The 97T was Team Lotus's representative in the 1985 Formula 1 season. Designed by French engineer Gérard Ducarouge, the 97T was a further development of the previous year's 95T, incorporating elements from the abandoned 96T IndyCar project. Driven by Italian Elio de Angelis and rising star Ayrton Senna, the 97T proved competitive, taking three wins, six further podium finishes, eight pole positions and three fastest laps, and amassing 71 championship points. It is generally agreed that the Lotus 97T had the best chassis of all the cars competing that season, with the best braking and cornering ability, meaning it excelled on slow, tight circuits such as Monaco, Montreal, Detroit and Adelaide. But for all its speed, it was just as unreliable mechanically, particularly with its Renault engine. Of its ten retirements that year, seven were mechanical. It is widely believed that reliability issues cost Senna his shot at the 1985 Drivers' Championship.
Lotus finished fourth in the Constructors' Championship, level on points with Williams, who took third place on the strength of a greater number of race wins.
This perfect 1:8 scale replica of the Lotus 97T was driven by Ayrton Senna at the 1985 Portuguese Grand Prix. Senna qualified on pole position, half a second ahead of favourite Alain Prost in his McLaren. Weather conditions for the race were atrocious, described by Renault driver Patrick Tambay as "survival of the fittest", but rising star Senna proved he had mastered the wet conditions. He controlled the race, which ran for over two hours, from the start, lapped everyone except the second-place finisher, who was still more than a minute behind, and also set the fastest lap. This was both Senna's first pole position and his first victory, feats he would go on to repeat 64 and 40 times respectively. This win at Estoril was the foundation of the Senna legend. Race engineer Steve Hallam still recognises the significance of that first victory: "It felt like the start of something, there's no doubt about that."
Senna himself was aware of the significance of his performance that day: "People later said that my wet-weather win at Donington in '93 was my greatest achievement — no way! I had traction control! OK, I didn't make any real mistakes, but the car was so much easier to drive. It was a good win, sure, but compared to Estoril '85 it was really nothing. The champagne certainly tasted special that day."
The Lotus 97T is limited to 199 pieces.
Price on request
