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Lotus 101
Lotus 101
Race Car
Category Formula One
Constructor Lotus
Designer Frank Dernie (Technical Director)
Mike Coughlan (Chief Designer)
Tim Feast (Chief Engineer)
Predecessor 100T
Successor 102
Chassis Carbon fibre and Kevlar monocoque
Suspension (front) Double wishbones, pull-rod dampers
Suspension (rear) Double wishbones, pull-rod dampers
Engine Judd CV 3,496 cc (213.3 cu in) 90° V8 NA mid-engine, longitudinally-mounted
Electric_motor {{{Electric motor}}}
Battery {{{Battery}}}
Power 600–610 hp (447.4–454.9 kW) @ 11,200 rpm[1]
Transmission Lotus 6 speed manual
Weight 500 kg (1,100 lb)
Fuel Elf
Brakes {{{Brakes}}}
Tyres Goodyear
Notable entrants Camel Team Lotus
Notable drivers 11. 25px Brazil Nelson Piquet
12. 25px Japan Satoru Nakajima
Debut 1989 Brazilian Grand Prix
Races competed 16
Race victories 0
Podiums 0
Constructors' Championships 0
Drivers' Championships 0
Pole positions 0
Fastest laps 1
Tickford 5 Valve Judd Engine

The Experimental Tickford 5 Valve Engine

The Lotus 101 was the car with which the Lotus team competed in the 1989 Formula One World Championship. It was powered by a Judd V8 engine and driven by triple World Champion Nelson Piquet and Satoru Nakajima, in their second and third seasons with the team respectively.

Overview[]

Gérard Ducarouge's departure during 1988 had necessitated the former Williams aerodynamicist Frank Dernie to be appointed as Technical Director in November 1988. Despite his appointment the majority of the work for the 101 had been conducted by chief designer Mike Coughlan. The 101 was to be a rushed design built within weeks and to a series of constraints.

Ducarouge's departure coincided with end of the 1,500 cc turbocharged era. Lotus, along with other competitors, now had to incorporate 3,500 cc normally aspirated engines into their cars. Judd were therefore enlisted to supply their CV 32 valve V8 engine, but as Lotus were only a "customer" (Judd's principal contracts were the supply of their latest EV V8 engines to the Brabham and March teams) solutions were sought to make up the power deficiency by appointing Tickford to research and develop a version of the Judd engine with a five-valve-per-cylinder head. The use of the Judd engine did permit Dernie and Coughlan to design a smaller and lighter car than before; indeed the narrowness of the cockpit required Momo to build a special steering wheel to allow the drivers to fit their hands between the wheel and bodywork of the car.[2]

The initial optimism and favourable reception by management and driver alike shortly evaporated, as the 101 proved to be a disaster. Not only were the customer Judd engines rated at around 610 bhp (455 kW) (about 80 bhp (60 kW) less than the dominant Honda V10 engine used by McLaren), but it was apparent that the Goodyear tyres that the team were using had been designed principally for use by the McLaren and Ferrari teams, who, in addition to having heavier and more powerful engines (which allowed the tyres to heat up faster) were able to test and tune their chassis to work better with the compounds.[3]

The 101 failed to collect significant results as the season progressed, culminating in the events following the British Grand Prix where Nelson Piquet had driven to a fighting fourth-placed finish. The Chapman family, who were still the shareholders in Team Lotus International, persuaded Peter Warr and Chairman Fred Bushell (who was about to face charges arising from the DeLorean affair) to leave. Tony Rudd, who was at the time working for Group Lotus, was appointed executive chairman. Also the Tickford head was abandoned.[4]

The renewed optimism briefly helped to improve results; however, at Spa both Lotuses failed to qualify for a Grand Prix for the first time since 1958. The season ended with two fourth-place finishes for Nelson Piquet and Satoru Nakajima in Japan and Australia respectively. Nakajima also snatched the fastest lap in the torrential rain of Adelaide.

Given the dreadful start to the season (Lotus only scored points in one of the first seven races), the total points tally of 15 points was almost a positive Lotus could take out of the 1989 season. Indeed, it would prove to be the highest number of points Lotus were to score in a season during the normally aspirated engine era until the team's collapse at the end of the 1994 season.[5]

Complete Formula One results[]

(key) (Results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant Engine Tyres Drivers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Pts. WCC
1989 Camel Team Lotus Judd CV
V8
G BRA SMR MON MEX USA CAN FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR ESP JPN AUS 15 6th
Nelson Piquet Ret Ret Ret 11 Ret 4 8 4 5 6 DNQ Ret Ret 8 4 Ret
Satoru Nakajima 8 NC DNQ Ret Ret DNQ Ret 8 Ret Ret DNQ 10 7 Ret Ret 4

References[]

Lotus 25 Jim Clark Donington
Team Lotus

Founder

Colin Chapman

Notable personnel

Frank Dernie · Gérard Ducarouge · Maurice Philippe · Peter Warr · Peter Wright · Len Terry

Notable drivers

25px USA Mario Andretti · 25px Italy Elio de Angelis · 25px Great Britain Jim Clark · 25px Great Britain Martin Donnelly · 25px Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi · 25px Finland Mika Häkkinen · 25px Great Britain Johnny Herbert · 25px Great Britain Graham Hill · 25px Belgium Jacky Ickx · 25px Great Britain Nigel Mansell · 25px Japan Satoru Nakajima · 25px Sweden Gunnar Nilsson · 25px Sweden Ronnie Peterson · 25px Brazil Nelson Piquet · 25px Argentina Carlos Reutemann · 25px Austria Jochen Rindt · 25px Brazil Ayrton Senna · 25px Great Britain John Surtees · 25px Great Britain Derek Warwick · 25px Italy Alex Zanardi

World Champions

* 25px USA Mario Andretti · 25px Great Britain Jim Clark · 25px Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi · 25px Great Britain Graham Hill · 25px Austria Jochen Rindt

Formula One cars

12 · 16 · 18 · 21 · 24 · 25 · 33 · 43 · 49 · 56B · 63 · 72 · 76 · 77 · 78 · 79 · 80 · 81 · 86 · 87 · 88 · 91 · 92 · 93T · 94T · 95T · 97T · 98T · 99T · 100T · 101 · 102 · 107 · 109 · 112

Formula Two cars

12 · 16 · 18 · 32 · 35 · 41 · 44 · 48 · 59 · 69

Formula Three cars

22 · 31 · 35 · 41 · 55 · 59 · 69

Formula Junior cars

18 · 20 · 22 · 27

Formula Ford cars

51 · 59 · 61 · 69

Formula 5000 cars

68 · 70

Tasman Series cars

32 · 39 · 67

Indianapolis 500 cars

29 · 34 · 38 · 42 · 56 · 64 · 96T

Sports car racing cars

15 · 17 · 19 · 23 · 30 · 40 · 47 · 53

Drivers' titles

1963 · 1965 · 1968 · 1970 · 1972 · 1978

Constructors' titles

1963 · 1965 · 1968 · 1970 · 1972 · 1973 · 1978

{{{Notables}}}


{{{Founder/s}}} {{{Corporate website}}} {{{Parent}}}


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Smallwikipedialogo.png This page uses some content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Lotus 101. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Autopedia, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


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