Lotus 77

The Lotus 77 was a Formula 1 racing car, built and used in 1976 by British Formula 1 Team Lotus.

The Lotus 77, at the request of the sponsor officially John Player Special MK II called, was the product of five designers. After the failure of the Lotus 76, the pressure rose in the team responsible for Lotus to develop a viable racing car, as it seemed impossible in 1976, the six -year-old Lotus 72 further use in the championship. Colin Chapman distributed work on the new car on different designers with different methods and succeeded.

Geoff Aldridke and Peter Wright developed the monocoque, Len Terry and Martin Ogilvie designed the suspension and Tony Southgate everything came together to form a whole. Track and wheelbase of the car were adjustable, this was facilitated by the fact that the calipers at the same time formed pivot points for the suspension. Middle of the season has been installed an adjustable roll bar and the car got aprons that very improved downforce of the car. The 77 had a very slim monocoque and the V8 engine by Cosworth.

Ronnie Peterson had left earlier in the season lotus in dispute. For two races, the Briton Bob Evans was committed before Mario Andretti, who had given the 1968 Lotus made ​​his Formula 1 debut, returned to the team. Second driver in the team was the young Swede Gunnar Nilsson. As the season progresses the Lotus 77 was an ever better race car and the strong performances culminated in the victory of Mario Andretti at the last race of the year at the Grand Prix of Japan at Fuji.