Ex-Lotus F1 driver Trevor Tailor dies at the age of 73, after losing his fight against cancer
Trevor Tailor managed to score on podium finishes in 29 races for Lotus in the 1962 Dutch grand prix. Trevor always raced with a yellow outfit and was credited as the originator of the yellow stripe down the middle of the Lotus Racing car after the officials
objected to the all-green Lotus at the Indianapolis 500 at the Brickyard in 1963.
Tailor was the son of a garage owner from Rotherham and made his mark in Formula 3 after securing the 1958 championship before moving to Formula 2 the following year. The British driver won the Formula Junior title as a Lotus driver and successfully retained
his title in 1961. An injury to Innes Ireland gave him his first Formula 1 break and Trevor drove alongside Jim Clark.
The ex-Lotus driver went to South Africa at the end of the year for four non-championship races and finished second in the first one, crashed in the second and retired in the third before winning the fourth. Tailor had to face some unfortunate accidents
and was blameless in many.
Trevor opened the 1962 season with a second place in the Dutch Grand Prix but his returns were indifferent otherwise. The British driver survived a big crash at the Spa Francorchamps later on. Tailor underlined the non-championship races with his exceptional
performances including wins at the Mexican and South African grand prix.
He opened the 1963 season with a sixth-place finish at the Monaco grand prix but yet again, was not able to capitilise while his teammate Clark won the world title. Tailor was replaced by Peter Arundell at Lotus and moved to the British Racing partnership
to take on an underperforming car in 1964. The late British driver scored a single point that season at the USA grand prix when he finished sixth as the last finisher of the race. He ran his own touring car team that year as well known as the Aurora Gear Racing
with his sister and competed in Formula 2 in 1965 as he did not have an F1 drive.
He had committed to touring cars by then and made a final and fleeting outing in the F1 at the British grand prix in 1966. He won the Tourist Trophy in a Lola T70 and ended his career as a leading Formula 5000 driver before his retirement in 1972.
Lotus has been one of the most recognized and legendary teams in F1. The team began its Formula 1 journey in 1958 and returned to Formula 1 this season once again. Lotus produced many championship winners and has a total of 7 constructors’ championships
to its name. It is an honour for Team Lotus to produce drivers like Trevor Tailor.
It is a shame that Lotus is facing many problems regarding rights to the name, as the team is legendary and has been in the Formula 1 for over 50 years now. Lotus Racing sold its rights in 1990 after its departure from Formula 1 and is now struggling a lot
in terms of performance and finance. Lotus has a rich history of producing drivers such as Ayrton Senna and Alan Prost.
Lotus will be attended the court hearings at the London High Court later this year in order to keep rights to their name for the year 2011 and beyond. There was some sort of conflict between the two companies regarding some t-shirts printing issue and after
keeping it under the table for quite some time, Lotus Racing was bound to release the press against Group Lotus, a car making Malaysian company owned by Proton.
Formula 1 hopes that the legendary team comes to the best conclusion in its meetings ahead of this weekend in order to keep the legacy and give us a sign to remember all the legends including Trevor Tailor.
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