Lotus 99T
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| Constructor: |
 lotus
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| Designer: | Gérard Ducarouge | ||||||||
| Predecessor: | Lotus 98T | ||||||||
| Successor: | Lotus 100T | ||||||||
| Technical specifications | |||||||||
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| Chassis: | Monocoque made of fiber composite material , supporting engine | ||||||||
| Wheelbase: | 2720 mm | ||||||||
| Weight: | 540 kg | ||||||||
| Tires: | Goodyear | ||||||||
| Petrol: | Eleven | ||||||||
| statistics | |||||||||
| Driver: |
 Ayrton Senna Satoru Nakajima
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| First start: | 1987 Brazilian Grand Prix | ||||||||
| Last start: | 1987 Australian Grand Prix | ||||||||
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| World Cup points: | 64 | ||||||||
| Podiums: | 8th | ||||||||
| Leadership laps: | 108 over 447 km | ||||||||
The Lotus 99T was a Formula 1 racing car from the British racing team Lotus , which was used in the 1987 Formula 1 season .
Technical specifications
The racing car was a development by Lotus chief designer Gérard Ducarouge and Martin Ogilvie . The monocoque itself was made in composite construction from plastic and aluminum reinforced with carbon and aramid fibers. The engine was load-bearing, that is, the monocoque ended behind the cockpit and the rear suspension was mounted on the engine. Six chassis were built.
All wheels were individually suspended from double wishbones . The internal springs and dampers were actuated by pull rods on the front axle and push rods on the rear axle. A major innovation on the Lotus 99T was the active suspension , which, according to team boss Peter Warr, should help Lotus regular driver Ayrton Senna win the world championship. The active suspension essentially consisted of three components: a computer that was mounted under the pilot's seat, several sensors attached to the vehicle, and a hydraulic system that was connected to the suspension. During the journey, the sensors transmitted information to the on-board computer about the speed and acceleration of the vehicle and about the condition of the road. The computer, in turn, forwarded appropriate commands to the hydraulics of the wheel suspension and to the shock absorbers in order to keep the ground clearance, i.e. the distance between the chassis and the road surface, constant. The system was still unreliable due to the low computing power, which is why it was not used in the successor model, the Lotus 100T . Nevertheless, this innovation laid the foundation for further work on active wheel suspension in Formula 1.
Lotus 99T of a water-cooled powered V6 - turbo engine from Honda with a cylinder bank angle of 80 °, unit designation RA166E. It had a displacement of 1494 cm³ and, with a boost pressure limited to 3.5 bar, developed an output of around 980 hp (720 kW) (qualification up to 1000 hp) at 12,500 rpm. The disadvantage of the high engine power was vibrations all over the vehicle, which had an unfavorable effect on driving behavior. Ignition and engine management were also from Honda. The Hewland manual transmission had six forward gears and one reverse gear. The tank held 195 liters. The shock absorbers were obtained from Koni .
As of the Hungarian Grand Prix , the Lotus 99T received minor modifications. They concerned a narrower cockpit opening and lower side pods.
sponsor
The main sponsors were the tobacco company with the Camel cigarette brand and the household appliance manufacturer De'Longhi .
Season course
Senna won two of 16 races of the season with the Lotus 99T, took a pole position and set three fastest laps. In contrast to the Williams team, which used the same Honda engine, Lotus was often affected by high fuel consumption over the course of the race, which sometimes prevented better placements. Satoru Nakajima , whom engine partner Honda had brought into the team, scored seven world championship points with the same material. Lotus took third place in the constructors' championship. Senna's win at the US Grand Prix was Lotus’s last in Formula 1.
| driver | No. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4th | 5 | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14th | 15th | 16 | Points | rank |
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| 1987 Formula 1 season |
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64 | 3. | |
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Satoru Nakajima
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11 | 7th | 6th | 5 | 10 | DNF | NC | 4th | DNF | DNF | 13 | 11 | 8th | 9 | DNF | 6th | DNF | ||
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Ayrton Senna
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12 | DNF | 2 | DNF | 1 | 1 | 4th | 3 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 7th | 5 | DNF | 2 | DSQ | ||
| 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
- François-Xavier Basse: Vehicle data sheet : Lotus 99T. The yellow revolution! 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 , pp. 194 f, 255.
- Achim Schlang: Grand Prix. The races for the automobile world championship 1987. , Motorbuch Verlag Stuttgart 1987, ISBN 978-3-613-01202-8 , p. 40 f.
