The Lotus type 81 chassis number 5 was intended to be the sixth car of that type.  The monocoque was constructed, the chassis plate affixed and components manufactured.  However, the project was overtaken by the Team Lotus development of the first ever carbon composite monocoque, the success of which led to aluminium chassis becoming obsolete.

Although to the ‘B’ specification design – which featured a longer wheelbase – the chassis plate was stamped simply as 81/5 and was recorded as such by Team Lotus archivist Andrew Ferguson.

Together with a period DFV, gearbox, rear wing, wheels and suspension components, Classic Team Lotus has always had an eye on commissioning the car, which had sat in the stores since 1980.

Team Manager Chris Dinnage identified the opportunity to find time in the Raceshop at Hethel to build up the car, in between the core business of providing its historic motorsports service to owners, Worldwide.  Lead mechanic Tim Gardner had the initial task of sifting through the parts to realise the correct ‘B’ specification.  Meanwhile Composite Technician Nick Yallop worked on the bodywork, which was somewhat ironic as he was part of the team back in 1980 which realised the first Carbon composite monocoque, thereby leading to 81/5 not being completed, at the time.

81/5 is resplendent in its 1980 livery of Essex Petroleum, which created such a stir at the time, with wall to wall advertising at Grand Prix – especially Monaco – and extravagant promotional parties, including at the Royal Albert Hall.

On track the Lotus type 81 realised numerous podium finishes, but never quite made it to the top step.  Closest was the 1980 Monaco Grand prix, where Team Lotus came within a whisker of a landmark 1-2 finish, only to be thwarted by the extreme good fortune of a competitor bump-starting their car after a spin on the last lap.

So, 40 years on, 81/5 is ready to take to the track.  A zero miles 1980 Lotus Formula One car.  It is a shame that Andretti, de Angelis and Mansell did not get to drive her, but 81/5 is a Lotus F1 car with a special history for another reason.  

Article reproduced with thanks from Classic Team Lotus.

Romain Grosjean gave an emphatic performance in his final race for Lotus F1 Team with a sterling effort from P18 on the grid to P9 at the chequered flag in the final race of the 2015 FIA Formula 1 World Championship at Yas Marina Circuit for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Romain worked his way through the field with a superb driving display backed-up by exemplary pit stops and superb strategy. Pastor Maldonado was eliminated from the race on the first lap as a victim of an incident for which Fernando Alonso was penalised.

Lotus F1 Team end their 2015 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season in sixth position in the Constructors’ Championship with 78 points.

• Romain started from P18 on the grid on new Pirelli soft compound tyres (he qualified P15 but received a five place penalty for a gearbox change, but other factors elsewhere bumped him up the order). He changed to new soft tyres on lap 23, then new super softs on lap 43.
• Pastor started from P13 on new super soft tyres but was eliminated from the running at the first corner.

Romain Grosjean, P9, E23-04. Championship position P11, 51 points.
“It’s been an emotional journey for me and I’m so happy to be able to reward everyone at Enstone with points in my final race for the team. I had to push all the way and it wasn’t always plain sailing as there was a lot to manage on the car. The calls from the pit wall were great and my pit stops were fantastic. I owe a lot to this team and it really feels like a family to me. I hope to be back one day in the future. This has been the best season of my career.”

Pastor Maldonado, DNF, E23-03. Championship position P14, 27 points.
“It’s sad to end the race in the first corner because we were looking good for the race. Today we had a good strategy to go with our better race pace, but anyway this is racing and it can happen. I didn’t see the contact I just felt it in the back of the car from Fernando. I tried to restart but then I saw the suspension damage. Imagine if that incident had been the other way round, it would’ve been big news then!”

Federico Gastaldi, Deputy Team Principal
“2015 has been an incredible year for us for so many reasons and I must say a massive thank you to everyone who has supported us through what has been a character-building season. The resolve of everyone at Enstone has been tested, but we have come through. Today’s race was illustrative of the fighting spirit of Enstone and Romain did us proud in his final race with us. Pastor was the victim of someone else’s incident so couldn’t end the season as he wanted. Our focus is now completely on 2016; watch this space, there’s plenty more to come.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director
“Romain drove a superb race and it’s a testament of all the hard work that’s been put in under difficult conditions over the year from everyone in the team that he could finish in the top ten in the final race of the season. Our relative pace today was much better than in qualifying and we were able to harness a strong strategy to move up the order. Pastor was very unfortunate at the start as he had looked strong all weekend here.”

Romain Grosjean finished P9 and Pastor Maldonado P11 after spirited runs up the order in the Brazilian Grand Prix. After a disappointing qualifying yesterday, today’s 71 lap race saw both drivers making moves on their rivals whilst employing different tyre strategies. Pastor looked like scoring with P10 until late in the race and did receive a five second penalty, served at his final pit stop, for contact with another driver.

• Romain started from P14 on the grid on new Pirelli soft compound tyres. He changed to new medium tyres on laps 10 and 35, then scrubbed softs on lap 54.
• Pastor started from P15 on new medium tyres, changing to new soft tyres on lap 25 and new mediums on lap 44.

Romain Grosjean, P9, E23-04
“It was a fun race, and I enjoyed going through the field with some nice overtaking manoeuvres with our aggressive race strategy. It was quite hard to follow the cars but we had good power to overtake into turn 1. It has been an emotional weekend so it is good to be back in the points. The next race will be my last one with the team and taking the chequered flag in Abu Dhabi will be very special but I will give my best to bring a good result.”

