Lotus 39

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The Lotus 39 was a single-seat racing car produced by Team Lotus. It was originally intended for use in Formula One, to be powered by the Coventry Climax 1.5 litre flat-16 engine. The engine project fell through and the chassis was modified to accept a Climax 2.5 litre engine for the 1966 Tasman Series, in which Jim Clark finished in third place.

Team Lotus was the motorsport sister company of English sports car manufacturer Lotus Cars. The team ran cars in many motorsport series, including Formula One, Formula Two, Formula Ford, Formula Junior, IndyCar, and sports car racing. More than ten years after its last race, Team Lotus remained one of the most successful racing teams of all time, winning seven Formula One Constructors' titles, six Drivers' Championships, and the Indianapolis 500 in the United States between 1962 and 1978. Under the direction of founder and chief designer Colin Chapman, Lotus was responsible for many innovative and experimental developments in critical motorsport, in both technical and commercial arenas.

Formula One is the highest class of single-seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and owned by the Formula One Group. The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one of the premier forms of racing around the world since its inaugural season in 1950. The word "formula" in the name refers to the set of rules to which all participants' cars must conform. A Formula One season consists of a series of races, known as Grands Prix, which take place worldwide on purpose-built circuits and on public roads.

Coventry Climax British forklift truck, fire pump, and speciality engine manufacturer

Coventry Climax was a British forklift truck, fire pump, racing, and other speciality engine manufacturer.

Contents

Design concept

Coventry Climax were developing a flat-16 engine, the FWMW, as a way of increasing the power from a 1.5 litre engine. To accommodate this engine, Lotus 33 chassis R12 was modified by cutting off the engine pontoons behind the cockpit, as the FWMW was intended to be mounted in a tubular space frame. This project was allocated type number 39. Unfortunately, the FWMW was plagued with development problems and, with a new 3-litre limit for F1 announced for 1966, development was halted, as were plans for a 3-litre version. The 39 was then modified by then-new Lotus employee Maurice Philippe, who adapted the tubular space frame to take a 2.5 litre Climax FPF for Jim Clark to race in the 1966 Tasman Series. [1]

Lotus 33 racing automobile

The Lotus 33 was a Formula One car designed by Colin Chapman and Len Terry and built by Team Lotus. A development of the successful Lotus 25, in the hands of Jim Clark it won 5 World Championship Grands Prix in 1965, assisting Clark to his second World Championship.

Maurice Philippe, also known as Maurice Phillippe, was a British aircraft and Formula One car designer.

Jim Clark British racecar driver

James Clark Jr. OBE was a British Formula One racing driver from Scotland, who won two World Championships, in 1963 and 1965.

Racing history

In the 1966 Tasman Series, the modified car with its elderly engine was unreliable and uncompetitive against the BRMs of Jackie Stewart and Graham Hill, and Clark's best result was a single win at the Warwick Farm International. Clark eventually finished third in the series behind Stewart and Hill.

The 1966 Tasman Championship for Drivers was a motor racing competition for racing cars complying with the Tasman Formula. The championship was jointly organised by the Association of New Zealand Car Clubs Inc. and the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport. It began on 8 January 1966 and ended on 7 March after eight races, four of which were staged in New Zealand and the remainder in Australia. The winning driver was declared Tasman Champion and was awarded the Tasman Cup.

Jackie Stewart British racecar driver

Sir John Young "Jackie" Stewart, is a British former Formula One racing driver from Scotland. Nicknamed the "Flying Scot", he competed in Formula One between 1965 and 1973, winning three World Drivers' Championships, and twice finishing as runner-up over those nine seasons. He is regarded by many as one of the greatest drivers in the history of the sport.

Graham Hill British racing driver

Norman Graham Hill was a British racing driver and team owner from England, who was the Formula One World Champion twice. He is the only driver ever to win the Triple Crown of Motorsport—the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Indianapolis 500 and the Monaco Grand Prix. He also appeared on TV in the 1970s on a variety of non-sporting programmes including panel games. He liked painting in his spare time.

The car was then purchased by Leo Geoghegan who raced it in Australia and New Zealand from 1966 to 1970, replacing the Climax engine with a Repco V8 in 1967. [2] Geoghegan also used it in Repco-powered form to win the 1969 JAF Grand Prix at the Fuji Speedway in Japan. [3] [4] The car was then sold to Brian Power who put a 1.5 litre Ford engine in the car. It was later rescued and restored to Climax specification by John Dawson-Damer. [5] In 2008 it was included in the sell-off of Dawson-Damer's Lotus collection. [6]

Leo Geoghegan Australian racing driver

Leo Geoghegan was a former Australian racing driver. He was the elder of two sons of former New South Wales car dealer Tom Geoghegan, both of whom become dominant names in Australian motor racing in the 1960s. While his younger brother Ian "Pete" Geoghegan had much of his success in touring car racing, winning five Australian Touring Car Championships, Leo spent most of his racing career in open wheel racing cars.

Repco company

Repco is an Australian automotive engineering/retailer company. Its name is an abbreviation of Replacement Parts Company and it is best known for spare parts and motor accessories.

The JAF Grand Prix (JAFグランプリ) is an auto race held in Japan by the Japan Automobile Federation.

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Cooper T81

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Warwick Farm Raceway former motor racing facility in New South Wales, Australia

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References

  1. Nye, Doug (1978). Theme Lotus. Motor Racing Publications. ISBN   0-900549-40-8.
  2. CAMS Gold Star race results 1964-1970 Retrieved from members.optusnet.com.au on 3 April 2009
  3. IV Grand Prix of Japan 1969 Retrieved from www.formula2.net on 5 April 2009
  4. 1969 JAF Grand Prix
  5. Tuckey, Noel (1986). The Official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix. R & T Publishing. pp. 312–314. ISBN   0-9588464-0-5.
  6. "Sydney to Host the Sale of the Dawson-Damer Collection of Historic Lotus Race Cars". bonhamsandgoodman.com.au. 25 July 2008. Archived from the original on 27 October 2009. Retrieved 11 October 2008.