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| Category | Formula One | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Constructor | Lotus | ||||||||||
| Designers | Gérard Ducarouge (Technical Director) Martin Ogilvie (Chief Designer) Mike Coughlan (Assistant Chief Designer) John Davis (Head of Aerodynamics and R&D) | ||||||||||
| Predecessor | 95T | ||||||||||
| Successor | 98T | ||||||||||
| Technical specifications[1] | |||||||||||
| Chassis | Carbon fibremonocoque | ||||||||||
| Suspension (front) | Springs, pullrods,double wishbones | ||||||||||
| Suspension (rear) | Springs, pullrods,double wishbones | ||||||||||
| Axle track | Front: 1,740 mm (69 in) Rear: 1,630 mm (64 in) | ||||||||||
| Wheelbase | 2,730 mm (107 in) | ||||||||||
| Engine | Renault GordiniEF15B 1,492 cc (91.0 cu in) 90°V6turbochargedmid-engine,longitudinally-mounted | ||||||||||
| Transmission | Lotus /Hewland 5-speedmanual | ||||||||||
| Power | 760–810 hp (566.7–604.0 kW) @ 11,500 - 12,500 rpm[2] | ||||||||||
| Weight | 540 kg (1,190.5 lb) | ||||||||||
| Fuel | Elf | ||||||||||
| Tyres | Goodyear | ||||||||||
| Competition history | |||||||||||
| Notable entrants | John PlayerTeam Lotus | ||||||||||
| Notable drivers | 11. Elio de Angelis12.  Ayrton Senna | ||||||||||
| Debut | 1985 Brazilian Grand Prix | ||||||||||
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| Constructors' Championships | 0 | ||||||||||
| Drivers' Championships | 0 | ||||||||||
TheLotus 97T was aFormula One racing car designed byGérard Ducarouge and built byTeam Lotus for use in the1985 Formula One World Championship. A development of the previous year's95T, the car was powered by theturbocharged 1.5-litreRenaultEF15BV6 engine and ran onGoodyear tyres.
The 97T was of a generally simple design, it used elements from the defunctLotus 96T Indycar project in the aerodynamics with another piece of Lotus design: an early form ofbargeboards. These were placed between the front wheels and the side pods improving airflow around the side of the car. Ducarouge also got around the ban on the 'winglets' seen on the rear wings of the 1984 cars by placing them instead on the rear edges of the side pods.
Lotus' major coup for 1985 was signing rising starAyrton Senna from theToleman team to replace long time team driverNigel Mansell who had signed withWilliams. Senna, the first driver signed to the team since the death ofColin Chapman, partnered ItalianElio de Angelis who had finished third in the previous season's drivers' championship and had had many promising results with the 95T.[3]
The 97T proved competitive during the season, taking 8 poles, 7 with Senna and 1 with de Angelis, and 3 wins. Senna's first was a brilliant performance in thePortuguese Grand Prix where he won by over a minute in monsoon conditions. His second came in theBelgian Grand Prix atSpa, held in wet/dry conditions. De Angelis added a third win (his 2nd and last win in F1, both for Lotus) at theSan Marino Grand Prix after original winnerAlain Prost (McLaren) was disqualified an hour after the race finished due to his out of fuelMcLaren-TAG being 2 kg underweight. Lotus finished fourth in the Constructors' Championship, albeit tied on points with Williams who finished in third place owing to their greater number of race victories.[4]
The 97T marked the start of a brief return to the successful days of the 1960s and 1970s for Lotus, which was continued by the98T of 1986 and theHonda-powered99T of 1987. The 97T had perhaps the best handling of any car in the 1985 season, and it was at its most competitive on tight, slow street circuits such as Monaco, Detroit and Adelaide, although it was also competitive on almost every other type of circuit it raced on. However the Renault engine had issues with unreliability and fuel consumption; Senna and de Angelis suffered at high-speed tracks, which were more demanding on fuel consumption, so they had to turn down the turbo boost to save fuel and possibly the engine as well, although de Angelis likely caught on to this earlier than Senna, as the Italian consistently finished in the points in the beginning of the season whereas Senna failed to finish in all but one race before the Austrian Grand Prix. Like a number of others Senna ran out of fuel at Imola, which was the hardest track of the year on fuel consumption, and he again ran out of fuel at Silverstone after a hard battle withAlain Prost. The Renault engine in Senna's car blew up at Monaco, France (which caused him to have an enormous accident at the fastest corner), Germany, South Africa and Australia, while de Angelis suffered engine failure at Germany, Belgium and South Africa.
Senna's 97T was added toGran Turismo 6 via the May 2014 update as part of the game's new feature "Ayrton Senna Tribute" in two liveries: the Gold Leaf livery (identical to that of de Angelis's 97T apart from the driver number and name)[5] and an in-game only "Team Lotus Special" livery (which was used instead of "John Player Special" due to tobacco advertising regulations).[6]
(key) (Results inbold indicate pole position; results initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Engine | Tyres | Drivers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Points | WCC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | John PlayerTeam Lotus | Renault Gordini EF4B /EF15 V6tc | G | BRA | POR | SMR | MON | CAN | DET | FRA | GBR | GER | AUT | NED | ITA | BEL | EUR | RSA | AUS | 71 | 4th | |
| Elio de Angelis | 3 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | NC | Ret | 5 | 5 | 6 | Ret | 5 | Ret | DSQ | ||||||
| Ayrton Senna | Ret | 1 | 7† | Ret | 16 | Ret | Ret | 10† | Ret | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | Ret | Ret |
-Lotus finished with the same number of points as theWilliams team, but because Williams won one more race than Lotus (Nigel Mansell andKeke Rosberg each won 2 races for Williams while Senna won 2 and de Angelis won 1 race for Lotus), that put Williams third and Lotus fourth in the Constructor's championship.
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