The Evora Cup race car has been launched, and will be eligible for racing in the GT4 category and an innovative one-make Lotus Evora Cup.
The Evora Cup racer, unveiled at the Autosport International racing car show in Birmingham today, will cost £120,000 excluding taxes.
The race car is powered by a 4.0-litre V6 with 'more than 392bhp' according to Lotus - the road car has a 276bhp 3.5-litre V6 powerplant. The racer also has a dry sump and Cima six-speed sequential paddle shift dog gearbox.
Chris Arnold, commerical motorpsort director, said: "It's been fun working with a new Lotus. As good as the Elise, Exige and 2-Eleven are, the bigger size, weight and power of the Evora allow us to compete in larger and more prestigious series than before."It elevates us higher up the grid within motosport and we can compete at a higher level. It adds more prestige to the brand."
Other motorsport tweaks include adjustable dampers, six-piston front brake calipers and two piece aluminium belled brake discs, plus standard safety equipment.
The car also sports a Dallara developed aero package, which includes a number of updated carbonfibre parts for greater downforce and improved cooling. It also helps bring the racer down to less than 1200kg - more than 200kg less than the production car.
The one-make Evora Cup series will employ an unusual structure; points will be awarded to competitors for entering events, and being in the top five competing Evoras to finish.
The season will then culminate in two Lotus Festivals, with provisional dates for Donington Park in the UK (16/17 October) and the second at Vallelunga in Italy (21/22 November 2010). All Evora competitors from around Europe will be invited to race at these festivals and there will be double points on offer.
The championship winner will be the driver who accrues the most number of points from a maximum of six races over the season, and a prize fund of 'at least 100,000 euros' (£89,000) is being offered.
The final design and specifications of the Evora Cup racer will be presented at the Geneva motor show in March.
In 2011, Lotus says it intends to introduce a pan-European one-make race series for the Evora Cup.
Twitter - follow autocar.co.uk
Join the debate
Add your comment
Re: Lotus Evora Cup racer launched
I'm fairly local to Donington, and my guess is that racing is unlikely there this season. Tom Wheatcroft's family is the owner of the circuit, and has promised to make the track useable again, but is looking for a new owner/investor to take the venue onwards, according to an interview with his son in the local paper.
Re: Lotus Evora Cup racer launched
Lotus should do a road version of this car, a bit like the GT3 Porsche.
I also noted that the Lotus race event is to be held at Donington. From what was recently reported a Land Rover would be more suitable as they have dug up the track and as they have gone bust who is going to relay it?