Marking the 40 Year anniversary of Ayrton Senna’s first GP Victory

Chris Dinnage, Classic Team Lotus Team Manager and a former lead mechanic for Ayrton in his Team Lotus days, will be at Estoril to run the car as he did back in 1985. Clive Chapman will be visiting Estoril with the 97T for the first time.

Team Lotus manufactured four Type 97T chassis for the 1985 season, which between them won three Grand Prix. Classic Team Lotus retains chassis number 2 in the private Works collection.

Ecstatic welcome to Parc Fermé by Team Lotus including Chris Dinnage giving the thumbs up.

Ayrton Senna raced this chassis – 97T/2 – to victory in the 1985 Portuguese GP at Estoril. He drove a truly brilliant race in atrociously wet conditions to score his first Grand Prix win. Nearly three seconds ahead at the end of the first lap, Ayrton established a huge lead and lapped all bar one car. For Team Lotus and Hazel Chapman it was the first Grand Prix victory since the death of Colin Chapman, in 1982.

Ayrton celebrated wildly in the car on the slow down lap at Estoril

Years later, Ayrton considered his amazing performance to be his best ever race. He rejected the suggestion that Donington 1993 was his greatest drive: “No way! I had traction control there. It was a good win but compared with Estoril ‘85 it was nothing.”

Ayrton’s analysis the autódromo do estoril provided race-engineer Steve Hallam with extraordinary detail.

Senna drove nearly 3,000 miles in chassis 2 during the season. He used it in qualifying to secure pole position in Portugal, San Marino and the USA. He raced it in Brazil, Portugal, San Marino, Monaco, Canada and the USA.

Team Lotus Type 97T/2:
97T/2 is powered by a 1.5-litre Renault Turbo V6 producing around 1,000 horsepower. The car weighs 585kg and creates around 1,000kg of downforce at 150mph. Ayrton raced this extraordinarily powerful ‘analogue’ machine with manual steering, brakes and gearshift. No power steering, no ABS, no paddle shift,radio or even a pit-stop. Two hours of non-stop extreme physical and mental challenge on a heavily flooded track. One of the greatest drives in 75 years of F1.

TheTeam Lotus crew outside Ketteringham Hall on a winters morning. Ayrton Senna and Elio de Angelis in between Gerard Ducarouge and Peter Warr.

Clive Chapman on Ayrton at Estoril:
Ayrton’s first win was a great moment for him, Team Lotus and F1. So much so that in his own words Ayrton considered Estoril to be his greatest race. Together with Peter Warr and Fred Bushell my mother Hazel had kept Team Lotus going and Estoril was the first win since Colin died. A momentous occasion all round. Since then, it has been our privilege to maintain the car in running condition. Bruno driving at Estoril 40 years to the day is bound to be emotional and we are looking forward to sharing this with a global audience.

Team Owner since 1982 Hazel Chapman with Elio and Ayrton. The combination would score three GP victories in 1985

Chris Dinnage on Team Lotus and Estoril:
In 1985 everyone at Team Lotus was pulling together to get back to winning ways. With all the excitement and anticipation of getting Ayrton to join Team Lotus this victory was a huge boost to us all. After the disappointing fuel pump failure in the first race of the seaon in Rio, the Estoril win was just what we needed to lift the team up to a real high. You could see that from how the team went crazy both on the track and in Parc Fermé. We started to believe we had a realistic chance of the Championship.

Bruno Senna on Ayrton, Estoril and 97T/2:
Driving the 97T chassis 2 in Estoril to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Ayrton’s first F1 victory will be a very emotional moment for me. It’s always a huge privilege to be able to drive and experience Ayrton’s cars, but some of them have defined his career and hold a special place in mine and my family’s hearts. Estoril is a historic circuit that held a lot of its original character as well, so it will bring back very special memories, especially with my friends at Classic Team Lotus running the car.

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