Lotus Jetalliance has passed the baptism of fire! In its first official race appearance the team brought the Lotus Evora GTE of Martin Rich (GBR) and Oskar Slingerland (NED) home tenth in class and 41st overall in the ILMC opener at Spa, the trio of James Rossiter (GBR), Johnny Mowlem (GBR) and Jonathan Hirschi (SUI) had to pass after about an hour due to an engine failure!
Team manager Jan Kalmar: “Even though some might not quite understand it because of the outcome – for us the appearance was a great success – considering what we’ve achieved on the whole in such a short time. We’ve seen that we’re not far adrift with regard to speed while also bringing a car to the finish in the very first endurance race. All that can’t be rated high enough.”
But Kalmar also knows that a lot of work is still ahead: “Most definitely, but now we will work even harder. What makes me very optimistic in this connection is the fact that our team is composed of staff members from eleven different nations, and that the team spirit is nevertheless really great. Everyone’s pulling in the same direction. And that’s why I’m also convinced that success will arrive.”
And how does team owner Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer assess the current situation? “It was obvious that we wouldn’t run the competition into the ground in our very first appearance. But the team has proven this weekend that we’re on the right track. It’s patently clear that we have to improve a lot and work both with regard to speed and on the reliability. But I’m upbeat that we’ll manage to do that within a short space of time.”
