Why unloved Lotus 76 may be Colin Chapman's most significant car
A wide variety of Lotus cars are often proffered as the ultimate F1 game-changer – but was the Lotus 76 an unusual candidate which trumps them all?
For the last month or so we’ve run a poll asking what your favourite Grand Prix circuit of all time was.
Some of you were rather liberal with the criteria of a GP circuit (Knockhill?) and some clearly approached the topic with tongue firmly in cheek; one answer simply read “Car park in Vegas Hahahahahaha.”
The fearsome old 14km layout of Spa was by far the most popular choice with 707 votes, a whopping 38 per cent. Perhaps it was that the poll appeared around the same time as this year’s Belgian Grand Prix or maybe it was that said race was a foregone conclusion in Jenson Button’s favour, but there’s certainly still a longing for the old circuit. Impressive, seeing as the last time it held a Grand Prix was in 1970. The next best result didn’t even get half as many votes.
Unsurprisingly, the next most popular circuit was the Nürburgring Nordschleife, with 321 votes, 17 per cent of the total. Third on the list was Brands Hatch with 155 and eight per cent, beating Silverstone hands down. The trend here seems to be that fans want fast tracks lined with woodland, not much room for error and a history of great racing. No surprises there then.
Our next poll’s about a man who called Spa his “living room”; we were going to ask you what you thought Schumacher’s next move should be. Go to Sauber, maybe vie for Massa’s seat at Ferrari? Then the seven-time World Champion ruined that idea by announcing his retirement from Formula 1. This time, it seems, it’ll be for good. So now we’re asking you what you think he should do with his time now that he seems ready to stay away from Grand Prix racing.
Should he join brother Ralf in DTM? Stay with Mercedes in some sort of ambassadorial role? Take a look on the right side of the homepage and have your say.
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