Lotus 79
Formula One racing car / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Lotus 79 is a Formula One car designed in late 1977 by Colin Chapman, Geoff Aldridge, Martin Ogilvie, Tony Rudd, Tony Southgate and Peter Wright of Lotus. The Lotus 79 was the first F1 car to take full advantage of ground effects aerodynamics.
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Category | Formula One | ||||||||||
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Constructor | Team Lotus | ||||||||||
Designer(s) | Colin Chapman (Executive Engineer) Tony Rudd (Head of Engineering) Tony Southgate (Chief Engineer) Peter Wright (Aerodynamics) Martin Ogilvie (Vehicle Engineer) Geoff Aldridge (Chief Designer) | ||||||||||
Predecessor | Lotus 78 | ||||||||||
Successor | Lotus 80 | ||||||||||
Technical specifications | |||||||||||
Chassis | Aluminium monocoque | ||||||||||
Suspension (front) | Double wishbone, inboard spring/damper. | ||||||||||
Suspension (rear) | Parallel top links, lower wishbones, twin radius arms, outboard spring/damper. | ||||||||||
Engine | Ford-Cosworth DFV, 2993cc V8, naturally aspirated, mid-engined, longitudinally-mounted | ||||||||||
Transmission | Hewland FG 400, 5-speed manual | ||||||||||
Power | 475 hp @ 11,000 rpm[1] | ||||||||||
Fuel | 1978: Valvoline 1979: Essex | ||||||||||
Tyres | Goodyear | ||||||||||
Competition history | |||||||||||
Notable entrants | John Player Team Lotus Martini Racing Team Lotus Team Rebaque | ||||||||||
Notable drivers | Mario Andretti, Ronnie Peterson, Jean-Pierre Jarier, Carlos Reutemann, Héctor Rebaque | ||||||||||
Debut | 1978 Belgian Grand Prix | ||||||||||
First win | 1978 Belgian Grand Prix | ||||||||||
Last win | 1978 Dutch Grand Prix | ||||||||||
Last event | 1979 United States Grand Prix | ||||||||||
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Constructors' Championships | 1 (1978) | ||||||||||
Drivers' Championships | 1 (Mario Andretti, 1978) |
Over the span of its lifetime, the Lotus 79 took 7 wins, 10 pole positions, 121 points and won the last drivers' and constructors' world championships for Lotus. The 79 is credited with pushing Formula One into the modern aerodynamics era. After Rubens Barrichello drove the 79 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2000, he spoke of its "phenomenal grip and traction", and stated that "it felt like a modern Grand Prix car".[2]