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| Lotus Elise 111R - Nuno Silva |
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| Lotus Elise S - Pedro Charais |
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| Lotus Elise 111R - António Queirós |
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| Lotus Elise 111S - Nuno Santos |
MEDIA INFORMATION 18 February 2011  Anyone harbouring under the misapprehension that Lotus might be moving away from performance through lightweight only needs to take a quick ride in the new 1.6 Lotus Elise Club Racer to know that's definitely not the case. The bright engineers at Lotus put even the lightest of Lotus' modern cars on a diet and managed to shed a further 24kg. So how did Lotus manage to make one of the lightest models on the market even lighter? The engineers behind the Elise Club Racer took a stripped-to-the-bare-bone approach visualised by the body-coloured seats but materialised in many ways such as the motorsport derived lightweight battery and the deletion of noise insulation. Attention to even the smallest of details has ensured that Lotus' passion for performance through lightweight has been translated throughout the car. For the first time ever an Elise variant comes complete with a Sport setting for the DPM (Dynamic Performance Management) allowing even the less experienced sports car drivers to feel at the top of their game, while the ability to switch it off completely will please the more established track orientated drivers. DPM combined with improved agility courtesy of Lotus finely tuned sport suspension and an adjustable anti-roll bar will make the Elise Club Racer equally versatile for both road and race track fun. Wolf Zimmermann Chief Technical Officer Lotus Cars said: "The traditional Lotus approach of reduction and purity has lead to one of the most zeitgeist and contemporary sports cars around. For over 15 years the Lotus Elise has become an icon in the sports car market, carving out a niche market with a dedicated following of lightweight fans. The new Club Racer will definitely give these people something extra to get their teeth stuck into. This car epitomises everything that's cool about the Elise – it's fast, raw, responsive and a huge amount of fun to drive." Quality throughout the vehicle has been a top priority, highly regarded component suppliers such as Eibach for springs and Bilstein for dampers ensure that the Elise Club Racer is a car of substance as well as style. The Elise Club Racer pleases the eye as well as the soul with a choice of six striking colours (Sky Blue, Saffron Yellow, Ardent Red, Aspen White, Matt Black and Carbon Grey) and bespoke design elements that emphasise the character of the car. It's pocket pleasing too, at £27,500 / €34,450 / CHF48,900, the Elise Club Racer marks the new entry level sports car from Lotus. And with the Elise standard of just 149g CO2/km plus the weight reduction, the new Club Racer provides maximum fun without so much of the green-guilt usually associated with high performance driving. Lotus Elise Club Racer: Purity, performance, pleasure - a TRUE Lotus. |  |
O piloto alemão Nick Heidfeld, convidado para substituir Robert Kubica, obteve o melhor tempo no terceiro dia de testes no circuito de Jerez, suplantando as marcas de Mass e Schumacher conseguidas nas sessões anteriores.
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Mantendo a tradição, decorreu este fim-de-semana o Encontro dos Desportivos Ingleses do ACP Clássicos.
Pelo 8º ano voltaram a juntar-se mais de 160 magníficos exemplares que, entre 1937 e 2009, abarcaram 70 anos da História Automóvel.
Como já vai sendo hábito, do Reino de Sua Majestade compareceram desde os mais puros super-desportivos aos modestos utilitários, passando pelos mais elitistas e vanguardistas até às raridades só é possível encontrar nestes eventos.
Desta feita, após o típico early breakfast, quem partiu de cabelos ao vento da Praça de Londres em Lisboa, onde se conseguiu esse espantoso feito que é enregelar ao sol, apontou à Foz de Arelho refrescando-se ainda mais debaixo de uma chuva copiosa que sempre foi dando um ar da sua graça ao longo do dia.
Está claro que não faltava o profissional Road-Book que todos estamos convencidos que alguém lá mais à frente vai a seguir à risca. Assim, depois de um reconfortante late breakfast, foi vê-los passar de um grupo de largas dezenas de Clássicos a alguns grupos fragmentados até aos intrépidos isolados que, como eu, completamente perdidos lá se valeram do GPS para conseguir chegar à Batalha.
Nesta lendária povoação, os “turistas” foram visitar o Centro de Interpretação da Batalha de Aljubarrota enquanto os “desportistas” foram acelerar num circuito montado no centro tentando ser regulares no contra relógio.
Seguiu-se o sempre memorável banquete que decorreu na Quinta do Fidalgo, do Grupo Tromba Rija, onde num ambiente entre o Very British e o Very Relaxed, todos conviveram até a noite ser escura.
Os Lotus, esses nobres representantes do melhor que os Desportivos Ingleses já tiveram e, para nossa felicidade, ainda têm, eram uns dez!
Entre vários Elan's, Seven, Europa, Esprit e Elises a Lotus esteve dignamente representada, não deixando de cativar e fascinar um vasto público de interessados que acompanha e é atraído por este já famoso encontro.
Uma vez mais, a Equipa do ACP Clássicos está de parabéns e há que reconhecer publicamente que só o profissionalismo, a dedicação e simpatia com que se dedicam à organização deste evento o torna num Encontro incontornável no panorama automobilístico nacional.
Dentro de um ano haverá certamente mais, como sempre, no último fim-de-semana de Janeiro que ficaremos a aguardar com ansiedade.
Até lá !
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MEDIA INFORMATION 31 January 2011 Bruno Senna Joins Group Lotus Lotus Renault GP's latest signing takes on development role for Group Lotus The iconic Senna name is once again united with Lotus as Bruno Senna signs with Lotus Renault GP as third driver and also becomes the latest ambassador for Group Lotus. Bruno's test driving role with Group Lotus is very development focussed and will see him provide valuable input into all Lotus cars, both track and road. Commenting on the announcement Bruno Senna said: 'It's a really exciting opportunity from both Group Lotus and Lotus Renault GP. To be able to develop my Formula One career within a World Championship winning organisation and to do so in conjunction with some hugely interesting work for such an iconic sports car company as Lotus is a once in a lifetime opportunity. "Lotus has placed a great deal of faith in me and I am looking forward to beginning work on the technical side of our relationship. Giving feedback into the development of the Lotus road and race programs will be a fun but challenging way to spend time between my Formula One commitments as a reserve driver for Lotus Renault GP. "My relationship with Lotus is just at the beginning, for me the aim is to continue to make progress in my Formula One career whilst at the same time contributing to the success of the various Lotus projects I will be involved with. There are some fun times ahead!" Lotus Director of Motorsport Claudio Berro said: "We're delighted to have Bruno on board. In his young motorsport career he's built up a great armoury of skills and experience. He's a fast learner and this talent combined with his ability to shift between different types of race car will make him a great asset to Lotus. Normally people like to talk about the 'technology transfer' between F1 and road cars but in Bruno's case we're opening this up to an intellectual transfer – we're certainly going to keep him busy!" ENDS |
