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Top, the bet is on - or how Colin Chapman proved the speed of the Lotus 22

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Created on March 2, 2013

Text:

Daniel Reinhard

Photos:

Daniel Reinhard

2

Archiv Reinhard / Max Pichler

14

Daniel Reinhard

2

Archiv Reinhard / Max Pichler

14

Monza on Dec. 2, 1962 at 12:30 p.m. - "Top the bet is on" - Peter Arundell starts the 30-lap sprint in the Lotus 22

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Peter Arundell, Richard von Frankenberg and Colin Chapman

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Richard von Frankenberg - Ex-racing driver and motorsport journalist

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Colin Chapman - Lotus founder and technical genius

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Peter Arundell, British racing driver in the service of Chapman

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Team Principal Colin Chapman personally pushes the Formula Junior Lotus 22 onto the grid

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Peter Arundell climbs into the Lotus 22 - you can see Colin Chapman on the left

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Peter Arundell, casually but business-like dressed, boarding the cramped Lotus 22

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Peter Arundell in the Lotus 22, behind him Colin Chapman and on the left Heinz-Ulrich Wieselmann, then editor-in-chief of Auto, Motor und Spor

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Peter Arundell completes the 30 betting laps with the precision of a Swiss watch

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Peter Arundell receives a euphoric reception after the betting victory

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Peter Arundell and Lotus have won the bet - to the left of Arundell is Colin Chapman and to the right Richard von Frankenberg

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Peter Arundell is harassed by the journalists

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Richard von Frankenberg (left) congratulates and apologizes to Colin Chapman

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Damon Hill on the inferior Arrows, with which he almost won a Grand Prix in 1997

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Tom Walkinshaw with Damon Hill

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Summary

When Richard von Frankenberg, a journalist working for a German car magazine, accused Lotus owner Colin Chapman and his team of cheating in the Formula Junior race in Monza in 1962, Chapman quickly rented the race track again six months later to prove otherwise. This report not only tells this special story and its background, it is also extensively illustrated with photos from that time, some of which have never been shown before.

This article contains the following chapters

Von Frankenberg accuses Chapman of cheating
Proof to the contrary will be provided in Monza
30 laps at an average speed of 185.5 km/h
Constant doubts and suspicions of fraud

Estimated reading time: 3min

Preview (beginning of the article)

Imagine if the well-known Formula 1 journalist Michael Schmidt, who works for the car magazine "Auto Motor und Sport", had doubts about Sebastian Vettel's pace in Monza and accused the Red Bull team of cheating. Whereupon Didi Mateschitz would rent the race track in Monza without further ado and have his FIA-approved racing car drive the race distance again with Sebastian Vettel at the wheel as proof. Absolutely unimaginable today! But this is exactly what happened in the 1962 season: the Lotus 22 Formula Junior cars were so fast that Richard von Frankenberg, a specialist journalist and ex-racing driver who wrote for the magazine "Auto Motor und Sport", accused the British of cheating.

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