Just as with people so with cars, some are born great and others have greatness thrust upon. Lotus Type 72/5 arguably falls into the former category. Team Lotus has been responsible for a succession of great Grand Prix cars over the years, but in turn each model seems to have a particularly exceptional chassis that stood out from the others. Here on Lotus-central we have already documented the careers of Type 25 R4 and Type 49 R5/R10, now it is the turn of the most significant example of Type 72.

This particular car had a remarkable career that actually began rather ignominiously in September 1970 when rookie Emerson Fittipaldi rendered it hors de combat during qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza – the same day that team leader Jochen Rindt so tragically lost his life but became posthumous World Champion. Fittipaldi made amends, and lifted team spirits, by winning the US Grand Prix in the repaired 72/5 just four weeks later. Having started out in life as a 72C, this particular car worked through four specification upgrades before ending its works career as a 72F, again at the US GP, five years later in October 1970.

During the intervening period the car contested no less than 54 Grand Prix’, winning four of them, all in Fittipaldi’s hands. In addition there were another fifteen non-championship race appearances, yielding three more victories, and whilst Fittipaldi is most associated with this particular car – he drove it on 39 occasions, including that Monza non-start - no less than five others drove her for Team Lotus. Tony Trimmer, Dave Walker, Jim Crawford and Brian Henton all had their brief moments on the world stage, but Jacky Ickx raced it at 22 events, including his memorable Race of Champions win at Brands Hatch in 1974. Oh, and amongst all the other statistics there were two very distinctive liveries too, starting with the red, white and gold of Gold Leaf Team Lotus before the switch to John Player Special’s black and gold colours. Actually, if you look closely you will see the gold is more of a yellow. Colour TV was in its infancy and gold did not show up too well!

Fittipaldi enjoyed a fairly meteoric rise through the ranks, arriving on British shores in February 1969 with just £1,800 in his pocket, having sold his possessions in Brazil to fund his racing. With the aid of engine builder Denny Rowland he embarked upon a season of Formula Ford. This particular writer can remember Snetterton commentator Norman Greenway struggling to pronounce his name on the day he won his first race, and yet with the aid of Jim Russell he made a successful switch to Formula 3 during the season. At that time Team Lotus also ran a works F3 team and the young Brazilian came to their attention, Colin Chapman actually offering him a Formula 2 deal for 1970. However, just three races in he was offered a Formula 1 drive in the Dutch Grand Prix, which he turned down, not believing he was ready for the leap forward. A month later, though, he made his Formula 1 debut, driving a Gold Leaf Team Lotus 49 in the British Grand Prix (you guessed it – chassis R10!), finishing eighth. So, barely a year after stepping up from Formula Ford Fittipaldi was driving for a top F1 team purely on talent; even the much-vaunted Lewis Hamilton didn’t climb the ladder that rapidly

The venerable 49’s were still in service because the advanced, wedge-shape 72 proved to be a tricky animal to tame. Even though 72/5 was built just five months after the original 72/1, it was already to ‘C’ specification. After just four races the first car lost its anti-squat rear suspension and was given the ‘B’ tag. Chassis 72/2 was built as Rindt’s race car and with further revisions – gearbox and monocoque strengthening – but after a troublesome start went on to give Rindt four straight victories before he crashed it fatally at Monza.

The next car in sequence, 72/3 was built to ‘C’spec from new and raced by John Miles and Reine Wisell before being sold to South Africa. Meanwhile 72/4 was built for Graham Hill to drive for Rob Walker’s private Brooke Bond-sponsored team.. 72/5, built to ‘C’ spec, would have been taken over by Rindt at Monza after being run-in by Fittipaldi had the Brazilian not shunted it, thus perhaps changing the face of history. Whatever, subsequent victory in Watkins Glen was a pointer of things to come.

Reliability problems during the early part of the 1971, mostly engine-related, led to a string of retirements before a substantial rebuild in time for Monaco saw the car re-designated 72D and with it came an improvement in results – no Grand Prix wins but a run of point-scoring results saw Fittipaldi finish sixth overall in the World Championship (won by Jackie Stewart). The following season, 1972, was to be rather more successful, a change of colour scheme to John Player Special livery and the addition of the ‘anvil’ airbox transformed things (well, there were probably other things too!) and Fittipaldi went on to win his first World title, winning five Grand Prix along the way and clinching the title in 72/5 at Monza, although three of those victories actually came in chassis 72/7.

