The History Behind Lotus

It was revealed in September that Norfolk based car manufacturer's Lotus would be returning to the glamour of the Formula 1 scene. They will be one of four new teams looking to rival the likes of Brawn GP, Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull. For the first time since 1994, with the backing of Malaysian entrepreneurs and the Malaysian government, Lotus will once again line up on the F1 start line. With a past record of seven world championships, 79 race wins and 107 pole positions, Lotus remains one of the sport’s most successful constructors, having achieved glory with racing legends such as Jim Clark, Graham Hill and Ayrton Senna.

Lotus Engineering company started life in 1952 by an Englishman named Colin Chapman. They started out by building light-weight sports cars to order and by 1957, they built their first car for entry in Formula Two. The car won its first Trophy at Silverstone before Champman moved Lotus to Formula One.

Lotus made their Formula One debut at the 1958 Monaco Grand Prix with Graham Hill and Cliff Allison as their drivers. Lotus finished the season with three world championship points before launching a new car for the 1959 season. This car, although being much more powerful, was weak and only gained five points during the course of that year.

Lotus had to wait until 1961 with an Innes Ireland victory at the United States Grand Prix of 1961 to celebrate their first victory. This incidentally came after the great Stirling Moss had won with the same car in 1960 for an independent team. Once they had got that victory, Lotus became a serious name and top Scottish driver, Jim Clark became the man to give them world successes.

Clark drove a new model in 1963 and won seven out of ten races clinching the world title in a dominating style. He missed out in 1964 but won the championship again in 1965 with a superb six race wins. Clark was unfortunately killed in 1968 during a Formula Two race in Germany and after this loss, Clarks' team mate Graham Hill went on to win the title in the same year. A true dedication to Jim Clark.

Austrian Jochen Rindt replaced Clark in 1970 and he was again a real success winning a third world championship for the team, but again rather shortly after this, Rindt was killed during a practice session at Monza in Italy.

Rindt was replaced by Brazilian Emerson Fittipaldi who clinched the drivers' title two years later in 1972 becoming the youngest-ever champion at the ripe age of only 25. This was under the car's new famed look in the colours of sponsors John Player tobacco. The gold and black colours were celebrated and became a true icon of motor racing. The team again won the constructors championship in 1973 and were the first Formula One team to reach the milestone of 50 victories. Shortly after this success, the wins became fewer and the Lotus 72 car was on the way out.

The team re-styled itself in 1977 with a new car known as 'wing car.' It was the first car to use the benefits of 'ground-effect aerodynamics.' It was very fast, winning five Grands Prix but it was not reliable and often had to retire from races. The team knew they had a good car and continued to develop further as they truly believed they were about to hit big. The Lotus 79 car which had been born from the 78 was one of the most pioneering concepts of Formula 1 cars to date. American Indy Car legend Mario Andretti took it to victory at the Spa Circuit in Belgium and it then went on to take the constructors and drivers world championship. Again the curse of success for Lotus struck with the death of second driver, Ronnie Peterson again at the Monza circuit.

Due to the successes of the new look car, the other teams copied the innovation in the following season. Williams improved on Lotus' car and took their first title. Lotus were keen to compete and developed cars such as the Lotus 80, however the model was no good and Mario Andretti only managed a rather paltry one race finish!

Lotus' founder, Colin Chapman died in 1982 aged only 54 from a heart attack and the team never really fully recovered from the lost and they were taken over by Wolf and Warr. Lotus continued to struggle during eighties and many poor new concepts saw the team struggle even further. Elio de Angelis with a Renault powered engine finished third in 1984 without winning a single race.

The next stage of development saw Brazilian supremo Ayrton Senna winning in Portugal and Belgium and de Angelis winning at Monza. They finished third in 1986 and new sponsorship from Camel tobacco was not so highly regarded as predecessors John Player after their deal had come to an end. There were new Honda powered engines which saw Senna take two victories and finished third in the championship before moving to McLaren.

It was 1990 when Peter Collins and Peter Wright took over the team. The two Lotus employees chose Finn, Mika Hakkinen as their main driver and things were on the up before the Hakkinen left for McLaren in 1993. British driver Johnny Herbert took over and he finished fourth on three occasions whilst the debt was racking up.

The day after the Grand Prix of Monza in 1994 they were into administration and the team was sold to David Hunt. The team folded after that and it would be until the 2010 season before Lotus would be seen on the track again at Albert Park in Melbourne. It will be interesting to see if they can emulate their glory days. Lotus however are still the fourth most successful team in Formula One to date, despite not racing for the last 15 years.

It is yet to be seen who will be driving for the Norfolk company and with the backing of the Malaysians and new technical director Mike Gascoyne, it is time for a new chapter in the Lotus history books.

