<< Prev Page 2 of 2 Emerson Fittipaldi displayed throughout the season that there was plenty of life left in the two year old design. With five victories and a number of point finishes he took the driver's title and almost single-handedly won the constructor's crown for Lotus as well. Three years after its conception the Lotus 72 took another eight victories with Fittipaldi only beaten by his new team mate Ronnie Peterson who scored four wins. It was not enough for another driver's crown, but Lotus again proved to be the best constructor. A proper replacement was developed for 1974, but the advanced Lotus 76 did not prove enough of an improvement and Lotus brought the 72 out of retirement for a fifth season.
Fittipaldi had already left the team before the season start and joined McLaren where he would win his second driver's crown. Despite driving a four year old car Ronnie Peterson managed to score three victories, which at the end of the season was good for a fifth driver standings position, and a fourth for Lotus behind McLaren, Ferrari and Tyrrell. Problems with the road car division of Lotus shuffled Formula 1 down the priority ladder temporarily, which left Peterson and teammate Jacky Ickx no other choice but to take to the track yet again with the 'senior citizen' of the grid. Unfortunately this final season resulted in the bulk of the competition clearly outpacing the old Lotus. A retirement after the three victories in 1974 would have been much more appropriate.
With twenty victories in championship races, two driver's and three constructor's titles, the Lotus 72 remains as one of the most successful designs ever to line up for a Formula 1 race. Remarkably Lotus repeated again two years later when they kick-started the ground effects era with the Lotus 78 of 1977; the fourth revolution ignited by the Hethel based team in less than two decades. It is unfortunate that the modern Formula 1 rules have become so strict that there is no room for the experimentation that spawned revolutionary cars like the 72.
In total nine chassis numbers were attributed to Lotus 72 although a heavily damaged R1 was rebuilt as R4, so there were never more than eight cars. Today it is believed that eight cars have survived after both R1 and R2 were written off in the fatal 1970 Monza weekend. Both accidents were apparently caused by failed brake shafts. Of the surviving cars quite a few are still used actively with at least one campaigned by Classic Team Lotus and several others by privateers. << Prev Page 2 of 2
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Emerson Fittipaldi displayed throughout the season that there was plenty of life left in the two year old design. With five victories and a number of point finishes he took the driver's title and almost single-handedly won the constructor's crown for Lotus as well. Three years after its conception the Lotus 72 took another eight victories with Fittipaldi only beaten by his new team mate Ronnie Peterson who scored four wins. It was not enough for another driver's crown, but Lotus again proved to be the best constructor. A proper replacement was developed for 1974, but the advanced Lotus 76 did not prove enough of an improvement and Lotus brought the 72 out of retirement for a fifth season.