Pastor Maldonado, P11, E23-03
“It was a very active race with lots going on. We used a different strategy to most by running with the slower but more durable tyre for the first stint, when it was difficult to make progress against those on the softs. That meant when we changed to the softs we could push harder in the middle stint and make some good places. Then at the end we were defending with harder tyres from those with softer and fresher ones so it was difficult to keep P10, but from where we started it was a good race.”

Federico Gastaldi, Deputy Team Principal
“A great job from Romain, and also from all of the race team here, to work so well at what is nearly the end of a very long season. Thanks too to everyone at Enstone for all their efforts which we were hoping would be rewarded by both cars in the points. It’s a big shame that Pastor received a penalty as otherwise he would have finished at least P10, and this is very frustrating for all of us.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director
“That was a strong race where we got back to where we should have been fighting after yesterday’s disappointing qualifying. Romain drove superbly today and Pastor should have scored too were it not for his penalty.”

Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado took the chequered flag just 0.6seconds apart after an exciting first Mexican Grand Prix in 23 years. Pastor overtook Romain at the start, but Romain emerged ahead after the first pit stop and the black and gold duo were seldom far apart for the rest of the 71 lap race.

• Romain started from P12 on the grid on his new soft compound tyres. He changed to new medium tyres on lap 11 and scrubbed softs under safety car conditions on lap 52.
• Pastor started from P13 on new soft tyres, changing to new medium tyres on lap 10 and scrubbed softs on lap 52.

Romain Grosjean, P10, E23-04
“It was great to see so many people here today; they are huge F1 fans and so knowledgeable. It was a pleasure to race in front of them, especially in the awesome stadium area where everyone was so passionate. It’s good to score, even if it was only one point! It was a long race and not easy as there was a lot to manage. The car was good on medium tyres, less so on softs. The safety car meant it was too risky not to come in and that meant finishing the race on the soft compound. This weekend was all about finding the grip and the track was definitely improving massively throughout the race. I think next year will be even more fun to drive once the grip has improved.”

Pastor Maldonado, P11, E23-03
“Our race was pretty good and it was great to cross the finish line to so many cheers and still pushing hard to pass Romain, though I would have preferred to be in front! I expected to struggle more with the brakes today, but everything was under control, so I’m disappointed not to be in the points after what was a strong race from us. I made a good start, but we lost time at the first pit stop. It was pretty tough at the end trying to overtake; I was a few tenths faster than Romain but it is tough to pass here. I missed a braking point at turn 12 late on, but my battle to beat him was lost in through traffic in the pits.”

Federico Gastaldi, Deputy Team Principal
“What a fantastic return for Formula 1 to Mexico. We saw a fast-paced and exciting race today where both our drivers were amazingly closely matched, showing they are both giving their all. The Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez is a wonderful venue and we received a superb response from all the fans. Everyone in the team continues to show their fighting spirit with just two races left this season.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director
“That was quite a straight-forward race for us to mark our return to Mexico. The circuit is very impressive and presents unique challenges from an engineering perspective. Both drivers drove strongly and intelligently and were very evenly matched throughout the race. Pastor lost time on his first pit stop from other traffic in the pit lane otherwise the finishing positions would likely be reversed, but he and Romain raced cleanly at every turn.”

Pastor Maldonado finished eighth in a highly eventful United States Grand Prix whilst Romain Grosjean retired from the race because of damage sustained to his car at the first corner. The Grand Prix started wet with a dry line emerging through the race. There were a number of safety car periods of both virtual and real iterations.

• Romain started from P10 on the grid on new intermediate tyres. He pitted at the end of lap one for new intermediate tyres, then lap 9 for new soft tyres. He retired at the end of lap 10 as a consequence of the lap one damage.
• Pastor started from P12 on new intermediate tyres, changing to new intermediates on lap 18 then new softs on laps 27 and 43.

Romain Grosjean, DNF, E23-04
“I had a good start, but in the middle of the first corner I felt a hit from behind. This gave me a puncture and the damage meant that the floor and braking cooling ducts were damaged. We tried continuing but the brake temperatures were just too high and we had to retire for safety reasons. It’s a shame because it would have been a good race as far as we know with the experience we have and the set-up we were on… Everything should have been quite nice but now we’ll never know!”

Pastor Maldonado, P8, E23-03
“We are in the points once again which is the main positive thing for the team. It was quite a busy race with a lot of fighting around me, and even some fighting with the car as it didn’t quite perform as expected. It was a little bit strange because we are normally quite strong in the races; better than in qualifying in fact. My crew were great all day with qualifying and the race. We hope to continue scoring strong points in the remaining races.”

Federico Gastaldi, Deputy Team Principal
“Firstly congratulations to Lewis Hamilton, a deserving world champion who took his title in the best way possible. He and the entire Mercedes AMG F1 team have done a fantastic job this year. It was an unfortunate day for Romain as his race was ended so early through no fault of his own. Pastor secured a good top ten finish which adds to our points tally. After a tough build-up to the race Formula 1 put on a great spectacle at the Circuit of the Americas so we thank everyone in Austin for all their efforts. I’m sure we’re all hoping for better weather next year!”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director
“It was an eventful race but we weren’t able to capitalise on all the opportunities. Unfortunately we had to retire Romain very early as his rear floor and brake cooling was damaged in the contact at the first corner. We tried to keep racing but it wasn’t safe to continue. Pastor scored useful points but we weren’t able to fight higher unfortunately.”