Lotus Cars – Lotus Raises The Style Stakes in Monaco

Posted on 30th May 2012

Lotus Originals officially opened the doors to their Monaco outlet over the Grand Prix weekend, giving the principalities residents and visitors a chance to take a look at the complete Lotus Originals range 6 weeks before the brands London Regents Street store is due to open.

Also on display in the store was a classic Lotus Elan and a carbon fibre bike from Condor Cycles, finished in the black and gold colour scheme used by Lotus in many forms of motorsport including F1.

You can find the full press release and gallery below. Continue reading →

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Lotus F1 Team – Monaco GP – Sunday Race

Posted on 27th May 2012

A disappointing race for the Lotus F1 Team today, with Grosjeans race coming to an end before even reaching turn 1 as contact with Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher broke the Frenchman’s rear suspension and set off a chain reaction which also took Kobayasi and De La Rosa out of the race.

Räikkönen lacked overall race pace – trying to extend his opening stint on the super soft tyres to accommodate for rain which never arrived – and fell back to 9th at the chequered flag.

Lotus F1 Team – Street Battle – 2012 Monaco Grand Prix: The Race [Report + Pictures]

Discussion: Chapman Arms – Monaco GP

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Lotus F1 Team – Monaco GP – Saturday Qualifying

Posted on 26th May 2012

It was a dramatic qualifying hour for the Lotus F1 guys as they bounced back from some early struggles – with Räikkönen hoovering in the drop zone with just a few minutes to go in Q1 and both cars only making it through to the top ten shoot-out in the dying moments of Q2 – to set the 5th and 8th quickest times.

Q3 leader Michael Schumacher’s five place grid penalty sees Romain Grosjean promoted to 4th on the grid. Räikkönen however still seemed a little ill at ease with the car, having lost considerable time on Thursday to setup changes and rain.

Lotus F1 Team – Harbour Heat – Monaco Grand Prix, Free Practice 3 [Report + Pictures]
Lotus F1 Team – A Matter of Inches – Monaco Grand Prix, Qualifying [Report + Pictures]
Lotus F1 Team – Kimi Räikkönen – “Sunday is the priority; that’s our focus” [Q&A + Pictures]

Discussion: Chapman Arms – Monaco GP

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Lotus F1 Team – Monaco GP – Thursday Practice

Posted on 24th May 2012

The traditional Thursday practice today in Monaco and, while Räikkönen opted to sit out FP1 to make changes to his steering rack and then suffered from a disrupted FP2 as the rain began to fall, Grosjean showed the teams pace finishing both sessions in P2.

The Frenchman’s time in FP2 was particularly impressive, just 0.4s behind Jenson Button despite not setting a time on the Super Soft tyres fitted to the McLaren.

Lotus F1 Team – The Lone Ranger – Monaco Grand Prix, Free Practice 1 [Report + Pictures]
Lotus F1 Team – Pick N’ Mix – Monaco Grand Prix, Free Practice 2 [Report + Pictures]

Discussion: SELOC Chat – Monaco F1 – first and second practice

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Exige S Demo Days

Posted on 24th May 2012

Lotus have a selection of demo days planned for the new V6-engined Exige S in the coming months, giving potential customers their first chance to drive this highly anticipated model.

Below you can find the list of dates we’ve had confirmed by dealerships thus far. For more details be sure to contact your local dealership.

June
Lotus Silverstone – June 1st/2nd
Bell and Colvill – June 8th/9th
Lipscomb Lotus – June 15th/16th
Castle Lotus/Hilton Moss – June 22nd/23rd

July
Westover Lotus – July 4th/5th (July 4th the car will be at Castle Combe for a track day, with a Lotus instructor giving hot laps of the circuit)
Stratton Motor Company – July 6th/7th
Stratstone Leicester – July 11th/12th
JCT600 – July 13th/14th
Christopher Neils – July 18th/19th
Murrays Motor Company – July 20th/21st

Discussion: SELOC Chat – Exige S Demo Days

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Maidstone Sports Cars Win At Brands Hatch

Posted on 21st May 2012

Maidstone Sports Cars took outright victory in only their second Lotus Cup UK race this weekend. The teams Damien Hirst liveried Exige S1 beating stiff competition from Go Green Motorsport and the Hofmanns run Europa.

