Lotus 102
This article needs additional citations for verification. (June 2018) |
manual | |||||||||||
Fuel | BP | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tyres | Goodyear | ||||||||||
Competition history | |||||||||||
Notable entrants | Team Lotus | ||||||||||
Notable drivers | Derek Warwick Martin Donnelly Johnny Herbert Mika Häkkinen Julian Bailey Michael Bartels | ||||||||||
Debut | 1990 United States Grand Prix | ||||||||||
Last event | 1992 Australian Grand Prix | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Constructors' Championships | 0 | ||||||||||
Drivers' Championships | 0 |
The Lotus 102 was a
Development
Using the 101 as its basis Frank Dernie incorporated the 640 bhp (477 kW; 649 PS) Lamborghini V12 engine that had been used by the Larrousse Lola team during 1989. Its use made the 102 the only Lotus to race with a V12 engine. The engine had several drawbacks, principally its size, weight and fuel economy. However, it was believed that the increases in power would offset these drawbacks. The engine's size meant it had to be located lower in the chassis, which also had to be designed to its widest permitted dimensions in order to incorporate larger fuel tanks. Furthermore, due to the engine's mass every component on the car had to be scrutinised to investigate whether any further weight reductions could be made elsewhere.
The departure of Nelson Piquet to Benetton and Satoru Nakajima to Tyrrell at the end of 1989 brought in the experienced Derek Warwick, and promoted test driver Martin Donnelly to fill the other vacant drivers seat. The inclusion of these drivers, who were taller than Piquet and Nakajima, incurred another design compromise as the car had to be taller than was desired.
Former boss Peter Warr had been close to negotiating large sponsorship deals with Coca-Cola and Castrol fuels for 1990, but the fallout from the DeLorean scandal nixed those plans, leaving the team underfunded.[3]
Team Lotus's manager Rupert Mainwarring confidently predicted that the team would score 40 championship points. By the first round of the championship it was apparent that this confidence was sadly misplaced.[4]
Racing history
1990
Team Lotus were to struggle throughout the season to score three points, its lowest score since
The 102 ultimately saw the end of Martin Donnelly's brief F1 career in a crash which almost cost him his life. During the
After Donnelly's career ending crash at Jerez, he was replaced for the final two races in Japan and Australia by British driver Johnny Herbert.
In December 1990,
In a 2014 interview when talking about his time at Lotus and with the Lamborghini engine, Derek Warwick said that the car was poor and that it would "flex all over the place, it would break, it was unreliable" before adding that the V12 engine was "all noise and no go".[9]
1991
The Lotus 102B was Team Lotus's entry to the 1991 season. Despite having over 800 new components incorporated the new car was not sufficiently different from the 102 to justify a new type designation. This continued the precedent set by Lotus 30 years previously, whereby the Type 25 was almost completely redesigned, but was still designated the 25B.
The heavy and ultimately unreliable (in Lotus usage at least; the Larrouse-Lola outfit found better results having used the engine since 1989) Lamborghini engine was replaced by the Judd EV V8, the successor of the Judd CV V8 that had been used in the 101 in 1989. The driver line-up was also changed. Martin Donnelly stated that he was due to be kept on for 1991 as lead driver, but the injuries he sustained in his accident at Jerez the previous year put paid to that. Future world champion Mika Häkkinen and Julian Bailey filled the seats vacated by a frustrated Derek Warwick and injured Donnelly. It was apparent that the car was nowhere near the pace setters of the McLaren MP4/6 and the Williams FW14 at the opening round in Phoenix. The quality control was still not up to standard; Häkkinen would go on to describe that during this race his steering wheel actually came off.[10] Bailey's failure to qualify for the Monaco Grand Prix prompted his departure and replacement with test driver Johnny Herbert for the remainder of the season. Due to Herbert's International Formula 3000 commitments the German driver Michael Bartels raced in his absence but failed to qualify.[11]
The 102B enabled the team to equal their 1990 points total of three points. With increased sponsorship and the delay of the 107 it was to continue racing for the first four races of the 1992 season in D specification. The C specification incorporated the P799WE Isuzu V12 F1 engine that had been developed throughout the season but never raced. The new engine produced impressive power, with rumours of around 750bhp reported. In the engine's one and only track test, the car was six seconds off the pace however.[12] Ultimately, Collins decided against a deal to use the unproven engine and Isuzu decided against entering Formula One anyway.[13]
1992
The final incarnation of the 102, was the makeshift 102D that represented Team Lotus's for the start of the 1992 season. Outwardly similar to the 102B, the car had a Cosworth HB V8 in place of the Judd EV V8. In an attempt to gain exposure a 102D driven by Johnny Herbert broke the Brands Hatch Indy circuit record for the BBC Record Breakers programme.
