Lotus Cars – Something from the weekend – 31/07/12

Posted on 31st July 2012

Lotus Cars have sent out their latest motor-sport round-up, looking back at this weekends outings in F1, GP2, GP3 and rallying.

Formula One – Hungarian Grand Prix Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean both reach the podium at the Hungarian Grand Prix and challenged Lewis Hamilton for victory throughout. It was Lotus’ second double-podium of the year, the drivers having finished the same way round in Bahrain. Kimi started fifth and lost a place to championship leader Fernando Alonso, forcing him to lap behind the Ferrari for his first stint and conserve his tyres. He had a problem with his KERS, which failed at the start of the race and only later returned at 50 percent power. Team-mate Romain, who started P2, was the one putting the initial pressure on Hamilton before pitting on Lap 19 and losing a second during his stop due to a slow rear tyre fit. Raikkonen profited as the pitstops shook out and rose to P4 on a long 26-lap stint on soft tyres before re-pitting for mediums on Lap 46, six laps after Grosjean and five after Hamilton, and preparing for a final hard charge.  Continue reading →

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Assetto Corsa Developer Q&A

Posted on 30th July 2012

If you’re a sim-racing and a Lotus fan then you won’t want to miss out on this one. Developed by the creators of netKar Pro and Ferrari Virtual Academy, Assetto Corsa – due out later this year – has the official Lotus Cars license and will feature a wide range of Lotus and Classic Team Lotus cars along with some of the most advanced car physics seen in gaming.

While it won’t be out for a few months yet, the developers have kindly taken some time out of their busy schedule to answer some of our members questions about the game and their work with Lotus.

You can read our full Q&A here, or find out more in our forum thread…

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LoTRDC – Oulton Park – Praise for Deacon as Bentley is made in Cheshire

Posted on 30th July 2012

Image courtesy of snappyracers.com

Another eventful weekend for the LoTRDC as the Lotus Cup UK and Elise Trophy series headed to Oulton Park.

Simon Deacon made the most of a safety car period during the Oulton Park round of Lotus Cup UK, whilst problems for the GWS Exige and championship leader Steve Train helped him to take victory in the one hour race. GWS’ Jamie Stanley used local knowledge to build a useful lead after an early challenge from Adrian Hall faltered during the pitstop sequence. However team mate Glenn Sherwood was unable to hold onto the advantage and just as Train took the lead both were handed penalties for pitstop infringements.

Deacon headed fellow 2-Eleven runner Tom Chatterway, whilst title challengers BJ Chong and Paul McNeily took Open class honours in third from the Evora of Steve Williams and Martin Donnelly.

Rob Boston took the Production class win, which made up for a relatively unsuccessful day in the Elise Trophy, at least by his high standards. Heading for a runaway victory in race one, a late drama
handed the win to Andrew Bentley, who took the second encounter on merit after fighting his way to the front from the reversed-grid.

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Sousa and Exige R-GT crash out of Madeira debut

Posted on 29th July 2012

Having only passed FIA homologation days before the event, Bernardo Sousa’s debut in the new Exige R-GT rally car in the Madeira round of the European Rally Championship was cut short on just the 3rd stage as electronic issues resulted in a crash which took the car out of the event.

Discussion: SELOC Chat – Exige R-GT first crash

LOTUS INTERCONTINENTAL RALLY PRESS CONFERENCE
The impossibility of intervention on the Lotus R-GT chassis, in Madeira, didn’t allow the return of Bernardo Sousa to the rally, after an accident on SS3 – Chão da Lagoa 1. Continue reading →

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Lotus F1 Team – Hungarian GP – Race Report

Posted on 29th July 2012

It looked today that the Lotus F1 Team could be in the running for their first race victory of the year, with Grosjean holding on to 2nd off the line and keeping within a couple seconds of pole sitter Lewis Hamilton through the opening two stints.

