“It always felt very special,” he said of racing at the circuit. “Big crowds, elevation changes, fast corners, mid-speed corners, uphill corners, downhill corners… It’s very technical and you needed both driver and car to be working properly. Fortunately, the Lotus 72 was good at every kind of circuit.”
For the recent run at Brands, Fittipaldi drove chassis 72/D7, the car which he used frequently during his ’72 title campaign.
However, there were several chassis which helped create the car’s legend – we also trace the history of all the surviving 72s in the latest issue.
Key to Lotus and the stories it created were the people involved – mercurial leader Chapman, drivers such as Jim Clark, Fittipaldi, Graham Hill and Peterson as well as engineers, mechanics and all the other essential staff.
The JPS era was typical of ’70s F1 drama – Mike Doodson relived it to Motor Sport, remembering Rindt’s domination, the stress of working for Chapman and grand prix racing in a charismatic yet dangerous decade.
As well as those still around to share the stories, the legend of the Lotus 72 will live on through the beautiful examples still around today. Swipe through our gallery to see one of F1’s most iconic cars in fine form.