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Griever20 · 08-22-2017, 09:22 AM

I'm going to hide this one in this part of the forum since it is not really a OOTP dynasty, and I hope that the dev's won't mind the fact that it is not a OOTP related writeup.

This kinda started by accident... I'll do my best to get this done... if you are interested, enjoy the ride.

The Team, The Legend, Lotus

Colin Chapman had a dream, his hands, and a car. And started putting racing driver into it in 1956 with his first single seater design, the Type 12 racing around the track. He and his drivers, Cliff Allison and Graham Hill, eventually joined Formula One in 1958 for the Monaco Grand Prix, and it would be the start of a great journey.

Going from the Lotus Type 18 to the Lotus Type 25, 1963 was the year where things fell their way. Finishing second in the 1962 Drivers & Constructors Championship, Lotus and their driver Jim Clark won both championships. They slumped in 1964 with the new Type 33, but their new baby turned out to be a monster of a car and won this combination their second double World Championship.

And that was only the start. In 1966, Formula One evolved like it ever did, changing the engine regulations and Colin Chapman and Lotus came out as the winner, pairing up with Cosworth to win a total of five Constructers World Championships and four Driver World Championships(Graham Hill 1968, Jochen Rindt 1970, Emerson Fittipaldi 1972, Mario Andretti 1978).

However, as it always was in the oldest single seater class of motorsport, death was always around. In 1968, 2x World Champion Jim Clark died at Hockenheim in a Formula 2 race, another Lotus driver in Mike Spence died at Indy, training for the 500 miles. 1970 World Champion Jochen Rindt never hoised his World Championship trophy, having crashed his Lotus in Monza with four races to go in the Champoinship. He died on the way to the hospital, but was so far ahead in the Championship that nobody would capitalize.

Ronnie Peterson, who drove for Lotus five of his nine career years, was the victim of a big start accident in Italy 1978 and lost his life after his Type 79 started to burn under him.

The 1978 World Championship, another masterstoke by Chapman, who was the first designer to utilize the ground effect, was the last World Championship year by the team, but not because of the lack of trying. Up until his death in 1982, Chapman would try his best to build revolutionary cars that often failed to deliver the lap times, and rolling back to last year's car did not help here.

Yet, their last real push came in the 80's after Chapman's death. With the new turbo engine, build for them by Renault and later Honda, and drivers like Nigel Mansell(80-84) and Ayrton Senna(85-87), and unspectacular, but fast cars build by designer Gérard Ducarouge, the team collected some race wins and pushed for a World Championship that they ultimately failed to win.

And the end of the turbo's would start the beginning of the end for Lotus. Financially strapped since the Lotus Group was sold to General Motors by Chapman's widow, the team slowly moved to the back end of the grid. In 1994, the team failed for the first time failed to collect any World Championship points, and ultimately, the squad filed for bankruptcy.

The team was dead and may thought that a Formula 1 grid without Lotus cars would not be a Formula 1 grid, and that the brand should return one day.

Little did they know that the next time they would see Lotus cars in single seater racing, things would've changed dramatically.

08-22-2017, 09:22 AM	#1
Griever20 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Dortmund, Germany Posts: 3,723	The Return of Lotus(A non-OOTP Dynasty) I'm going to hide this one in this part of the forum since it is not really a OOTP dynasty, and I hope that the dev's won't mind the fact that it is not a OOTP related writeup. This kinda started by accident... I'll do my best to get this done... if you are interested, enjoy the ride. The Team, The Legend, Lotus Colin Chapman had a dream, his hands, and a car. And started putting racing driver into it in 1956 with his first single seater design, the Type 12 racing around the track. He and his drivers, Cliff Allison and Graham Hill, eventually joined Formula One in 1958 for the Monaco Grand Prix, and it would be the start of a great journey. Going from the Lotus Type 18 to the Lotus Type 25, 1963 was the year where things fell their way. Finishing second in the 1962 Drivers & Constructors Championship, Lotus and their driver Jim Clark won both championships. They slumped in 1964 with the new Type 33, but their new baby turned out to be a monster of a car and won this combination their second double World Championship. And that was only the start. In 1966, Formula One evolved like it ever did, changing the engine regulations and Colin Chapman and Lotus came out as the winner, pairing up with Cosworth to win a total of five Constructers World Championships and four Driver World Championships(Graham Hill 1968, Jochen Rindt 1970, Emerson Fittipaldi 1972, Mario Andretti 1978). However, as it always was in the oldest single seater class of motorsport, death was always around. In 1968, 2x World Champion Jim Clark died at Hockenheim in a Formula 2 race, another Lotus driver in Mike Spence died at Indy, training for the 500 miles. 1970 World Champion Jochen Rindt never hoised his World Championship trophy, having crashed his Lotus in Monza with four races to go in the Champoinship. He died on the way to the hospital, but was so far ahead in the Championship that nobody would capitalize. Ronnie Peterson, who drove for Lotus five of his nine career years, was the victim of a big start accident in Italy 1978 and lost his life after his Type 79 started to burn under him. The 1978 World Championship, another masterstoke by Chapman, who was the first designer to utilize the ground effect, was the last World Championship year by the team, but not because of the lack of trying. Up until his death in 1982, Chapman would try his best to build revolutionary cars that often failed to deliver the lap times, and rolling back to last year's car did not help here. Yet, their last real push came in the 80's after Chapman's death. With the new turbo engine, build for them by Renault and later Honda, and drivers like Nigel Mansell(80-84) and Ayrton Senna(85-87), and unspectacular, but fast cars build by designer Gérard Ducarouge, the team collected some race wins and pushed for a World Championship that they ultimately failed to win. And the end of the turbo's would start the beginning of the end for Lotus. Financially strapped since the Lotus Group was sold to General Motors by Chapman's widow, the team slowly moved to the back end of the grid. In 1994, the team failed for the first time failed to collect any World Championship points, and ultimately, the squad filed for bankruptcy. The team was dead and may thought that a Formula 1 grid without Lotus cars would not be a Formula 1 grid, and that the brand should return one day. Little did they know that the next time they would see Lotus cars in single seater racing, things would've changed dramatically. __________________ The Montreal Expos... Exposing the New MLB? MLB 2015 - Being the Brewmaster(ended) MLB 2013: The Blue Jays That Never Were(concluded) Last edited by Griever20; 08-23-2017 at 06:37 AM.