The Evora Carbon Concept car emphasises Lotus’ motorsport pedigree, utilising beautiful high quality materials with exposed carbon fibre and plush alcantara. The striking white concept car is finished in an advanced water based pearlesent paint that contrasts with the exquisitely finished weave on the carbon fibre panels.

The head turning looks of the Evora Carbon Concept car provide a more purposeful, planted stance with the car looking lower and more aggressive. This styling direction is continued with a structural carbon fibre roof, Lotus Motorsport influenced carbon diffuser and carbon splitter. The Evora Carbon Concept car retains the same class leading handling and high tech aluminium bonded and extruded chassis of the production car.

The contemporary interior of the Evora Carbon Concept car combines the lustre of the carbon panels with perforated leather and matt alcantara. The bespoke interior uses swathes of sumptuous grey alcantara to cover the footwell, dashboard and roof. The soft texture of the leather and alcantara are juxtaposed with the hard surfaces of the carbon fibre to provide a satisfying sensory experience. k

The Evora Carbon Concept car has diamond cut forged 19” alloy wheels front and rear, shod with Pirelli P-Zero Corsa tyres (235/35 wide front and 285/30 wide rear). The wheels and tyres give the Evora real presence filling the wheel arches and giving the car a purposeful appearance.

Donato Coco, Director of Lotus Design commented, “The design of the Evora Carbon Concept car features exotic, high tech materials that offer a good synergy with the Lotus brand image, expressing our motorsport heritage and history of stylish sports cars for which Lotus are renowned.”

Bidding on the remaining five “Naomi for Haiti” Lotus Evoras started at 0800 GMT today on the www.naomiforhaiti.com website. There are only 9 days to register a bid for these highly desirable "Naomi for Haiti" Lotus Evoras as the auction will end at 1200 noon GMT on the 28th of February 2010.

The grand total raised for the Fashion For Relief™ charity and the highest bidders will be announced by Naomi Campbell at the Lotus press conference on the 2nd of March at the Geneva Motorshow.

Naomi made a stylish entrance in one of the “Naomi for Haiti” Lotus Evoras, with a further fifteen Lotus Evora sports cars being used to provide a VIP chauffeur service for the celebrities that supported the Fashion For Relief™ show. The Fashion For Relief™ charity supporters included; Yasmin Le Bon, Kate Moss, Geri Halliwell, Piers Morgan, Sarah Brown, Eva Hertzigova and Andrew Flintoff.

Naomi Campbell said: "I am incredibly grateful to everyone who has generously donated their time and effort to make Fashion For Relief ™ happen. I’m thrilled with the support from Lotus and to have teamed up with my great friend Gino Rosato for this important cause. I hope we continue to raise as much awareness and funds as we can.”

Gino Rosato, Director of Corporate Affairs at Lotus Cars stated, “I am very proud to welcome my good friend Naomi into the Lotus family. We are delighted to be able to work together to raise money for such a worthy cause. The Fashion For Relief™ event has proven to be exceptionally successful and it is fantastic to be able to help the nation of Haiti.”

The special “Naomi for Haiti” Lotus Evora sports car that Naomi arrived in was on display at Somerset House during the Fashion For Relief™ show. The exclusive styling reflects Naomi’s design direction and has been specially designed by Donato Coco, Lotus Director of Design. The bespoke "Naomi for Haiti" Evoras include a full range of options which combined with the custom design and special components make these cars an instant collectors item.

Naomi's Fashion For Relief™ event selected to support the White Ribbon Alliance as it campaigns for the health needs and rights of women and girls around the world, especially supporting its partners in Haiti at this time to rebuild the healthcare system for mothers and babies.

The Lotus Elise revolutionised the sportscar market 14 years ago when the small lightweight agile 2-seat mid engine sportscar was introduced. By ensuring that the Elise stuck rigidly to Lotus’ core values of performance through light weight, the Elise was able to produce supercar performance with city car economy.

Making its debut at the 80th International Geneva Motorshow, the 2011 model year Lotus Elise introduces a number of changes and improvements to maintain its class leading position.