LOTUS ARE BACK IN F1

Today it was revealed that Lotus are back in Formula 1 for the 2010 season for the first time since 1994. They will join Campos GP, Manor and US F1 as one of four new teams for 2010. The legendary Jim Clark won his two world titles in 1964 and 65 under Norfolk based Lotus. Brazilian Aryton Senna also drove for the team in the 80's.

Lotus will take the place of BMW Sauber who are pulling out this season and it remains to be seen who will be driving for Lotus next season. With reports that their new base will be based at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia which has some of the best facilities in F1, things look good this time around. With drivers such as Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica being free agents after the BMW split, it will set off a merry-go-round of driver registration over the coming months. If Fernando Alonso moves to Ferrari, expect a huge chain reaction.

Incidentally, Lotus are still the fourth most successful F1 team ever!

Tipster Result (2)

Okay! so it came 2nd. Don't shoot the messenger! At least a place finish to keep up some consistency. It finished three lengths behind Richard Hills on Fesko at 17/2. These big price horses keep letting me down! Buddhist Monk in the 15.30 was the obvious winner that I think every punter had down to win that one.

Winners (0 out of 2)

Placed (2 out of 2)

Tipster Special (2)

Just a look ahead at today's racing cards and definately the one that catches my attention is Hightime Heroine in the 16:00 at Leicester. With Jamie Spencer on board I can see this being a good bet today at around 3/1.

Prediction

1. Hightime Heroine - Jamie Spencer

Tipster (1) Result

A bit of an unpredictable winner at 14-1 (Kite Wood's stable mate) but my thoughts on Monitor Closely were right. The supplement of £45,000 was well worth a look at for a place. Shame I didn't go with my hunch! But maybe you did! My predicted winner was 2nd place being the only success.

1. Mastery - TE Durcan
2. Kite Wood - L Dettori
3. Monitor Closely - J Fortune
4. Changingoftheguard - J Murtagh

Weekly winners Success Rate (0 out of 1)

Weekly place Success Rate (1 out of 1)

Tipster - Part 1

Okay, so you want racing tips. Im going to pop them in every friday afternoon if you fancy a flutter and I will post my success rate.

Tomorrow sees the Group 1 St Leger at Doncaster, 3pm. Note that 'Monitor Closely - (Jimmy Fortune)' has been supplemented £45,000 to enter this race so will be looking to place.

My money is with the Sheikh bin Suroor's 'Kite Wood' ridden by Frankie Dettori which has won on its last two outings and is the current favourite at 3/1 after 'Age of Aquarius' was withdrawn from the Aiden O'Brien stable.

My three is are as follows.

1 - Kite Wood - L Dettori

2 - Changing of the Guard - J Murtagh

3 - Father Time - J Spencer

Premier League is Back

So, the International break is over and its back to the domestic season tomorrow. Chelsea and Spurs are both sitting top after four games with maximum points with Man Utd on 9 points and Man City on 9 points but with a game in hand.

The big game of the weekend is undoubtedly City v Arsenal at Eastlands. Its a huge game for the Shekihs along with the expectations of Hughes and City supporters. Its their first real test of the season against one of the 'big four' and a team who are playing great football at the moment. The Gooners are no doubt going to miss Fabregas and Arshavin. Wenger has already managed to have a moan about the Russians overplaying Arshavin to aggravate a groin. Poor old Arsene... I can City getting something from this with Adebayor looking to prove his old team and supporters wrong in the fact that he is lazy and just like Kanu. With no Tevez for City this could be a blow as his work rate and determination will be sorely missed but not without the efforts from Craig Bellamy who will likely partner Adebayor in attack.

We might even get to see a glimpse of Rio this weekend who is looking to return in time for the big game between Spurs and Man Utd at the Lane. The lillywhites will be looking to make an impact against the angry scots team with Lennon and Defoe on flying form. The customary Berbatov boo boys will be on show.

My team, the tractor boys are off away at the 'smog monsters'. I don't hold much hope out for this one with boro's form but maybe the new signings, Leadbitter and Carlos Edwards will have some say on their debuts. Keano desperately needs a win if we are to push on in our quest to be in the premiership next season. I really want the Keane factor to come to fruition as I believe he is the type of gritty character that Ipswich need. No more Mr nice guys...

It doesn't matter... We won the ashes!

So we are routinely getting our preverbials smashed in the one day series, but it doesn't really matter considering we won the Ashes and thats what really counts. Maybe if the Aussies had played Cameron White in the test series rather than Mike "leave the straight ball" Hussey then they may have gained a couple more draws.

I've never been a fan of One Day Cricket and quite clearly neither are the best players in this country. Everytime there is a one day series, we see these second rate county players come on the scene for two or three games before going back to Sussex or Somertset for the rest of the careers. Not even the third highest wicket taker in one day domestic Cricket, James Kirtley gets a look in.