In the Elise Trophy Rob Boston continued his winning ways, with victory in both the weekends Elise Trophy races.

Source: Maidstone Sports Cars – Team MSC Achieve Maiden Victory at Brands Hatch
Discussion: SELOC Chat – Elise Trophy & Lotus Cup UK 2012 – season info thread

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Evo Magazine – Exige S Group Test and Esprit Celebration

Posted on 18th May 2012

Evo Magazine have a treat in store for Lotus lovers this month, with the July Issue 171 featuring a pair of articles on the marque.

The new V6 engined Exige S takes the cover and this months main article as the £52,900 sports car faces off against the £98,765 Mercedes C63 AMG Black, £128,466 Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0, £117,630 BMW M3 GTS and £84,450 Nissan GT-R Track Pack making up what is sure to be the cars toughest test yet as they take to the Nurburgrings GP and Nordschleife circuits and the areas surrounding roads.

Also featured this month is the Esprit Celebration, with Contributing Editor Jethro Bovingdon taking in the best of the Esprits 25-year history with drives in the Esprit S1, Essex Turbo, Sport 300, S4S, GT3 and Sport 350.

Discussion: SELOC Chat – This months Evo magazine – lots of Lotus content.

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Event Focus – LoTRDC – Brands Hatch *DTM* – Elise Trophy & Lotus Cup UK

Posted on 16th May 2012

The LoTRDC guys are out in force again for Round 2 of this years Elise Trophy and Lotus Cup UK at Brands Hatch as part the DTM race weekend.

Besides the Lotus racing and DTM there are some exciting attractions in store, including a pair of F1 World Champions, with Damon Hill’s comeback to racing in the Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup and McLaren’s Jenson Button getting behind the wheel of the Mercedes-Benz DTM ‘race taxi’.

You can find the latest information for the weekend on the MSVR website, or in our forum thread.

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Lotus Cars – Something From The Weekend – 14/05/2012

Posted on 14th May 2012

A strong weekends racing for Lotus, with podiums in the F1, GP2 and GP3 races in Barcelona and a 2nd in class for Team Bullrun in the Britcar race on the Snetterton 300 circuit.

Source: Lotus Cars – Something From The Weekend – 14/05/2012

FORMULA ONE – SPANISH GRAND PRIX

Kimi Räikkönen bagged his second podium on the trot in Barcelona, charging hard to finish third behind first time grand prix winner Pastor Maldonado and, by just half a second, Fernando Alonso. Continue reading →

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Lotus F1 Team – Spanish GP – Sunday Race

Posted on 13th May 2012

Lotus F1 Team was hotly tipped for victory in todays Spanish GP at Barcelona, but in the end couldn’t quite match the pace of the front row sitters of Maldonado and Alonso despite a late race surge from Kimi Raikkonen, while Romain Grosjean followed home in fourth.

The result gives the team another useful haul of points, closing the gap to McLaren in 2nd in the constructors points and keeping them ahead of Ferrari.

While it wasn’t Lotus’ day to return to the top step of the podium few will begrudge William taking a much deserved race win, their first since 2004.

Lotus F1 Team – Photo Finish – 2012 Spanish Grand Prix, The Race [Report + Pictures]
Lotus F1 Team – Kimi Räikkönen – “I’m sure we can make that last step” [Q&A + Pictures]
Lotus F1 Team – Romain Grosjean – “There is a real belief within the team that we can win” [Q&A + Pictures]

Discussion: SELOC Chat – Spanish GP

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