In those days the calendar was liberally sprinkled with non-championship events, and in particular John Webb at Brands Hatch never missed the opportunity to stage a race. In addition to his regular early-season ‘Race of Champions’ the Kentish circuit hosted two more F1 races during 1972 – the Rothmans 50,000 in August, followed by the John Player Victory Meeting two months later. So, including the British Grand Prix there were no less than four Formula 1 races at Brands that year and Fittipaldi won three of them! The Race of Champions and Rothmans 50,000 fell to 72/5 whilst 72/7 was used for the British Grand Prix. Ironically, the later car was to let him down in the race held in honour of his World Championship, lack of oil pressure leading to retirement.

In reality, the non-championship races were not purely F1 with Formula 5000 cars bulking out the grid, but the Rothmans race was a bit of an oddity, and only happened once – perhaps they didn’t enjoy handing over the £50,000 prize money to a rival fag company! At 118 laps (312 miles) it was considerably longer than the 76-lap Grand Prix the month before. The entry saw a distinctly motley collection of cars ranging through F1, F2, F5000 and sports prototypes, but Fittipaldi drove an inch-perfect race to claim the bag of gold. In the words of a spectating friend, you could have drawn a pair of lines round the circuit and Fittipaldi would have been within them for the whole race, so smooth was he.

Fittipaldi stuck with his faithful 72/5, for the early part of the season at least, in 1973, although a major overhaul of the regulations regarding crash structures meant that it was substantially a new car, now designated 72E. It knew how to pick the big occasions, this car, Fittipaldi driving it to first place in April’s Spanish Grand Prix, thus delivering Team Lotus their 50th Grand Prix victory. That actually was to be the last World Championship counter claimed by this particular car, and its season ended when Fittipaldi badly damaged it in practice for the Dutch Grand Prix. He was never to race the car again so you could say his relationship with 72/5 ended as it began, with a practice shunt.

That was not the end of the old warrior though, the car being rebuilt around a new tub in time for the newly arrived Jacky Ickx to drive the following season. The Belgian never did win a Grand Prix in it but a return to the happy hunting ground of Brands Hatch saw an amazing win in a soaking wet Race of Champions, Ickx’s acknowledged wet-weather abilities were of no benefit to him in qualifying when a distinctly off-song DFV left him down on the sixth row of the grid, a long way from pole-sitter James Hunt’s Hesketh. However, his prowess came to the fore in the 40-lap race and he soon hauled himself onto the back of the leaders – Niki Lauda’s Ferrari ahead of Fittipaldi, now driving for McLaren. After just 15 laps, Ickx passed the former Lotus driver to gradually haul-in the leader. With five laps to go – and still in streaming wet conditions – he went for the outside line at Paddock Hill, going all the way round Lauda to snatch the lead in a move that is still talked about to this day, to win the race. Type 72/5 may not have won too many Grand Prix, but it certainly knew its way round the switchbacks of Brands Hatch!

And that should’ve been it as far as the 72’s front-line race career was concerned but its successor, the Type 76, was going through an even more painful birth than the 72 had done, so the old model soldiered on for the rest of ’74 and even thru’ 1975. By this time it was well past its prime and results were understandably thin on the ground although Ickx did record a remarkable second place in the Spanish Grand Prix, a somewhat bad-tempered meeting where the drivers were reluctant to race due to safety concerns, their fears concerned when Rolf Stommelen’s car crashed over the barriers, killing five people including a marshal. But on a happier note, 75/2 still managed a fourth place back in the Brands Hatch Race of Champions.

For its last few races, 72/5 had been upgraded again to 72F spec., its last appearance as a works car coming in the hands of Brian Henton, finishing 12th in the US GP at Watkins Glen on 5th October 1975. The car did not disappear into ignominy though, and fully restored by Classic Team Lotus, still makes regular appearances.

‘Icon’ is an over-used expression these days but it is an appropriate description where the Lotus 72 is concerned and even non-motor sport enthusiasts can recognise the John Player Special-liveried, wedge-shaped Lotus 72. Doubtless like me, many of you will treasure your Scalextric or Corgi model of the car, but how many of you have the set Corgi produced exclusively for Marks & Spencer, comprising of a JPS Lotus 72 towed on a trailer by a similarly liveried Lotus Elite? Colin Chapman did indeed drive such a car, but Lotus had moved on a bit since the days when he towed racecars to events behind his road car!

John Elwin
March 2009

Photographs courtesy of Ian Catt Collection/Coterie Press
Bibliography:  Lotus 72  by Michael Oliver, Coterie Press, 2003