A look back at Sunday June 20th’s Classic Team Lotus Festival at Snetterton where we joined Clive Chapman and an example of every Lotus F1 car that raced between 1958 and 1994. Our third driver, Fairuz Fauzy, used the event to shake down chassis T127-04, giving Lotus Racing fans an exclusive first public look at our 2010 challenger on UK soil, and Jarno, Heikki, Fairuz and Mike Gaascoyne all drove classic Lotus F1 cars – an amazing day out for everyone!
Heikki Kovalainen drives Classic Lotus F1 cars
Elliot Moss drives a Lotus 18
It seems appropriate that on the day Elliot Moss, Stirling’s son, drives a Lotus 18 for the first time, courtesy of Classic Team Lotus, Stirling was winning the 1960 Monaco Grand Prix, the first Formula 1 win for Lotus, exactly 50 years ago. This was also the first time Elliot had ever driven a single seater let alone a race car on a race track, so the timing and type of car driven was very fitting.
The reason for Elliot driving is to demonstrate the Lotus 18 at the Classic Team Lotus Festival on 20th June 2010 at the Snetterton Race Circuit, along with 33 Formula 1 cars from the Lotus’s Formula 1 history. The festival will also feature the newest Lotus Formula 1 car on track, the T127, and its drivers Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli.
As Stirling is still recovering from the injuries he sustained from his accident back in March, Elliot will drive the Lotus 18 in a demonstration run, alongside a other Lotus Formula 1 cars around the Snetterton track. Stirling’s son did not follow his fathers professional career path, he is a trained chef and now run’s the family’s property business with his wife Helen who was present at Hethel to witness a little bit of Lotus and Moss history being made.
[via stirlingmoss.com]
Lotus Racing Steering Wheel explained
£40,000 worth of electronics explained
[via James Allen on F1]
Lotus Exige fire from the 24 Hours at Nurburgring
Gavan Kershaw, Matt Cummings and Roger Green had moved up to 11th in class at this weekends 24 Hours of Nurburgring when their race was ended by this fire. In the teams own words:
It appeared that Roger hadn’t seen the flames which were gaining in their momentum with flares from the rear of the car and wheel arch until they reached closer to the cabin. The heat ruptured a tyre and Roger slowed to the edge of the track and bailed out rolling to safety.
[via Lotus forums]
Mike Gascoyne explains the Barcelona Upgrades
James Allen recently visited the Lotus Racing factory in Norfolk and spoke to technical director, Mike Gascoyne. In this video, Mike talks about the upgrades added to the car for the Spanish Grand Prix and how they expect to gain between 1.5-2 seconds a lap.
[via JamesAllenOnF1]
2011 Lotus Elise Video
While we have shown you the new 2011 Elise and its fuel economy before, EVO just posted this video of their road test of the new 1.6L Elise variant for the UK. Enjoy!
Tyler McQuarrie Pole-Setting Lap from Long Beach
As we posted a few days ago, Tyler McQuarrie qualified on pole and won the GTS class at the SCCA World Challenge Event at Long Beach. He has just posted this video of his qualifying lap online – enjoy!
Tyler McQuarrie Qualifying Lotus for World Challenge from tyler@tylermcquarrie.com on Vimeo.
Old School Rallying video
Compilation of old school rallying videos from the time when men were men and safety was was for wimps.
For some extra Lotus content check out this video of Henri Toivonen in the Talbot Sunbeam Lotus. Toivonen and Guy Fréquelin drove the car to the 1981 World Rally Constructors Championship. Incidentally their co-drivers during the 1981 season were Jean Todt (current FIA president) and Claudio Berro (current head of Lotus Motorsports)
[via Jalopnik]
Caterham Motorsports Crash Reel
Fantastic highlight reel from Caterham Cars showing some spectacular crashes from the Caterham Racing series.