Wheel Men...Drivers of the Lotus 49

[Lou Drozdowski]

May 12 1968...Jarama, Spain

Only one Team Lotus entrant as Graham Hill carried the colors. The team was in transition after the death of Clark and Chapman decided to have Mike Spence fill in the vacant seat. Those plans did not materialize, as Spence was tragically killed at Indy only five days before the Spanish event. Chapman inconsolable, decided to forgo attending in respect of his lost mates.

The race however would fall to Graham, running in the top five but outpaced by pole sitter Amon's Ferrari, he hung on long enough to secure the win as the other drivers had mechanical gremlins and dropped away.

The podium was shared with Dennis Hulme (Mclaren) and Brian Redman (Cooper BRM)

         

[Lou Drozdowski]

Happy Birthday to John Miles...

[BDA]

  John Miles!

[Lou Drozdowski]

Simply gorgeous...

As seen at this year's Monaco Historic event,, chassis # R8 currently owned by Adrian Newey.

I need to address and update the list of drivers of the 49. While looking into the history of R8, I failed to examine the history of this particular car. Created for Graham Hill and the Tasman series, it participated in four F1 championship races with Hill,  Richard Attwood and Joakim Bonnier. It was then raced by Dave Charlton twenty times with thirteen additional wins in the South African domestic series. The car then passed to Piet de Klerk who carried the honors for twelve more races, finally ending up with Meyer Botha for two more events.

That would have been it for an out of date and very second hand racing car, it's monocoque damaged and destined for the scrap heap when it was shipped to Austraila and resurrected by the Hon John Dawson-Damer and his brother the Earl of Portarlington.

Used in Historic events and demonstrations like Goodwood...It was finally returned to the UK and restored by Classic Team Lotus to the last configuration as raced by Graham Hill. 

[BDA]

Pretty! It looks a little "off" with slicks!

[Lou Drozdowski]

Pretty! It looks a little "off" with slicks!

Don't we all tend to get a little wider with age ?

[BDA]

Sadly, many of us do so I'm not being critical. I'm only saying that I expect to see tires on the 49 with treads and slicks seem a bit out of place.

[Lou Drozdowski]

It's been a while since the last post, figured some of you needed a taste of nostalgia again.

As a reminder, the Goodwood revival meeting is being held this weekend. A fantastic event that can be viewed via live stream off their web site, or Facebook. Practice and qualy today with a full schedule on tap for Sunday. Of special interest for me will be the open wheelers...In the 1.5 liter class F1 (1958-65} keep you eye out for Andy Middlehurst in the Lotus 25 Climax. My pick for the win.

If any of you would like...The perfect gift for those garage days, just add a few Lotus patches and you will be the best dressed in the paddock... 99 pounds  at the Goodwood store.


In keeping with the topic...Seppi in the 49...Cheers to all !   

[Nockenwelle]

Fantastic pictures, I enjoy them every time, keep them coming

[Lou Drozdowski]

Fantastic pictures, I enjoy them every time, keep them coming

Nockenwelle...Thanks

Some rare shots of the initial roll out at Hethel, as Graham Hill is the first to test the 49 prior to Zandvoort.

[BDA]

Nice historical pictures. The first thing I noticed is how low the roll bar is! When I was racing, I had to get extensions welded on my roll bars because I was too tall for them. I guess your helmet protects the shiny roll bar.

[Gary t]

Those cars would terrify modern drivers.
Gary

[Lou Drozdowski]

10/5/69...Watkins Glen

Having secured pole position, Jochen Rindt battled Jackie Stewart's Matra in the early stages of the race. Stewart would drop out due to lack of oil pressure, leaving Rindt to control the remaining laps to his first win. His margin of victory was 46 seconds over Piers Courage in the Brabham with John Surtees BRM, a distant two laps adrift.

Things did not go well for Graham Hill...having spun and stalled on lap 33, he got out, and push started himself, but could not re-buckle his belts. Not knowing one of his rear tires was damaged, he signaled the pits that he would be coming in on the following lap. While on the back straight, the tire exploded, throwing him clear after impacting a grass berm. He suffered fractures to both legs, but was lucky to survive

 

[BDA]

Thanks for the blast from past, Lou!

[Lou Drozdowski]

Although I was tempted to post this tidbit in the "Zandvoort" topic...I decided that because of Clark's immense talent to understand a car's behavior it belongs here. I took the time to go to Motorsports magazine archive, and read again the July 67 entry to the first race for Jim in the 49.

As documented, Jim's initial seat time was for Fridays practice to get settled in to the new car. Pedal adjustments, brake pad bedding and gear ratios were the work of the day. As it turned out both cars would have their gearboxes changed for Saturday, with Clark advising Colin that he sensed something was amiss. A cursory check of the car revealed no issues, and Clark resumed his lapping. His concerns remained, and a further detailed inspection took place to reveal a broken ball race to the r/rear hub assembly. Was it a bad casting to the hub, or the race itself?...Chapman worried, and was relived to find that the race had not seated correctly.

The rest is History...

I wonder what was going through Jim's mind as he zero's in over the 49's first mystery.