The Lotus Evora Type 124 Endurance Racecar has been developed from the award-winning Evora road car and is built to FIA regulations and safety standards.

The Type 124 (pronounced One Twenty Four) Endurance Racecar is the next step in the evolution of the Evora. The car will make its 24 hour racing debut at the ADAC Nürburgring 24 Hours which provides a great test for the Evora’s performance, efficiency and durability under tough and demanding endurance race conditions.

At the heart of the Lotus Evora are fundamental racecar elements: mid-engine layout, high-tech and super-stiff extruded and bonded aluminium chassis and very strong lightweight forged aluminium wishbones. All these elements mean that it is a natural evolution from the road going Lotus Evora to a competitive endurance racecar.

From the outset the design team had intentions to take the Evora racing and the chassis was designed with this in mind. Endurance races are the perfect events to showcase the efficiency, handling and durability characteristics that have been fundamental to the concept of the Evora.

124 Lotus Racecar

The Lotus Evora Type 124 Endurance Racecar has a race-tuned version of the mid-mounted Toyota V6 engine, with power increased to over 400 ps (depending on race regulations). Vehicle mass is expected to be reduced by up to 200 kg, bringing the weight of the racecar to less than 1200 kg (depending on race regulations).

Further changes for the Lotus Evora Type 124 Endurance Racecar include a six speed sequential paddle shift racing gearbox, full FIA specification roll cage, FIA-compliant 120 litre ATL fuel system, FIA fire extinguisher system, competition carbon fibre rear wing, diffuser and front splitter.

The racecar is fitted with AP Racing 6 piston callipers front and rear, with a race-tuned Bosch ABS system, 4-way adjustable dampers and adjustable anti-roll bars. The racecar runs on 18” rims shod with Pirelli racing slicks and the wheels widths have been increased over the roadcar to 9 ½ J on the front and 11 J on the rear.

The aerodynamically efficient Lotus Evora Type 124 Endurance Racecar body design, made from lightweight composite and carbon fibre panels, remains predominantly unchanged from the road car, with the only modifications being to the lower sections of the front and rear clamshells and the side sills.

Luke Bennett, Director of Lotus Cars Limited, said, “Motorsport has been in our blood ever since our founder, Colin Chapman, built the first Lotus back in 1948. We are proud of our motorsport history, which includes victories in Formula One, Le Mans, saloon car, rally car and sportscar racing around the world; more recently, we won the British GT3 Championship in 2006 with the Lotus Exige. The Lotus Evora Type 124 Endurance Racecar is from the same unique stable and we expect it to be a competitive racecar when we enter various endurance races next year.”

Roger Becker, Vehicle Engineering Director for Group Lotus Plc said, “Every Lotus car is designed to be at home on the race track as well as the road, and the Evora is no different. Designed primarily as an everyday road car, the Evora’s lightweight and stiff structure, its aerodynamics and performance means that it is perfectly suited to taming race tracks around the world, and we are looking forward to seeing the new Lotus Evora Type 124 Endurance Racecar line up on the grid for the 2010 season.”

The racecar is expected to compete in a number of endurance races in 2010/ 2011 forming part of a factory-supported race program. The races that are targeted are: The 2010 ADAC Nürburgring 24 Hours (Nürburgring Nordschleife, Germany) in May 2010, Merdeka Millennium 12 Hours (Sepang, Malaysia) in August 2010, BritCar 24 Hours (Silverstone, UK) in October 2010 and the Dubai 24 Hours (Dubai Autodrome, UAE) January 2011.

Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena completed the opening day of the 2009 Rally Italia Sardinia in third place, a result which puts them in a position where they won’t have to sweep the stages for their rivals when competition resumes on Saturday. It turned out to be a somewhat tougher day, however, for Dani Sordo and Marc Marti who are eighth.

Day 1 of the Rally Italia Sardinia took crews south of the rally’s base to the Budduso region for a loop of three which featured a bit of all the different conditions competitors face this weekend, ranging from rough to much faster surfaces. The hot, dry weather meant that the first day was always going to be difficult for the first driver on the road who faced the task of sweeping a clean line in the sandy top-coating which covered the hard-packed gravel base underneath.

Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena had no alternative than to push as hard as possible, but the Frenchman was in a positive frame of mind on his return to Olbia for service after SS3: “The conditions were very slippery and we had to be especially careful when braking. We’re only 15 seconds down on Latvala, which is less than I had feared.”

Despite posting the quickest time on Loelle 1 (SS2), Dani Sordo was more than a minute behind the leader at this point: “We incurred a 30-second penalty before the start of SS1 following a problem with a turbo sensor. The first two stages went well for us, but we dropped a little time on SS3 when I couldn’t avoid hitting a stone which was in our direct path. The impact ripped off the hose from the remote front-right damper reservoir which lost all its fluid.” The mechanics profited from the 30-minute lunchtime service halt to change the engine subframe and suspension wishbone, too, and Dani restarted with a further 30-second time penalty.

Sébastien Loeb continued to push during the afternoon and claimed the best time on SS5 before choosing to lift on the day’s final test: “I realised I wouldn’t be able to hold off Hirvonen running first on the road. Even pushing as hard as I was, I wasn’t able to pull out a gap. After a lot of hard thought, we decided to leave Latvala with a forty or so second lead so that he would choose to stay in front. At the same time, Mikko got his sums wrong and he too will start ahead of us tomorrow. It’s a gamble being 43 seconds down on Latvala this evening. We will see on Sunday whether we did the right thing…”

Dani had a more straightforward run this afternoon: “The mechanics put my C4 back in perfect shape at the lunchtime service halt, and that meant I was able to push hard and post some good times this afternoon. Being overnight eighth means I will have a good start order tomorrow. I will continue to drive as quickly as I can because I believe fourth place is an achievable target.”

Thiscoming weekendthe biggest Motorsport event in Germanytakes place in the Eifel: The 24 Hours at the Nürburgring. KennethHeyer, finished thisrace in thirdposition overall in 2008, will again be startingin the same Team ina Porsche 997RSR.

The Porsche 997 RSRentered by the Frikadelli Racing Teamwill be prepared and run by the sameexperienced, successful crew of 2008.
Interwetten.com Driver Kenneth Heyer will be paired with drivers Klaus Abbelen, Sabine Schmitz and Dr. Edgar Althoff in the 450 hp Porsche.

Interwetten.com Driver Kenneth Heyer:”The 24 Hours of the”Gruene Hölle” is a endless long time.You will only have success here if you are concentrated and use your head.The equipment you are in is very important, with the Porsche we have a very proven racing car.

• Over 200 Racing cars participate
• More than 200 000 spectators will be present
• 16 hours of live TV coverage
• 24 hours of live streaming and all Information at: http://adac.24h-rennen.de

Heyer Jr.has just arrived back fromthe second FIA GT event in Adria (I), where he just missed his first pointswith 9th position in his Ferrari F430 GT.
Kenneth: “Of course I am not happy with the result, however, the lap times I ran in my stint, were very competitive.Our luck is that theFIA GT racing Season is still long!Now, I havefull concentration for the 24h of Nürburgring. I am excited to work again with the Frikadelli Team. Firstly, of course, tofinish is important, but with the Porsche, this strong driver pairing, I am hoping for a topresult”.