The Belgian Grand Prix at Spa lived up to all expectations and produced an incident packed race that saw Lotus Racing again finish ahead of their nearest rivals. Heikki Kovalainen recovered from a slow start to finish 16th, and Jarno Trulli crossed the line in 19th, a spin late on dropping him back a few places after he had put in a very strong performance in the constantly changing weather conditions.

Heikki Kovalainen (Chassis T127-01) 16th, fastest lap 1.55.797 – lap 23, 3 stops – laps 1, 3, 33: “I had a bit of a problem at the start when the engine bogged down, and I activated the anti-stall, but I was already being passed by the time I could get up to speed. The rain had started and unfortunately I damaged my front wing in the last turn so I had to pit. We took a gamble with the inters but the rain stopped, so I had to come back in and I lost out to the group ahead of me. After that it was a question of doing the best job I could, and keeping us in with a chance of taking advantage of the rain at the end, and as it turned out we managed to pick up a few places at the end and finish 16th.”

Jarno Trulli (Chassis T127-04) 19th, fastest lap 1.55.103 – lap 24, 1 stop – lap 33: “It was pretty exciting out there, an eventful race where lots of things happened, but that’s normal for Spa! At the start I went wide to avoid Heikki and unfortunately was overtaken by a couple of other cars. After that I was struggling a bit in the early stages with my rear tyres overheating – fortunately they came back so I could started pushing and managed to pull away from the guys behind, so that was a good stint until the rain came. I had quite a big margin over my nearest competitor so I was looking pretty good, but then the safety car came out. At the restart I was following the other cars but obviously the visibility was very poor and I made a bit of an error on a high speed corner, touched the white line with the rear end of the car and it just slipped away from me, which meant I lost places. I continued, but then the race was over from there. I’m glad we got both cars home, and it’s good to see we’ve still got an advantage over our nearest rivals, so bring on Monza!”

Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: “An exciting race and a typically eventful one here in Spa. Neither driver had a great start which meant we lost a few places, and Heikki had a problem when the rain started. We changed him onto intermediates, but were then a little slow in changing him back, but he drove a great race, and was quick at the end in the wet conditions, and he again brought us home best of the new teams. Jarno drove a strong race. He struggled initially with the tyres, but in the middle part of the race his pace was very strong, and it’s just a shame that he had a spin in the difficult wet conditions as it would have been nice to have had both cars finish ahead of the other new guys. But despite that, both cars finished and overall this has been a good weekend for the whole team.”

Riad Asmat, Chief Executive Officer: “I feel great. I think we achieved what we wanted to do – we got both cars home and we’re still ahead of the other new teams. It’s a bit unfortunate that Jarno spun out, but it’s all part of racing. He recovered well and I think we’ll all move on from this point and feel confident we can put in a good performance in Monza, and the remaining races. I think the team did great today and there was maximum effort involved, so well done to everyone. The rain of course threw everything out of sync, but we survived it today and we’re really happy.”

Lotus Evora Cup/GT4 at Laguna Seca

Lotus Press Release

New Lotus Evora Cup/GT4 race car and four Lotus 2-Eleven GT4 race cars take on the Nürburgring.

The new Lotus Evora Cup/GT4 makes its racing debut this weekend (28th-29th August 2010) in the hands of Lotus rookie driver Ollie Hancock.

Lotus Motorsport has entered the Lotus Evora Cup/GT4 in the “Invitation” category of the European GT4 Championships as part of a year long development programme prior to a full GT4 championship assault in 2011. The GT4 will also be made available as a customer race car to privateer racing teams.

With 360 PS and weighing in at just 1190 kg, nearly 200 kg less than the road going Evora, the new Evora GT4 carries the Lotus Type Number 124 and represents part of Lotus’ new strategic GT motorsport programme, further details of which will be announced at the Paris Motor Show on the 30th of September 2010.

Lotus Evora Cup/GT4 at Laguna Seca

Liveried in striking Lotus Motorsport Green with a yellow twin-stripe running down the centre, the Lotus Evora Cup/GT4 brings the iconic colour scheme back once again to sports car racing.

The Evora Cup/GT4 will debut just a matter of hours after Lotus announced the new 350 PS, supercharged Evora S road car, to be unveiled at the Paris Motor Show. Information about the new Evora S can be found here http://www.grouplotus.net/mediacentre_pressreleases/image/536.pdf.

Already, the Lotus Evora Cup/GT4 has undergone a punishing and extensive development programme with Lotus Racing’s F1 driver Jarno Trulli, experienced GT racer Johnny Mowlem and Lotus Motorsport’s own Product Manager Gavan Kershaw as part of the development team.

Lotus Motorsport’s IndyCar driver Takuma Sato and 1996 Champ Car  winner, Jimmy Vasser have also given extensive feedback having driven the Evora Cup/GT4 at the legendary Laguna Seca race circuit in early August, giving Lotus’ newest race car a most diverse and comprehensive pedigree.