It was Kimi Raikkonen however who came through to battle for the win in the closing stages – running longer on his initial stints allowing him to lead briefly through the pit stops and holding on to 2nd place with a robust defense against his team-mate in to Turn 1 following his final stop.

Raikkonen pegged the gap to Hamilton at around 1 second for the rest of the race, but Hamilton managed to avoid making any mistakes and made his tyres last through to the end meaning Lotus had to settle for a double podium finish – but not that elusive first win.

Lotus F1 Team – Double Delight – The 2012 Hungarian Grand Prix [Report + Pictures]

Discussion: SELOC Chat – Hungarian GP 2012

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Lotus F1 Team – Hungarian GP – Saturday Qualifying

Posted on 28th July 2012

Lotus F1 improved on their recent qualifying form, with Romain Grosjean putting in a great lap to line up on the front row of the grid alongside pole sitter Lewis Hamilton for tomorrows Hungarian GP. Team mate Kimi Raikkonen qualified 5th.

The Lotus’s looked good through all 3 sessions, with both cars making it through the first stage without having to resort to using the softer Option tyres.

The team will no doubt be hoping the rain stays away for the race tomorrow allowing them to capitalise on this as they search for their first win of the season.

Lotus F1 Team – Ride Up Front – Hungarian Grand Prix, Qualifying [Report + Pictures]
Discussion: SELOC Chat – Hungarian GP 2012

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Lotus Cars – First Production Exige S comes off the Assembly Line

Posted on 26th July 2012

For years people said it would never happen, and even since it’s announcement some doubted it would make it through to customer deliveries, but the first production Exige S came off the assembly line today!

Discussion: SELOC Chat – New Exige S Begins Production

The first production Exige S came off the assembly line today and very soon the first customers will experience this exciting new Lotus, a car which has already produced very positive headlines in the automotive media

Lotus Chief Operating Officer, Aslam Farikullah stood proudly by the production line and talks about the significance of this event

How do you feel about reaching this particular milestone?

Aslam Farikullah: We are very proud of the Exige S. It marks the first step towards consolidating and then growing the company. I know that customers have been eagerly waiting for this car, and I assure them that it will be worth the wait. We wanted to be sure that we had a product that was absolutely ready before launching it. We are confident that the right time for the Exige S is now. Continue reading →

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Lotus Cars – Lotus Exige R-GT Gains FIA Homologation

Posted on 26th July 2012

Good news for fans of rallying today, as Lotus announce that the Exige R-GT, which is heavily based on the new Exige S road car, is the first car to complete homologation for the new FIA R-GT class and will make it’s competitive debut in Madeira, Portugal, for Round 7 of the European Rally Championship this weekend.

The Exige R-GT, driven by Bernardo Sousa, has already wowed fans with appearances at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and as the course car at the Ypres Rally, and we can’t wait to see it driven in anger!

Source: Lotus Cars – Lotus Exige R-GT Gains FIA Homologation
Discussion: SELOC Chat – Exige R-GT Passes FIA Homologation

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Lotus Cars – Lotus Evora GX fires-up for GRAND-AM Road Racing Rolex Series debut

Posted on 23rd July 2012

Lotus have released more information and photos today of the Evora GX, which is set to race in the American Grand-Am series next year in the new GX class.

You can find the full press release and gallery below.

 Later in the 2012 season the Evora will race under the Rolex Series’ GT rules as GX rules begin in 2013. With the Evora GX, the driving experience is even more pure, and the beefy body kit is even more aggressive.  Continue reading →

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Driven: Elise S vs. Elise SC

Posted on 23rd July 2012

For over a year we’ve been without a high-end Elise in the European market, so when Bell and Colvill gave us the chance to try their new Elise S demonstrator head to head with it’s predecessor, the Elise SC, it was an opportunity too good to miss.

Read our full review to find out what we though of Lotus’s latest offering.

Discussion: SELOC Chat – Driven: Elise S vs. Elise SC

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