1983 - Lotus F1 goes the turbo way - MP4 - 360p - [[OptimusPr1me]]

This exceptional short film offers almost unprecedented access to the legendary
Lotus Formula One team and the creation of a Grand Prix car, from conception to race track.

The is the complete story of the birth of the John Player Special Lotus 93T, following every step of the design, building and testing as the Lotus team moved into the turbo era with the phenomenal V6 Renault Power Unit .



(FUNNY SIDE NOTE: People said the same thing about the early turbo's as they are saying now about the hybrid turbo's
and they ended up being louder than the V10's sometimes even)

The film opens with Elio De Angelis scoring his first Formula 1 win in August 1982 and the announcement by Lotus guru Colin Chapman that the team would abandon the normally aspirated Cosworth engine for the 1983 season.



We are taken inside the team's Norfolk headquarters to watch the new car take shape, with rare access to the workshops
as scale wooden models are built, wind tunnel tests conducted and the finished car takes shape.

Along the way we hear from designer Martin Ogilvie, aerodynamicist Peter Wright, team supremo Peter Warr and driver De Angelis - plus witness a young Nigel Stepney become the first person to try out the driver's seat.

Lotus Goes Turbo reveals how the team coped with the loss of Champman on December 16, 1982. His contribution is remembered in archive footage of the 1960s and 70s, Chapman's death was a major blow to Lotus, but the team
dug deep to keep the project on schedule. Lotus Goes Turbo includes the launch of the 93T, plus footage of the two-day test at Paul Ricard circuit which saw De Angelis take the brand new car around quicker than the works Renault. (Paul Ricard, ironically where De Angelis loses his life 3 years later while testing the Brabham)



The file also includes the feature Anatomie d'un Depart - Anatomy of the Start - an atmospheric short film made by ELF in the 1980's which takes you behind the scenes of the build-up to a Grand Prix, following the mechanics, engineers and drivers.

This includes Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell and Alain Prost and more as they get set to race.

For those with a keen eye, you might notice that Elio De Angelis' helmet looks very much like Jean Alesi's, of course it is the other way around :) De Angelis was Alesi's hero as a boy so he based the design of his helmet on De Angelis's

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