RM Sotheby’s has announced the sale of the 1986 Spanish Grand Prix and 1986 US Grand Prix-winning Lotus 98T car, driven by future three-time Formula One world champion Ayrton Senna. The auction starts on March 4 at Alton, UK.
The late Brazilian race driver raced the car eight times during the 1986 F1 season, scoring two victories, five pole positions and a further three podium finishes.
It’s among the most powerful Grand Prix cars in the history of the sport; capable of producing more than 746kW in qualifying trim, and the final F1 model to wear the iconic black-and-gold livery of John Player Special.
One of only four chassis built to contest the 1986 Formula One World Championship left Lotus in 1988 and comes with an unbroken chain of ownership that includes some of the world’s most respected collectors.
Designed by Gérard Ducarouge, the Lotus 98T was a significant improvement over the car that had delivered Senna his first F1 victory. Regulations hadn’t changed hugely since 1985 and power still remained unlimited, allowing the Renault-built 1.5l turbo engine to produce a reliable 671kW at 12,500rpm in race trim.
At that year’s Spanish Grand Prix, Senna pipped Nigel Mansell to the chequered flag by just 0.014 seconds.
Senna returned to his glittering best with the Lotus in Detroit, duelling with Mansell throughout qualifying before claiming his fourth pole of the season.
The race itself was another demonstration of Senna’s incredible gift. After starting well, the Brazilian ace briefly relinquished the lead to a charging Mansell, retaking it on lap eight after the Briton struggled to get temperature into his rear brakes. Then, on lap 14, disaster struck for Senna: a slow puncture forced him to pit from a 6.5-second lead. By the time he rejoined, he was in eighth place, a full 20 seconds behind race-leader René Arnoux.
What followed was a masterclass, as Senna one-by-one reeled in and passed first the Ferraris of Michele Alboreto and Stefan Johansson and then the McLaren-TAG of Prost, the Williams of Mansell, and the Ligier of Laffite, along the way also leapfrogging Arnoux, who had pitted on lap 18.
After eight laps of being pursued by Senna, race-leader Nelson Piquet dived into the pits, only to suffer a slow stop due to a sticking right-front wheel. With Senna leading, Piquet promptly posted the fastest lap of the race, only to push too hard on the next lap, smashing into the outside wall.
In just his third season in F1, Senna was already a national hero thanks in large part to the spectacular Lotus 98T and its sublime black-and-gold John Player Special livery; he was also becoming an icon.
Of the four cars built, chassis 98T-3 is the most special, having been driven exclusively by Senna. The car was bought directly from Lotus in 1988 and subsequently passed through a small number of notable and respected motorsport collections before being acquired by the consignor in 2016 and restored at the hands of renowned authority Paul Lanzante Ltd.
It’s expected to fetch between $9.5m and $12m (R155-R196m).
More information on the auction can be found here.
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