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May 24, 2012

[VIDEO] The Road to Le Mans

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In June 2011 Lotus Motorsport teamed up with Austrian racers Jetalliance to compete in the 24 Heures Du Mans round of the ILMC. Getting 2 cars to the start line was a significant achievement in itself as the decision to enter the race was made only few short months beforehand leaving the team without the usual luxury of time to prepare and plan, usually essential if you're going to enter into a race as gruelling as Le Mans. The Lotus-Jetalliance team were following during the build up to the race and the 24 hours itself by a film crew and here's the full video. TLF … [Read more...]

[VIDEO] Evora GTE – The Road to Le Mans

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Here's a taster of the video "Evora GTE - The Road to Le Mans' from Lotus Motorsport. Join the key players in the team which saw the Lotus Evora GTE go from the drawing board to the finish line of the 2011 24 Heures Du Mans in the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup's most challenging event in under six months. Hear from the drivers, the engineers and see exclusive footage from Spa, the 6 hours shakedown race and the 24 Heures Du Mans itself. You can read our full diary of the event here (parts I, II, III, IV) and view our entire image gallery from the race … [Read more...]

[PICS] Lotus in Le Mans

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You can read our reports from Le Mans here... http://www.lotuscars.com/motorsport/en/lotuslover-from-le-mans Please view our images from the weekend's Le Mans 24 hour below. … [Read more...]

Lotus in Le Mans (Part IV): Et fini

Evora over the line

The final 6 hours of the race are very exciting at the head of the pack with the lead 2 cars more often than not within 15 seconds of each other and at times the Peugeot even got close enough to threaten the Audi for overall lead. Even with 3 hours to go and rain giving the drivers something to think about the race was certainly not over. Down to less than 30 cars, almost half of the starters are out and the garage shutters are pulled down as the cars retire, almost in mourning but the Lotus Jetalliance car is carrying on as expected. No-one is patting their backs yet, … [Read more...]

Lotus in Le Mans (Part III): Into the night…

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  Le Mans is a race, it’s about the race but for most visitors, it’s also a social event and time to enjoy the pinnacle of GT motorsport with pals over a beer as the sun sets and the cars just don’t slow down! Thousands of people visit the track and camp out, some arriving a week beforehand to enjoy the weather and other attractions Le Mans has to offer with plenty of live gigs, support races, qualifying and other fun to be had. Some of the campers take this part more seriously than others, so far I’ve seen a 4-poster bed in gazebo, a panel van with … [Read more...]

Lotus in Le Mans (Part II): And they’re off!

Le Mans

You can tell it’s race day. Simple. There are about a million people here! The circuit is packed to the rafters and the excitement is clear, everyone is a race nut there and can’t wait until 3pm, the start of the 79th 24 Heures Du Mans. Before the race there’s time to visit the Lotus garages and see numbers 64 & 65 being finally checked, checked and checked again for the race. I’m with a TV crew who are filming a short documentary film for Lotus and they interview Claudio Berro, Lotus Motorsport Director who is clearly looking forward and also Gavan … [Read more...]

Lotus in Le Mans (Part I)

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The Journey Has Just Begun Lotus? In Le Mans? Really? After a 17 year break from the La Sarthe circuit, Lotus are again fielding a works team in the 24 Heures Du Mans. Fortunately for me, I’m going to be able to cheer on the Lotus Jetallliance team from Le Mans as I’m here, currently sitting in the hospitality enjoying what is very, well, slick and polished and as impressive as any other team in the paddock and in many cases, more so. Nice start Lotus! For me, Le Mans is more than just the race though. This is my 4th trip here and for a car enthusiast, the … [Read more...]

Nigel – “Been there, loved it!”

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  The legendary Nigel Mansell gives us his thoughts on this weekend’s Lotus Motorsport triple bill… Nigel, for those of us brought up on Formula One, oval racing is a bit of an anomaly. I know it’s much harder than it looks, but can you explain to us the challenges involved with those cars at those speeds and at those angles. Well the biggest challenge is concentration because at those speeds – averaging 200mph – if you have an accident, which is all too easy to do, it is going to be a really big one. You cannot relax for one second. After … [Read more...]

Lotus Evora GTE ready for Le Mans

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June 12th, 2009 – didn’t something happen that day? Indeed – Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer, Thomas Gruber and Germany’s Alex Müller got to the finish of the 79th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, sensationally taking third place in their class in their very first appearance! “It was an incredible moment – it will live on forever in my memory”, Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer says looking back . . . Two years later – this weekend (June 11th & 12th) – the squad from Oeynhausen in Lower Austria will again compete in this classic event – but under completely … [Read more...]

The road to Le Mans

Lichtner-Hoyer & Kalmar

 By competing in the ILMC race at Spa the new Lotus Jetalliance team has fought its first battle – now the next big goals are pending. Team owner Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer, who was not active for the first time in a long while for business reasons, talks about the première and looks to the future . . . A première without the team owner – how hard was it having to observe it all from afar? LLH: “No question, there’s a lot of my lifeblood in it. The first outing of a newly developed car is a great thing. Of course I very much would have liked to be there … [Read more...]

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