<< Prev Page 2 of 2 Four cars were readied for the Indianapolis 500 with the plan of fielding two as a Lotus works entry with STP backing and a single car as a STP entry for an American driver. Although slightly down on power compared to the piston-engined cars, the Lotus 56s proved to be quick straight out of the box. Unfortunately, Mike Spence crashed his car heavily in practice and tragically succumbed to his injuries a week later. The accident meant the spare car had to be pressed into service and a reshuffling of the driver line-up. Eventually Lotus and STP opted to run 1966 winner Graham Hill alongside seasoned Americans Joe Leonard and Art Pollard in what were by then referred to as the 'STP Wedges'.
During qualifying Leonard proved to be fastest of all with an average lap time of 171.599 mph, narrowly beating Hill, who would start alongside him. Leonard led the race early on and remained in contention throughout the event. Hill was the first to retire after his car hit the wall. Pollard's Lotus 56 ground to a halt after his turbine failed. Sadly, the same happened to Leonard while back in the lead with just ten laps to go. Both engines had died because of a minor component in the the fuel pump had broken. The three surviving cars remained in the United States and were raced by Granatelli and Parnelli Jones but with little success.
At the end of the year, both turbine engines and four-wheel drive systems were outlawed, rendering the Lotus 56 obsolete in its original form. Jones did race his car with a piston engine briefly and with little success. Back in England, Lotus did continue development work to create a turbine-engined Formula 1 car. Dubbed the 56B, it was ready in 1969 but did not race until 1971 when Emerson Fittipaldi drove it several times, scoring a second place finish in a F5000 race at Hockenheim. For such an experimental machine the deceivingly simple looking Lotus 56 was remarkably quick straight out of the box and came achingly close to score a debut victory. << Prev Page 2 of 2
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Four cars were readied for the Indianapolis 500 with the plan of fielding two as a Lotus works entry with STP backing and a single car as a STP entry for an American driver. Although slightly down on power compared to the piston-engined cars, the Lotus 56s proved to be quick straight out of the box. Unfortunately, Mike Spence crashed his car heavily in practice and tragically succumbed to his injuries a week later. The accident meant the spare car had to be pressed into service and a reshuffling of the driver line-up. Eventually Lotus and STP opted to run 1966 winner Graham Hill alongside seasoned Americans Joe Leonard and Art Pollard in what were by then referred to as the 'STP Wedges'.