Wheel Men...Drivers of the Lotus 49

[Lou Drozdowski]

Happy Birthday...

Jackie Oliver 8/14/42

[BDA]

  Jackie!!

[Lou Drozdowski]

This weekends race at Monza salutes the Champion...

Thank you, Jochen

https://classicteamlotus.co.uk/en/news/posts/2020/remembering-jochen/

[BDA]

RIP Jochen!

[Lou Drozdowski]

Next weekend will mark the return of F1 to the famed German circuit Nurburgring. The reworked Eifel track was once famous for it's 14 mile length, punishing leaps, numerous corners and changing climate...

A look back at the 49...with Hill, Siffert and Clark waiting for gravity to engage.

[BDA]

Cool pictures of jumping cars!

[Bainford]

Great photos.

[Lou Drozdowski]

Just look at the grin on Colin's face...

I think he knew right there and then he had a winner!

 

[BDA]

Really great picture, Lou! That’s a classic!

[Lou Drozdowski]

Gallery artwork...nice screensaver!

Lotus 49 R1 thru R12

[Bainford]

Very cool. That would make a great garage poster.

Just seeing the photo of Colin above. What an awesome picture. That might just be my favourite Colin picture.

[Lou Drozdowski]

Am I the only fool to get up early and watch this morning's Istanbul rain dance?

A cracker of a race, with another page of F1 history written. I'm not a Lewis fan but, I must give credit to his skills and fortitude in capturing his record tying 7th title.

This brings me back to again re access the greats and legendary drivers in formula one history.

Fangio, Clark and Senna are still on my podium for top three of all time...with Prost, Shumacher, Lauda, Hamilton, Piquet, Stewart and Alonso trailing. All multiple champions, who on any given day deserve the accolades of greatness. You could also make a case for Vettel, G. Hill, and the other past champions.   

We all have our favorites, If I was asked as team owner, who I would want to drive for me? (all things being equal)...

Jim Clark is still, and forever my choice...

 

[BDA]

I think it’s hard to compare drivers of different erase but I think you have to give extra weight to drivers who drove when it was truly dangerous (Didn’t Hemingway say the the only sports were auto racing, bullfighting, and mountain climbing. All the rest were just games.). So I think I agree with you on your top three.

I also wonder if most metrics we use to gauge drivers doesn’t let us down sometimes. I wouldn’t say Chris Amon was one of the greatest but he was very good and he never won a race. Dan Gurney was known to be very gentle on his cars. I read once that after a race, his brake pads were much thicker than other driver’s yet he was still very fast.

[4129R]

Today's Turkish GP was the first time I have seen a GP won on slick intermediate tyres.

New inters gave less grip than worn inters, and soft slicks would not get up to temperature when the track was near dry. Hamilton's tyres were nearly down to the canvas when he finished. He declined to come in with 2 laps to go as the pit lane was too slippery on slick inters.

For Hamilton to win by 30 seconds and lap his team mate in an identical car shows just how good he is in wet testing conditions.

Every bend on every lap was a challenge. The cars were sliding all over the place. 2 went off going from the pits to the grid.

A remarkable race from start to finish, with any one from about 5 in contention.

Hamilton was in tears at the end, he couldn't speak he was so emotional.

A worthy 7 times World Champion.

[Lou Drozdowski]

Another one of Werner Buhrer original drawings...penned in 1967