Lotus 101

The Lotus 101 was Team Lotus's entry for the 1989 Formula One season. Gérard Ducarouge's departure during 1988 had necessitated the former Williams aerodynamicist Frank Dernie to be appointed as Technical Director in November 1988. Despite his appointment the majority of the work for the 101 had been conducted by chief designer Mike Coughlan. The 101 was to be a rushed design built within weeks and to a series of constraints.

Ducarouge's departure coincided with end of the 1,500 cc turbocharged era. Lotus, along with other competitors, now had to incorporate 3,500 cc normally aspirated engines into their cars. Judd were therefore enlisted to supply their CV 32 valve V8 engine, but as Lotus were only a "customer" (Judd's principal contact was the supply of their latest EV V8 engine to the March team) solutions were sought to make up the power deficiency by appointing Tickford to research and develop a five-valve-per-cylinder head. The use of the Judd engine did permit Dernie and Coughlan to design a smaller and lighter car than before; indeed the narrowness of the cockpit required Momo to build a special steering wheel to allow the drivers to fit their hands between the wheel and bodywork of the car.

The initial optimism and favourable reception by management and driver alike shortly evaporated, as the 101 proved to be a disaster. Not only were the customer Judd engines rated at around 610 bhp (455 kW) (about 80 bhp (60 kW) less than the dominant Honda V10 engine used by McLaren), but it was apparent that the Goodyear tyres that the team were using had been designed principally for use by the McLaren and Ferrari teams, who were able to test and tune their chassis to work better with the compounds.

The 101 failed to collect significant results as the season progressed, culminating in the events following the British Grand Prix where Nelson Piquet had driven to a fighting fourth-placed finish. The Chapman family, who were still the shareholders in Team Lotus International, persuaded Peter Warr and Chairman Fred Bushell (who was about to face charges arising from the De Lorean affair) to leave. Tony Rudd, who was at the time working for Group Lotus, was appointed executive chairman. Also the Tickford head was abandoned.

The renewed optimism briefly helped to improve results; however, at Spa both Lotuses failed to qualify for a Grand Prix for the first time since 1958. The season ended with two fourth-place finishes for Nelson Piquet and Satoru Nakajima in Japan and Australia respectively.

Given the dreadful start to the season (Lotus only scored points in one of the first seven races), the total points tally of 15 points was almost a positive Lotus could take out of the 1989 season. Indeed, it would prove to be the highest number of points Lotus were to score in a season during the normally aspirated engine era until the team's collapse at the end of the 1994 season.

Complete Formula One results

(key) (Results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Engine	Tyres	Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Pts.	WCC
1989	Camel Team Lotus	Judd CV V8	G		BRA	SMR	MON	MEX	USA	CAN	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	POR	ESP	JPN	AUS	15	6th
				Nelson Piquet	Ret	Ret	Ret	11	Ret	4	8	4	5	6	DNQ	Ret	Ret	8	4	Ret
				Satoru Nakajima	8	NC	DNQ	Ret	Ret	DNQ	Ret	8	Ret	Ret	DNQ	10	7	Ret	Ret	4

References

↑ http://www.statsf1.com/en/lotus-101.aspx

Team Lotus

Founder: Colin Chapman

Noted personnel: Frank Dernie; Gérard Ducarouge; Maurice Philippe; Peter Warr; Peter Wright; Len Terry

World Champions: Mario Andretti; Jim Clark; Emerson Fittipaldi; Graham Hill; Jochen Rindt

Other notable drivers: Elio de Angelis; Martin Donnelly; Mika Häkkinen; Johnny Herbert; Jacky Ickx; Nigel Mansell; Satoru Nakajima; Gunnar Nilsson; Ronnie Peterson; Nelson Piquet; Carlos Reutemann; Ayrton Senna; John Surtees; Derek Warwick; Alex Zanardi

Drivers' titles: 1963; 1965; 1968; 1970; 1972; 1978

Constructors' titles: 1963; 1965; 1968; 1970; 1972; 1973; 1978

Formula One cars: 12; 16; 18; 21; 24; 25; 33; 43; 49; 56B; 63; 72; 76; 77; 78; 79; 80; 81; 86; 87; 88; 91; 92; 93T; 94T; 95T; 97T; 98T; 99T; 100T; 101; 102; 107; 109; 112

Formula Two cars: 12; 16; 18; 32; 35; 41; 44; 48; 59; 69

Formula Three cars: 22; 31; 35; 41; 55; 59; 69

Formula Junior cars: 18; 20; 22; 27

Formula Ford cars: 51; 59; 61; 69

Formula 5000 cars: 68; 70

Tasman Series cars: 32; 39; 67

Indianapolis 500 cars: 29; 34; 38; 42; 56; 64; 96T

Sports racing cars: 15; 17; 19; 23; 30; 40; 47; 53

Lotus production car timeline, 1950–present
Type	1950s										1960s										1970s										1980s										1990s										2000s										2010s
Type	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6
Sports racer					Mark VIII	Mark IX	Eleven		15	17	19		23		30	40		47		62
Sports racer			Mark VI					Seven																																											340R							2-Eleven
Roadster													Elan																											Elan M100							Elise					Elise
Coupé									Elite							Elan																																			Exige				Exige								Exige
Coupé																									Eclat									Excel																										Evora
Grand tourer																		Elan +2							Elite
Grand tourer																		Europa									Esprit																														Europa S
Saloon														Ford Cortina Lotus				Ford Cortina Lotus																							Carlton/Omega
Race cars	Mark I Mark II Mark III Mark IV Mark V 12 16 17 18 20 21 22 24 25 27 29 31 32 33 34 38 39 41 42 43 44 48 49 56 59 61 63 64 69 70 72 73 74 76 77 78 79 80 81 86 87 88 91 92 93T 94T 95T 96T 97T 98T 99T 100T 101 102 107 109 112 114 115 119 T125 T127 T128 F1 T128 LMP E20 E21 E22 E23 Hybrid
Related cars	Caterham Seven Ford Cortina Lotus Talbot Sunbeam Lotus DeLorean DMC-12 Hennessey Venom GT Isuzu Piazza Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 Opel Lotus Omega/Vauxhall Lotus Carlton Kia Elan Opel Speedster/Vauxhall VX220 Tesla Roadster Proton EMAS
Concept cars	M90 APX Ethos
Key figures	Colin Chapman Tony Rudd Romano Artioli Dany Bahar
Group Lotus	Official website Lotus Cars Lotus Engineering Team Lotus Lotus F1

Cars that competed in the 1989 Formula One season

McLaren MP4/5 Williams FW12C Williams FW13 Ferrari 640 Benetton B188 Benetton B189 Tyrrell 017B Tyrrell 018 Lotus 101 Arrows A11 Dallara F189 Brabham BT58 Minardi M188B Minardi M189 Onyx ORE-1 March 881 March CG891 Ligier JS33 Rial ARC2 AGS JH23B AGS JH24 Lola LC88B Lola LC89 EuroBrun ER188B EuroBrun ER189 Osella FA1M89 Zakspeed 891 Coloni FC188B Coloni C3

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