Over the years, the Lotus Cup Race Series has developed into one of the most successful race series brands in the world, often with capacity grids of Elise, Exige, 2-Eleven and Europa race cars racing and jostling for position. Previously operated from several countries in Europe and Japan, the Lotus Cup has now expanded considerably to include the USA, UK and Eastern Europe.

Not only has the Lotus Cup grown in size, the organisation of the series has been consolidated. For the first time this year, drivers will now race to one set of rules, regulations and formats in championships around the world including:

• Lotus Cup UK
• Lotus Cup Europe
• Lotus Cup Italy
• Lotus Cup USA (West Coast)
• Lotus Cup USA (East Coast)
• Lotus Cup Eastern Europe
• Lotus Cup Japan

Director of Lotus Motorsport Claudio Berro said: “Lotus sports car racing is one of the most popular forms of accessible motorsport in the world, both at a spectator and participant level. Now is the time to bring these championships under the Lotus umbrella, to ensure consistent look and feel to the competition. This will have obvious benefits to the current drivers and encourage new racers, ensuring that the cars and components remain good value and the competition retains its accessibility.”

Lotus will provide increased support and investment for these race series and will also ensure that the new Cup Championships retain the community feel and friendliness that an enthusiast based race series needs.

The Lotus Cup Championships will receive a new identity, logos, branding, website and Corporate Identity which are aligned closely to Lotus’ new motorsport strategy and initiatives announced over the last few months and consolidated at the Autosport show last weekend.

Global Calendars for the Lotus Cup Championships (subject to change)

For further information regarding the Lotus Cup please contact Lotus Motorsport: motorsport@lotuscars.com

Lotus Motorsport are delighted to announce a new ambassador in the form of Nigel Mansell. Mansell will also complete the Type 125 test driver line-up as he joins fellow former F1 driver Jean Alesi and Lotus factory driver James Rossiter to put the F1 inspired customer race car through its paces at Yas Marina Circuit™ in Abu Dhabi this week.

Nigel Mansell is no stranger to Lotus, over 30 years ago Lotus founder Colin Chapman spotted him when he was racing in F3 and signed him up as a development driver giving the future world champion his break into the sport. Mansell rejoins Lotus to take on another development role and, alongside Alesi and Rossiter, he will play a crucial role in ensuring that the Type 125 is the most enjoyable and challenging race car experience on the market.

Commenting on the announcement Nigel Mansell said: “I’m really looking forward to getting behind the wheel of the Type 125, I can’t wait to see how it handles the new circuit in Abu Dhabi. Returning to Lotus in this capacity brings back a lot of memories for me. I will always be extremely grateful to Lotus and especially to Colin Chapman, who was so inspirational and almost like a second father to me. I’ve been watching the developments that have been taking place recently at Hethel with their ambitious race and road car projects with great interest. I’m really delighted to see that Lotus is back where it belongs competing with the best in the top echelons of motorsport.”

Nigel isn’t the only member of the Mansell family to be welcomed into the current Lotus Motorsport fold. Mansell’s two sons, Leo and Greg received their Lotus début just over a week ago as they formed part of the team that took on the gruelling Dubai 24 hour race, the team had a spectacular first outing in the new Evora GT4 Endurance race car, with a great performance resulting in a third place podium finish for the category.

Lotus Director of Motorsport Claudio Berro said: “We’re very pleased to have Nigel on board for the test in Abu Dhabi, he brings a wealth of experience to the team and we’re looking forward to getting his feedback on the Type 125 experience. In addition to the test, we also have a group of private individuals who will be the first to drive and possible own this incredible race car in Abu Dhabi and these guys will be looking to the professional test drivers for advice on how to get the most out of the car.”

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It was an exciting day, with Jarno enjoying a visit to the production facilities, meeting Lotus staff and driving the new Lotus Evora – the first Lotus he has ever driven!

Jarno was also given a special tour of the Classic Team Lotus workshops by Clive Chapman, son of Lotus founder Colin Chapman. During the visit to Classic Team Lotus Jarno viewed some of the most successful and iconic F1 racing cars of all time. The tour was steeped in Lotus heritage and included some of the F1 cars that helped Lotus to achieve 79 GP wins, seven constructor’s titles and 6 drivers’ championships, including, Emerson Fittipaldi’s Type 72, Graham Hill’s Type 49 and Jim Clark’s Type 25.

Dany Bahar, CEO of Group Lotus plc said, “The family gets bigger with the arrival of Jarno. It was very special to host Jarno at Group Lotus, he is an exceptional driving talent and we wish him and Lotus F1 Racing every success for the 2010 F1 season.”

Dany Bahar continued, “We take great pride in the sports cars that we produce at Hethel and Jarno’s visit provided a great opportunity to show off the multi-award winning cars that we produce and the advanced niche production facilities at Hethel.”

Jarno had a fantastic time driving the Lotus Evora and visiting the home of the iconic Lotus marque, commenting, “Gino Rosato and I come from the same region of Italy, Abruzzo, we have been close friends for years and it was always a dream of ours to work together. Claudio Berro and Dany Bahar are also old friends and I honestly never thought that I would get the opportunity to work with these great people.”

He went on to say,” It was a great occasion and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the fantastic Classic Lotus F1 cars and new Lotus models. The facilities at Group Lotus are very impressive and I was amazed at the dedication and craftsmanship that goes into the production of Lotus cars. The Lotus Evora lived up to all my expectations of what a Lotus would be like to drive. It is clearly a very well engineered car that provides an exceptionally rewarding drive and I am looking forward to Lotus’ exciting future.”

Top of the wanted list is Jarno Trulli; now his seat at Toyota has been whipped away from under him as the troubled Japanese motor giant has pulled out of F1.

"We are looking for two drivers with experience," said Gascoyne. "We are not looking for pay drivers or new drivers. We think that is very important for the team".

"What is becoming clear to every one of the new teams is that we have gone from last to first of the new teams very rapidly. We are being seen as a serious entity. We have got quite a lot of interest, but we want two experienced drivers there."

Besides Trulli, Gascoyne, has also discussed his plans with Jacques Villeneuve and Christian Klien in Abu Dhabi last weekend

"We hope to have a decision by the end of November," said Gascoyne. "We don't want to be hanging around, we want to be proactive in what we are doing, rather than reactive. That is something we want to tie up pretty soon."

Gascoyne admitted Trulli was top of his wish list. In F1 2009, Trulli finished eighth in the driver standings with 32.5 points.

"He is one of the guys we would like to have. Jarno has, over one lap, always been sensational. That is even more important in a new team because you need to know where you are on a Saturday. Jarno can always give you that,” said Gascoyne.

Lotus also confirmed 2010 car design is going to schedule with a first testing due in February.

Meanwhile Trulli attributes Toyota’s demise to inconsistency on and off the track. He said too many things were going wrong with the team and this made competing a real problem.

"You cannot start on the first row in Bahrain and the last row in Monaco - I was really frustrated then," said Trulli. "In the end", he said, "many of the problems were down to the tyres".