | |
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11 | DNF | 5 | 6th | DSQ | 7th | 7th | 5 | 4th | 6th | DNF | |||||||
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12 | DNF | 6th | 7th | DNQ | DNF | DNF | DNF | DNF | DNF | 4th |
1982
The Lotus 87B was only used in the race for the 1982 South African Grand Prix . The only changes to the original model were wider side pods and a spacer between the engine and transmission.
driver | No. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4th | 5 | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14th | 15th | 16 | Points | rank |
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Formula 1 World Championship 1982 |
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30th | 6th | |
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11 | 8th | |||||||||||||||||
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12 | DNF |
Legend | ||
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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 |
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() | Streak results | |
underlined | Leader in the overall standings |
literature
- Jean-François Krause: Vehicle data sheet : Lotus 87-Ford V8. Turbulent season! In: The large Formula 1 archive , Weltbild Verlag Augsburg, o. P.
- Anthony Pritchard: Lotus: The Competition Cars-All the Racing Type Numbers from 1947 to the Modern Era , Haynes Publishing Sparkford 2006, ISBN 978-1-84425-006-6 , p. 177.
- Ulrich Schwab: Grand Prix. The races for the Automobile World Championship 1981. , Motorbuch Verlag Stuttgart 1981, ISBN 978-3-87943-821-1 , pp. 26-28.