Complete results
(key)
Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | Tyres | Drivers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Pts. | WCC |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1990 | Camel Team Lotus | 102 | Lamborghini 3512 V12 |
G | USA | BRA | SMR | MON | CAN | MEX | FRA | GBR | GER | HUN | BEL | ITA | POR | ESP | JPN | AUS | 3 | 8th | |
Derek Warwick | Ret | Ret | 7 | Ret | 6 | 10 | 11 | Ret | 8 | 5 | 11 | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | |||||||
Martin Donnelly | DNS | Ret | 8 | Ret | Ret | 8 | 12 | Ret | Ret | 7 | 12 | Ret | Ret | DNS | |||||||||
Johnny Herbert | Ret | Ret | |||||||||||||||||||||
1991 | Team Lotus | 102B | Judd EV V8 |
G | USA | BRA | SMR | MON | CAN | MEX | FRA | GBR | GER | HUN | BEL | ITA | POR | ESP | JPN | AUS | 3 | 9th | |
Mika Häkkinen | 13 | 9 | 5 | Ret | Ret | 9 | DNQ | 12 | Ret | 14 | Ret | 14 | 14 | Ret | Ret | 19 | |||||||
Julian Bailey | DNQ | DNQ | 6 | DNQ | |||||||||||||||||||
Johnny Herbert | DNQ | 10 | 10 | 14 | 7 | Ret | Ret | 11 | |||||||||||||||
Michael Bartels | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | |||||||||||||||||||
1992 | Team Lotus | 102D | Ford HB V8 |
G | RSA | MEX | BRA | ESP | SMR | MON | CAN | FRA | GBR | GER | HUN | BEL | ITA | POR | JPN | AUS | 13* | 5th | |
Mika Häkkinen | 9 | 6 | 10 | Ret | DNQ | ||||||||||||||||||
Johnny Herbert | 6 | 7 | Ret | Ret |
* 11 points scored in 1992 using the Lotus 107.
References
- ^ "1990 Lotus 102 Lamborghini - Images, Specifications and Information". Ultimatecarpage.com. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
- ^ "STATS F1 • Lotus - Models". Statsf1.com. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
- ^ "Lunch with... Peter Warr". Motor Sport Magazine. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
- ^ "Lotus Motorsport update with Rupert Manwaring". The Lotus Forums. 18 November 2013. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
- ^ "Derek Warwick". Clip The Apex. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
- ^ Collantine, Keith (16 January 2010). "Martin Donnelly on the crash that almost killed him". www.racefans.net. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
- ^ "Lunch With... Derek Warwick". Motor Sport Magazine. 7 July 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
- ^ "Peter Collins". www.grandprix.com. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
- ^ "Derek Warwick - Raw Racing". Archived from the original on 21 December 2021 – via www.youtube.com.
- ^ "The last great Lotus driver". Motor Sport Magazine. 21 April 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
- ^ Smit, Dylan (30 September 2018). "Butterfly Effect - 1991 Lotus 102B Judd". DriveTribe. Archived from the original on 5 January 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
- ^ 幻のF1エンジンISUZU P799WE - Autosports Web(2014年12月24日公開/2017年8月12閲覧)
- ^ "Sidelined Samurai - 1991 Lotus 102C Isuzu". Carmrades. Archived from the original on 14 December 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2019.