Historic race and rally news
Crashed1973tubhas beenfullyrepaired
The Lotus 72 crashed by Emerson Fittipaldi at Zandvoort in 1973 could be running again this summer after a five-year restoration by Classic Team Lotus.
After the tub, chassis 72/5, was damaged in the accident in qualifying for the Dutch Grand Prix, the remains of the monocoque spent four decades at the back of the Team Lotus stores.
Eventually Clive Chapman, son of Lotus founder Colin and boss of CTL, decided to start a restoration project and the bare tub was shown at Autosport International in 2014. Finally, two weeks ago, with DFV engine number 130 reinstalled, the car was fired up for the first time in over 45 years.
“It is extraordinary that the car survived for so many years and it was very lucky that it was not thrown into a skip,” said Chapman. “I think that is a mark of the sentimental attachment that my father had for the car, given his constant focus on the future and the team’s perennial battle for more space.
“We’ve been restoring it gradually and it was really nice to get it fired up. It should be ready to run in a couple of months and Emerson keeps asking about it, as he’s keen to come and drive it. But I don’t think we’ll ever race it.”
Chassis 72/5 was raced almost exclusively by Fittipaldi and he won in Gold Leaf coloursin the 1970 US GP and then in JPS colours to win the 1972 Austrian and Italian races.