![]() The writing was on the wall for Walker long before he was dropped for the Italian and Canadian GPs after Lotus discovered he had secretly tested for another Formula Two team. Walker struggled enormously, with Lotus questioning the Australian's driving technique, fitness and mechanical sensitivity, while Walker in turn claimed that Lotus gave him inferior equipment to Fittipaldi (which, if true, would hardly be surprising given that Fittipaldi was fighting a one-man assault on both championships). Fittipaldi was one of the up-and-coming men of Formula One, and he and Lotus, armed with a new sponsorship from John Player Special, expected to challenge.įittipaldi and Lotus fulfilled their part of the bargain, but it was a wholly one-sided team effort. Walker may have been five years older than Fittipaldi, but there was no question about who was the senior driver. Team principal Colin Chapman saw enough in Walker to offer him a full-time drive alongside Fittipaldi for 1972. ![]() The Australian had been 1969 British Formula Ford champion, and decimated the opposition in the 1971 British F3 series - winning 25 out of 32 races and earning a one-off drive for Lotus at the 1971 Dutch GP. What made the whitewash all the more startling was Walker's undoubted pedigree in junior formulae. As Fittipaldi became the youngest champion in F1 history, with three poles, five wins and a lowest racing finish of third (discounting Canada where the Brazilian had to pit for repairs, finishing 11th) delivering 61 points for Lotus, Walker took a best finish of ninth, a best qualifying position of 12th, and contributed zero points to Lotus' winning effort in the constructors' championship. Walker holds the ignominious record of being the sole driver in F1 history to fail to score a point while his teammate won the World Championship. There have been greater Grand Prix drivers than Emerson Fittipaldi, and there have surely been much worse Formula One racers than Dave Walker - but never have two team-mates been more grossly mismatched than when Fittipaldi and Walker lined up alongside each other for Lotus in 1972. Dave Walker has the ignominy of being the only driver to non-score in F1 as his team-mate clinched the world title
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |