LoTRDC – Donnelly joins Williams for attack on Lotus Cup UK title with Evora

Posted on 26th March 2012

Lotus Driving Academy Chief Instructor and Former F1 driver Martin Donnelly is teaming up with Steve Williams to campaign the teams freshly built Evora GTN race car in the Lotus Cup UK in 2012.

Source: LoTRDC – Donnelly joins Williams for attack on Lotus Cup UK title with Evora

LoTRDC stalwart Steve Williams will team up with former Lotus Formula One driver Martin Donnelly in an Evora for a joint assault on the Lotus Cup UK title.

Williams, whose eponymous garage business will build and prepare the car, is taking advantage of the new GTN kit offered by the Norfolk manufacturer. Starting with a road car, the package of suspension and powertrain upgrades brings the V6-powered Lotus up to full race specification. With Donnelly piloting a works-entered car to victory at Snetterton last year, the combination has huge potential, however the first Evora GTN is sure to need time to get up to full speed. At least three more similar cars are also expected to join the grid during the year. Continue reading →

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Lotus Cars – Lotus Establishes Bespoke Partnership With Mansory

Posted on 26th March 2012

The relationship between Lotus and Mansory has been growing over the past couple years, the German company working with Lotus on the Evora by Mansory concept car and to provide the carbon fibre bodywork for the Evora GTE.

Lotus have now announced Mansory as the Lotus Cars’ Official Customisation Studio, with the company set to produce a range of bodywork, trim and special finishes for the Lotus Elise, Exige and Evora.

Discussion: SELOC Chat – Lotus Establishes Bespoke Partnership With Mansory

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

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Lotus Shows Promise in Indycar Opener

Posted on 25th March 2012

A less than perfect start to the season for the Lotus engined Indycars in St Petersburg today, with 3 of the 5 Lotus entrants retiring with technical difficulties in a race which saw the debut of not just the Judd developed Lotus engine but also the new Dallara DW12 chassis and aero-package.

There was some positive news however, with Sebastien Bourdais looking competitive mid-race having started last on the grid. The Frenchman ran strongly, catching and passing Chevy and Honda engined cars and reaching as high as 2nd place before retiring 27 laps from the end.

At the chequered flag Alex Tagliani came home first of the Lotus runners, coming in 1 lap down and in 15th out of 19 finishers from the original 26 car grid for Lotus Bryan Herta Autosport. Oriel Servia was 16th in the Lotus Dreyer & Reinbold Racing car.

Discussion: SELOC Chat – Indycar – St Petersburg Race

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Lotus F1 Team – Malaysian GP 2012 – Sunday Race

Posted on 25th March 2012

A week on from Melbourne and a similar story for Lotus in the second race of season at the Malaysian Sepang circuit.

After a fantastic start, which saw him leave Turn 2 in 3rd place after starting 6th, Romain Grosjean unfortunately retired early on after a spin at Turn 4 when he made contact with Michael Schumacher then beaching his car in the gravel as the weather worsened.

Räikkönen started 10th after a 5 place grid penalty for a gearbox change and drove a solid and consistent race with particularly good pace in the wet conditions which saw him set a number of fastest laps and saw him battle with the Red Bull of Mark Webber, but lost the pace as the track dried and ended the race trailing the Australian in 5th.

The result sees Lotus F1 sitting 5th in the Constructors championship, with Räikkönen 7th in the drivers standing having scored all of the teams 16 points thus far. The team also should win a special PR prize for supplying the media with ‘Sepang Sundae’ Magnum Ice Creams courtesy of Kimi Räikkönen…

Discussion: SELOC Chat – Malaysian GP 2012 – Race

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SELOC and Lotus Driving Academy Late Booking Discount

Posted on 24th March 2012

Following on from the SELOC visit to the Lotus Driving Academy earlier this month we’ve managed to secure a late booking discount for the remainder of 2012, giving SELOC Forum Members the chance to experience the revised 2012 Lotus Driving Academy Level 1 and 2 courses at 2011 prices!

Full details can be found on the Track Days and Driver Training Members Benefits page, and don’t forget SELOC Forum Membership is free.

Discussion: Club Benefits & Discounts – Lotus Driving Academy – Late Booking Discounts

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2012 Indycar Season Kicks Off

Posted on 24th March 2012

It’s not all about the F1 weekend, with the 2012 Indycar season kicking off on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida.

Along with the new Dallara DW12 chassis the 2012 season also sees Lotus returning to the sport with a new, Judd built, 2.2 Twin-Turbo V6 engine and entries with 4 teams and a total of 5 drivers, including the Lotus Dragon Racing team with multiple Champ Car champion Sebastien Bourdais.

If you want to find out more about what 2012 has in store for Lotus in Indycar you can find out more on the Lotus Cars site, and keep up to date with the latest results on Indycar.com.

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Lotus F1 Team – Malaysian GP 2012 – Saturday Qualifying

Posted on 24th March 2012

Things may have been hotting up in the Lotus F1 Team hospitality unit, with the team suffering a fire from a faulty refrigerator, but both drivers stayed cool in qualifying and were able to make it comfortably through to Q3 and line up inside the Top 10.

Kimi Räikkönen had a particularly good session, setting the fastest time in Q2 before finishing Q3 in 5th with an identical time to 4th place man Mark Webber, while Romain Grosjean finished the hour in 7th, one place behind Sebastian Vettel.

Even after Räikkönen’s gearbox penalty both drivers will be lining up in the top 10 on the grid, with Grosjean starting in P6 and Räikkönen P10.

Discussion: SELOC Chat – 2012 Malaysian F1 Qualifying

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Lotus F1 Team – Malaysian GP – Thursday

Posted on 22nd March 2012

The Lotus F1 Team have been on a major PR offensive in Malaysia today, with drivers Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean touring the Proton headquarters and meeting with the Lotus Cars Club of Malaysia.

Elsewhere on the Lotus F1 site you can find the teams Sepang track guide, how the Renault RS27 engine deals with the high temperature and humidity of the Malaysian climate, and whats at stake for the team in their latest blog update.

Discussion: SELOC Chat – F1 Malaysian GP Weekend Schedule

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Lotus F1 Team – Malaysian GP Buildup

Posted on 21st March 2012

It’s the second race of the season this weekend and Lotus F1 are making a big splash in the run up to race in the home country of Group Lotus owners Proton.

To warm people up the Renault R30 was out last week with Chinese driver Ho-Pin Tung entertaining crowds at the Proton Roadshow at the Stadium Nasional Bukit Jalil in Kuala Lumpur.

Elsewhere on the Lotus F1 Team site you can also find the teams latest blog, Selamat Datang ke Malaysia [Welcome to Malaysia], facts and figures on the teams former races at Sepang as Benetton and Renault, and the teams full preview for the coming weekend.

Discussion: SELOC Chat – F1 Malaysian GP Weekend Schedule

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Eric Boullier Looks Forward While Jean Alesi Looks Back

Posted on 20th March 2012

There are a pair of F1 related articles for you to enjoy this Tuesday.

Over on the Lotus F1 Team website there is an interview with Team Principle Eric Boullier talking about what he expects from the team in Sepang this weekend and for the rest of the season, while on the Lotus Cars website Lotus Ambassador Jean Alesi shares his thoughts on the teams performance in Australia.

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