Athletes and fans from around the world were poised to attend the Summer Olympics in Tokyo this week. Given the obvious concerns, the games have been postponed indefinitely. Although Lotus had planned to unveil their latest bicycle in front of thousands, they did it online instead. One day this masterpiece will dominate the track, just as its predecessors did. England’s best’ rode the Lotus Type 108 to victory in Barcelona in ’92, and the Tour de France Time Trial in ’94. Richard Hill is the Chief Aerodynamicist at Lotus, and he has been sculpting their cars for 3 decades. Also in charge of the bikes, he has different approaches for both.
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“The main difference is that with a bike you have a far greater proportion of the ‘machine’ constantly moving and changing geometry. The rider is also moving so it’s creating an unsteady air flow regime, whereas with cars you only have the wheels rotating. Another difference is the interaction with the ground. A car has a big ‘plan view’ profile, so covers and interacts with a lot of stationary road, whereas a bike has a much smaller footprint and significantly less interaction with the road. But at the end of the day physics is physics and you can’t cheat the rules on two wheels or four!” Click the link below for great incentives on his automotive masterpieces and stay with us for all your Lotus news.
