Lotus F1 Team – One race ban for Grosjean

Posted on 2nd September 2012

Lotus F1 Team driver Romain Grosjean has received a 1 race ban for his part in the start line collision with McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton – the first time a ban has been handed out to a driver since 1994.

The incident, caused when Grosjean swerved across the track and inter-locked wheels with the slower starting Hamilton, lead to the two cars sliding in to Turn 1 at high speed, taking out the Ferrari of Alonso and the Sauber of Perez immediately and setting off a chain reaction that damaged several other cars.

The move will likely give Belgian driver Jerome D’Ambrosio his first chance to compete in the Lotus-Renault E20 in next race Italian GP at Monza, having joined the team as reserve driver for 2012 after racing for Marussia in 2011.

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Lotus F1 Team – Belgian GP – Race Report

Posted on 2nd September 2012

Lotus F1 Team still couldn’t deliver that first win they’ve been threatening all season at the Belgian GP but were able to claim another podium, keeping them 3rd in the constructors championship.

Romain Grosjean’s race ended before the first corner – with the Frenchman cutting across and hitting Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren as tried to move to the inside line for Turn 1. The contact triggered a chain reaction which vaulted his car across the top of Alonso’s Ferrari, taking 4 cars out of the race and triggering a safety car.

Raikkonen had benefited before the race had even begun from Maldonado’s grid penalty and started 3rd and was lucky not to be involved in the accident occurring behind him, but lacked the pace and strategy to really fight for victory – battling with Schumacher, Hulkenberg and Vettel during the race on what proved to be the less optimal 2-stop strategy – and ultimately having to settle for the bottom step of the podium.

Discussion: SELOC Chat – F1 Spa Francorchamps weekend schedule

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Showrooms in Newcastle and Hedge End joining the Lotus dealership network

Posted on 1st September 2012

Since Lotus put their dealers on notice in 2010 the dealership network has suffered some losses, but news has come this month of two new dealerships.

In the North-East Silverlink Specialist Cars have moved premises to Gateshead to open Lotus Newcastle. Local owners are invited to the official launch on Saturday 1st September.

Meanwhile in the South-East, Snows group are set to add Lotus to their Lexus showroom in Hedge End, Hampshire, with an official opening in January 2013 and more details to come soon.

The new introductions are great news for the company and it’s customers, offering more options for those looking to buy and service their cars.

Discussion: SELOC Chat – Heard through the Grapevine, New Lotus dealership Hedge End
Discussion: N.East England and Scottish Borders – Lotus Newcastle Launch Day – Invitation

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Lotus Cars – Something from the weekend – 29/08/12

Posted on 29th August 2012

The F1 may be on a summer break, but Lotus involved in plenty other motorsport last weekend….

WORLD ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP – LMP1 – SIX HOURS OF SILVERSTONE

Lotus-Rebellion extended its lead in the LMP1 Team Trophy for privateers, finishing fourth and sixth overall. Neel Jani made up one place from his P5 grid slot at the start and then gave chase to the dominant works Audis and Toyota. After a trouble-free first stint in the six hour marathon, he handed driving duties to Nicolas Prost. Continue reading →

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LoTRDC – Hall and Boston soak up festival atmosphere with wins

Posted on 21st August 2012

Image courtesy of snappyracers.com

It wasn’t all fun and games at this weekends Lotus Festival, there was also some serious racing going on in the Lotus Cup UK and Elise Trophy series.

You can find the LoTRDC press release below.

Adrian Hall held off the Go Green Motorsport Elise of Rob Fenn and British GT racer Adam Wilcox to win the Lotus Cup UK race at Brands Hatch, the headline event of the 2012 Lotus Festival. A large crowd watched the contest, which was shortened by a late red flag stoppage. An incident-packed encounter saw two safety car periods, but the winner soaked up the pressure. Mark Gooday took third place in his 2-Eleven, with Steve Williams and Martin Donnelly the V6 winners and Phill Capstick and Jack Goff the leading Exige Cup runners. Continue reading →

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Gallery – Lotus Festival 2012

Posted on 20th August 2012

This years Lotus Festival was a resounding success, with fantastic entertainment both on and off the track, particularly in the SELOC ‘Down the Hatch’ campsite and in the Lotus races out on track.

You can find our full gallery from the weekends activities below, along with members photos in our forum thread.

SELOC would like to thank all of those who made the weekend possible, particularly Burt, the members of Geoff Leppard, and all those involved at Lotus, LoTRDC and MSVR. Continue reading →

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Lotus Racing Exige V6 Cup specifications

Posted on 14th August 2012

We have just received the spec sheet for the Lotus Racing Exige V6 Cup Track Day car, which will be shown off at this coming weekends Lotus Festival.

The Exige V6 Cup Track Day car features the same basic specification as the Exige S road car – with the same drivetrain and open-differential – but will be converted post-registration by Lotus Racing to incorporate a range of extra safety and handling tweaks for the serious track day enthusiast.

The initial run of 20 cars, due for delivery between December 2012 and March 2013, will be compromised of a mixture of Track Day and Competition specification cars, with Track Day spec owners able to upgrade their cars to full Competition spec in the future if they wish to move up to the Lotus Cup series.

Exige V6 Cup – Track Day – Prices Start £62,995.00 Inc Vat (Limited Warranty)
Exige V6 Cup – Competition – Prices Start £74,995.00 Inc Vat (No Warranty)

Discussion: SELOC Chat – Exige V6 Cup Specs

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DRB-Hicom to invest more than £100m in Lotus

Posted on 11th August 2012

Malaysian news station NTV7 are reporting that DRB-Hicom is set to invest more than RM491 MLN (£100m) in Group Lotus plc in order to keep the British sports car maker afloat – with a view to return the company to an profit by 2014.

Although no further details are given about the companies future model range the piece also states that in the past 2 months DRB-Hicom have cut the operating costs of Lotus from over £7m a month to just over £5m.

Source: NTV7 – DRB-HICOM TO PUMP IN RM491 MLN INTO LOTUS
Discussion: SELOC Chat – Lotus future by DRB Hicom

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Lotus Festival – Lotus Rally Demonstrations

Posted on 8th August 2012

With just over a week to go before this years Lotus Festival we’ve got more news of the cars which will be taking to the Brands Hatch Tarmac Rally Stage.

A pair of Talbot Lotus Sunbeams, an awesome Banks Europa – complete with 2 litre Ford Duratec engine – and a Honda powered S2 Exige will all be looking to show off what Lotus’s can do on a rally stage.

Source: Lotus Festival – Lotus Rally Demonstrations
Discussion: Lotus Festival 18th-19th August – Lotus Festival news – Rally specials lined up
Tickets: SELOC Down The Hatch

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Lotus show off 2013 LMP2 challenger – ‘T128’

Posted on 1st August 2012

Lotus LMP2 have shown the first photo of their 2013 LMP2 challenger.

The 50% scale model of the car is pictured in the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 teams wind tunnel the car is being designed by the Lotus LMP2 team as a replacement for the Lola B12/80 chassis’s the team raced this year in the FIA World Endurance Championship, including the 24 hour race at Le Mans.

The new car, named the T128, is being developed by ADESS AG in Munich and will be available for customer teams to purchase and run with a variety of different engine options beyond the Lotus V8 currently used by the team.

Source: Lotus LMP2 – Lotus LMP2 shows first photo of the new Lotus T128
Discussion: SELOC Chat – Lotus ‘T128’ 2013 LMP2 Challenger

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