Accompanying the Evora’s debut will be four ultra lightweight Lotus 2-Eleven GT4 race cars, two of which will be entered in the Lotus Motorsport colour scheme and run by NFS Racing Dubai. The other two cars will be run by Team Scuderia Giudici, who currently lead the GT4 “Super Sports” Championship category.

For those who can’t make the journey to the Nürburgring in the beautiful Eifel region to see the Evora Cup/GT4 making its first racing appearance, then GT racing fans will have an opportunity to see a second Evora Cup/GT4 in the slightly less hilly surroundings of Norfolk where Lotus Motorsport’s Product Manager Gavan Kershaw will be giving demonstration laps during the Snetterton round of the British GT4 Championships also over the weekend of the 28th and 29th of August.

Lotus Press Release

It’s an Evora but not as you know it

Ahead of the official unveil at the Paris Motor Show on September 30th, Lotus announce the latest evolution of the award winning Evora – the Evora S and Evora IPS (Intelligent Precision Shift) option.

Lotus has taken the award winning* Evora and re-created it with a 350 PS 3.5l V6 engine to create the Evora S. Dany Bahar Lotus’ Chief Executive Officer summed it up beautifully when he said: “You don’t realise what you were missing from your driving experience until you get behind the wheel of the Evora S.”

So apart from the obvious power difference, how is the Evora S different to the standard Evora? It’s another question we put to the CEO (given that he’s spent a little time behind the wheel, we thought he’d be best placed to answer questions). This is what he said: “It’s the next level of Evora experience. It communicates with you better, the suspension setting has been fine tuned for added power and control so it responds even more to direction. It’s an instinctual car, the experience is pure.”

“We were proud of the Evora but we’re even prouder of the Evora S, I feel like it does the true Lotus experience justice. The really great thing is that as we move forward the standard Evora should also benefit from some of these developments.”

The Evora S comes with a sport pack as standard featuring a ‘sport’ button which allows the driver to control throttle response and activate the exhaust by-pass valve. The sport button also raises the instantaneous rev limit and changes the dynamic stability control settings resulting in a total experience change. There are cross-drilled brakes for improved cooling. And here’s a heads up for those who buy into the old adage ‘you can tell the men from the boys by the size of their toys’: the external emotion of the Evora S has been improved with a completely new active exhaust which means that at the push of a button the car sounds just as dramatic as it feels.

Commenting on the Evora S, Lotus Chief Commercial Officer Andreas Prillmann said: “The Evora S is a natural progression for us but more than that, it’s a taste of what people can come to expect from the next generation of Lotus cars. It retains core Lotus values such as performance through lightweight but it also gives more than that. It’s the perfect combination of top performance, style and comfort. Form doesn’t sacrifice function in the case of the Evora S.”

So there you have it folks, the next generation of Lotus Evora, the Evora S, set to be unveiled at the Paris Motor Show.

But that’s not all. In addition to the Evora S, Lotus also presents the IPS (Intelligent Precision Shift) option. This inception of the seven-time-award-winning (who’s counting? We are!) Evora sees an automatic 6-speed gearbox with Lotus developed transmission control with a 3.5 l V6 engine delivering 280 PS assuring a superior automatic driving experience.

The IPS version of the Evora allows the driver to switch between manual paddle shift and automatic drive modes. The driver also has the option of selecting ‘sport’ mode which showcases the Lotus sport driving experience allowing the driver to really feel each gear shift and be in complete control of the transmission.

Commenting on the development Dany Bahar said: “The Evora IPS is set to broaden the appeal of the Evora and reach out to a slightly different market. We hope it will be popular with established automatic locations such as Asia, the Middle East and the US. It’s been a long time since Lotus created an automatic and we’ve spent a great deal of time refining this one to make sure that it perfectly complements the Evora drive experience.”

*Evora Awards
Car Magazine – Performance Car of the Year 2009
“There are executive saloons that don’t ride this well, super cars that don’t turn in so crisply, and surely no car on the planet steers like this. Lotus has managed to transfer everything that we love about the Elise to a bigger, more refined, more grown up platform…It couldn’t really be much better to drive – the Evora is nigh-on perfect. A winner on every conceivable level.”

Top Gear – Sports car of the Year 2009
“Its pretty, quintessentially British, fast and handles like a dream. Evora takes Lotus to a new place in terms of quality but more importantly delivers a sports car rush that puts other marques to shame.”

Evo Magazine – Car of the Year 2009
“It’s a magical thing across the ground, deft like an Elise, with exceptional poise and feel. What was telling for me was that, getting into it after any of the other finalists, it was even better than I remembered: a bit smoother, a bit quicker and even sweeter dynamically, too. It’s a beguiling car. … A quite brilliant car and worthy winner.”