As for the kind of made-up shots that Eoin Morgan plays, I am not a fan of that either. Playing the ball over your head like some extension to a broom handle is just not cricket. Jacques 'Cover Drive' Kallis wouldn't do it and nor we Sir Vivian. Play the game properly son!

Eight one day games is too much. Its helping the nation to forget that we won the ashes and that should be the real celebration. The baby faced Broad is becoming a celeb now and with appearances on Jonathan Ross he is becoming the new KP. Expect to see him modeling cheap Burton suits this winter.

It will be interesting to see how we fair in South Africa this winter. I think we will get a pasting somehow. I can't see England getting motivated for it and an Ashes and Freddy hangover will be likely on the cards...

We're going to Suuufafffricca!

I was left last night scratching my head in front of the telly box. Yesterday I commented on England's expectation to knock all the Eastern Bloc countries for five. Well, they did it and it was pretty pleasing on the eye. Except for the oaf in the number 9 shirt, Heskey, we were superb. Lamps was impressive and deserved a couple of goals. The defence were not really tested so I didn't get to see much of Upson and Terry as a pairing but they looked solid and I will be happy with Upson as cover for Rio next summer, baring any broken metatarsals in the last game of the season. Expect to see Wazza an Gerrard snuggling up in an oxygen tent again this summer.

Aaron Lennon was given the man of the match award and rightly so. The diminutive yid was causing havoc and I think even the Oscar winning Eduardo would agree that it was a stone wall penalty after 7 minutes. It will be interesting to see where Joe Cole fits in now. The midfield has balance and with Stevie G getting a couple of goals from the left, there is definitely some places to be fought for. With Becks given his customary cap, he can pop to visit his tattoo artist before he flies back to the City of Angels.

Now, im not going to go on about Emile Heskey as his performance did the talking. But ITV's editing when Heskey missed a chance, was to switch the camera to Jermain Defoe with his hands on his head. It was a classic moment. Has anyone noticed that ITV's cockney love-in was spoilt this time by Steve McManaman, who was sporting a lovely waistcoat from the Liverpool FA Cup Final Catalogue. I can never understand Andy 'I'm really an Irishman' Townsend. The cockney rhyming slang we have to put up with at half time is really frustrating. "I'ts abaaaht bird lime what got sorted mate."

So we all knew that we were going to Suuufaffricca anyway and only a Steve McClaren style mess up could have avoided qualification. I still think its going to be tough. No doubt we have the players, management and the squad, but do we have the bottle? I think for once, we may just have it...

Engtalia

Croatia coach Slaven Bilic insists he was praising England when he said they had lost their "Englishness" under Italian manager Fabio Capello.

Now this got me thinking. Former West Ham and Everton defender Slaven Bilic said this in a good way and I completely agree. England have lost their "Englishness" in the form that they are finally starting to master the international game. For years we have just been selecting the best eleven English players and hoping that they will all mould into one happy World Cup winning team, casting aside the opposition like an Apache Helicopter. Of course this never happens and every England manager ends up getting hounded out like 'Turnip Taylor' or the retina embedded image of that sorry, wet excuse for a man, Steve McClaren, standing on the touchline with his brolly and cup of tea as if he were the coach of a sunday morning boys team.

Capello may have made England into little Italy and look like your grandad but they can defend a lead and they can score goals! Not a bad set of tactics and Italy have won a few world cups to be fair. Now the hacks can blow things out of context without looking at the bigger picture. England can play. Yes, we only beat Slovenia 2-1, but and there is a but, we won and we keep winning. At the big games under Capello we are winning and getting the job done. Italy won the last world cup whilst 'getting the job done.' It wasn't pretty but we are no Brazil either. Even the Samba boys are not playing the walky stuff anymore. With big awkward forwards like Fred and the 'Number 5' in Brazilian football who plays the holding midfield role as we know it over here, is now a bustler like Gilberto Silva. No longer are we seeing the fleet-footed passers and movers like Dunga (and he is the coach!)

To lose the "Englishness" is what we requested from Capello and it what we are getting. Now we are realistically a challenger for 2010. But there still is the fact that European teams do not win World Cups out of Europe. The climate will be a factor and from Europe, I can only see the quality of the Spain side shining through with their players who may well be adapted to the humidity easier than our set of scousers, geordies and crying cockneys...

We'll see what happens tonight as regard to England but with no Luka Modric I think we can take control of the midfield but we have to be wary of slippery charachters in our box.

Welcome

Welcome to my new blog. Over the coming months I will be commenting on any sports issues that gets me excited, angry, upset or down right barking mad.

I am into my sports in a big way with Football, Cricket and Horse Racing being my main loves. I do enjoy a spot of Golf and with some annual skiing to get the adrenaline going along with the standard 'vin chaud' flowing.