Autocar – Britain’s best Driver’s Car 2009 Editor’s Special Award for Excellence, Group Lotus
“The best here. Brilliant on the track. Nimble, delicate and forgiving. Even better on the road.”

iMotor – Most Rated Car of 2008
“It’s [Lotus Evora] ‘rated’ score of 95 per cent is truly impressive and enough to see it beat brilliant machines such as the Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 and Nissan GT-R.”

Sport Auto: (Readers Choice)
Best production sports coupe under €100k – 2nd place

Auto Revue:
Sportscar of the Year 2009 – 2nd place

Our friends at Kilometer Magazine have published their review of the Lotus Evora, and it’s well worth your time to read.

Accompanying their review is a set of superb wallpaper-quality photography as well.

Click here to read the full review.

Lotus Evora 414E Hybrid

Lotus is awaiting news from the UK Technology Strategy Board on whether it will be awarded funding to continue development of the revolutionary Lotus Evora 414E Hybrid.

If awarded the funding, another prototype will be built and development will continue.

Originally unveiled at the Geneva show in March, the Evora 414E incorporates a drivetrain of twin motors producing 207 PS / 204 hp and 400 Nm / 295 lb-ft torque channeled to each wheel via independent, single speed, reduction transmissions integrated into a single housing. This setup enables dynamic torque vectoring control of the vehicle.

Also featuring on the Evora 414E is the Lotus Range Extender, which is set for production, along with HALOsonic sound technologies and an unprecedented gearbox engineered to mimic the driver involvement of a dual-clutch transmission.

For more technical details, read our earlier article on the Evora 414E.

If a production version with a drivetrain close to the specs of the concept saw the light of day, would you seriously consider one over a standard Evora or the upcoming Lotus Evora S? Add your thoughts in the comments.

[Source: Autocar]

[View with PicLens]

Photo courtesy of Autoblog

The Evora S prototype pictured above was caught on the Nürburgring last week nearly undisguised. More photos at Autoblog.com.

Scheduled to debut at the 2010 Paris Motor Show in October, the Evora S exterior is nearly identical to the standard car. Keen-eyed Lotus enthusiasts will recognize the more pronounced rear diffuser.

The technical differences are really what’s important for this variant — the Evora S will arrive with around 350 hp, which should be enough to challenge critics of the standard car who felt the Evora could use more power.

Expect a 0-60 mph time in under 5 seconds. Braking and cooling upgrades are not expected, as the capacities necessary have already been engineered as part of the standard Evora.

The Toyota-sourced V6 was originally designed for adaptation to a supercharger for Toyota’s Australian-exclusive Aurion TRD sedan, which produced 323 hp and was notably the world’s most powerful front-wheel-drive car when it debuted in 2007. The Aurion TRD was only available with a 6-speed automatic, perhaps the same transmission that will appear in the Evora automatic. How much the Evora S will share with the Aurion TRD’s engine remains to be seen, but could the Evora S be perhaps only equipped with an automatic transmission like the Aurion TRD? Hopefully, elimination of manual transmissions is not part of Lotus’s Ferrari-chasing future ambitions.

Toyota Aurion TRD

Toyota Aurion TRD engine

[Sources: Autoblog, Autocar, Toyota]

A private email conversation between Lotus Cars USA and Lotus Cars PR was supposedly “accidentally forwarded” last week to members of the media on the Lotus Cars media email list, including Lotus Enthusiast.

In the email, Lotus confirms, “yes the Evora S and Evora Auto will be on the stand in Paris alongside the new car(s) not yet announced (let’s maintain the mystery for now!)”. That other new car is of course the much-rumored new Lotus Esprit, which may also join another rumored new GT car on the stand in Paris.

Evora S production cars will be ready for media test drives in the United States immediately after the show. We should have more information on both the Evora S and the Evora automatic by the end of the month, when Lotus is scheduled to publish official press releases for both cars.

Private communications are seldom “accidentally forwarded” by the automaker itself to the entire media — was this a clever publicity stunt or a human/technical error? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Lotus Motorcars of Long Island dealer principal Tom Papadopoulos is donating this brand new British Racing Green 2010 Evora to be auctioned at the Gooding & Company Pebble Beach Auctions this weekend with all proceeds from the sale going to the Save the Children organization.

Save the Children works to ensure that children in need grow up protected and safe, educated, healthy and well-nourished, and able to thrive in economically secure households.

Click here to view the auction listing. You can watch the auctions live on August 14-15 by clicking here.

The Golden Gate Lotus Club recorded a short video interview with Stephen Wright of Lotus Motorsports.

Interestingly, Wright mentions that Lotus Racing played no significant role in the development of the Exos. Is Exos a project of Michael Kimberley or the management under Dany Bahar?

Each Lotus Exos T125 will be built in Norfolk, with the first cars ready by March or April 2011.