For the 2011 model year, the Elise range will consist of the following variants:

·         Lotus Elise – 136 PS, less than 155 g of CO2 /km – new 1.6 litre engine *

·         Lotus Elise R - 192 PS, 196 g of CO2 /km - 1.8 litre engine

·         Lotus Elise SC – 220 PS, 199 g of CO2 /km - 1.8 litre supercharged engine

Key changes and improvements to the whole of the 2011 model year Elise range

·              New evolution body design incorporating new front clamshell, rear bumper and engine cover

·              New all in one integrated headlights including LED day light running lights and LED direction indicators

·              Improved aerodynamics with a reduction in Cd by 4%, resulting in better fuel economy

·              New cast and forged wheels

·              Vehicle warranty increased from 2 years to 3 years and 36, 000 miles

Additional changes for the 2011 model year entry level Lotus Elise

·              New high technology 1ZR-FAE 1.6 litre engine with Valvematic and Dual VVT-I technology to optimise the performance and efficiency of the engine

·              Less than 155 g of CO2 per km (an improvement of over 13% compared to the 2010 Elise S)*

·              Combined fuel consumption 6.14 litres / 100 km (46 mpg)*

·              New 6 speed close ratio gearbox

·              Cruise control available as part of the Touring pack

The body – an evolution

The new 2011 model year Elise range is on sale now and will be in showrooms from April 2010. The body of the new 2011 model year Elise is an evolution of the iconic Elise design, retaining the character and style, while offering a more planted, purposeful stance and a pure, contemporary look that links it to the Evora. As with all Lotus product the design is an exciting blend of dramatic style and functional efficiency

The new Elise body has a fresh sculptured front, including a new bumper, front clam and access panel that combine to give the Elise a wider look with more road presence.

At the rear of the car the new engine has been encased by a distinctive “twin-spine” engine cover whilst lower down a more aggressive diffuser is tightly wrapped by an elegant new bumper design that now includes the rear licence plate.

New headlamp units with distinctively sculptured LED lighting guides (incorporating daytime running lamps and direction indicators) give a contemporary twist to this classic design. Elsewhere, the signature, Lotus “mouth” and familiar sculptured forms have been sensitively refined to give a crisper, more dynamic look. The repositioning of lamp functions has enabled the creation of broad clean surface between the fenders which combines with sleek corner intakes and prominent splitter detail to give a broader more planted stance.

The theme of purity is carried through to the cooling apertures that are efficiently finished with a new lightweight aluminium mesh that gives the car a classically sporting character.

The rear boot is now opened from the cockpit rather than via a separate key operation. The high quality feel of the Elise is continued throughout the car with the Elise graphic incorporated into the new side LED direction indicators, like those on the Evora.

The driving position, from the perfectly positioned pedals and steering wheel, to the comfortable and supportive seats with ProBax** technology means that, like all Lotus cars, the driver becomes part of the car rather than being just a passenger.

With the sleek new body the aerodynamics have improved giving a reduction in the coefficient of drag of 4%.

Finally, a choice of two beautiful, light weight wheel designs are available; an incredibly light forged wheel and a new cast wheel completes the picture for this sensitive update of a Lotus Icon.
Additional changes to the 2011 model year Lotus Elise

The new 2011 model year Elise has a number of additional changes and improvements, with the installation of a new advanced 1.6 litre Valvematic engine meeting EURO 5 regulations. This new engine is 200cc smaller than the outgoing Elise S model and produces similar power (136 PS, 100 kW, 134 hp at 6800 rpm) with maximum torque of 160 Nm, 118 lbft at 4400 rpm, but offers a significant improvement to fuel economy of over 23%, to 6.14 litres / 100km (46 mpg)* and a reduction in CO2 emission by more than 13%*. This provides the new Lotus Elise with the lowest CO2 per performance for any gasoline high performance sportscar in the world. This high technology engine is mated to a new 6-speed manual gearbox, providing closer and more performance orientated ratios than the outgoing 5 speed box.

The 1.6 litre engine is controlled via the bespoke Lotus T6 engine management system. Cruise control is available on the Elise for the first time with the controls present on a stalk located to the left of the steering column.

New cast wheels have been designed specifically for the Elise and the new optional forged wheels weigh just 29.26 kg per set, 2.14 kg lighter than a set of lightweight cast versions. Both are available in silver or black colour.

Dany Bahar, Chief Executive of Group Lotus said, “The Lotus Elise revolutionised the sportscar when it was launched 14 years ago and now the Lotus Elise has become greener, giving drivers access to class leading performance with less guilt.”

Donato Coco, Director of Design said, “The Elise is an iconic sportscar and it was important that we did not complicate its design, so we made the car more pure in its look, improved the aerodynamics, and gave it a more contemporary look with high quality detailing.”

Paul Newsome, Director of Lotus Product Engineering said, “We are always looking at ways of keeping the Elise ahead of its peers and for the 2011 model year we have improved efficiency without losing the innate fun that has made the Elise legendary.”

Andreas Prillmann, Chief Commercial Officer for Lotus Cars said, “In its 14 years of production the Elise has accounted for 32% of all the 61 years of Lotus production, illustrating how significant to the brand and well loved it is. The 2011 model year Elise is greener, purer and more desirable, making it even more relevant to today’s marketplace. The new Elise underlines Lotus’ reputation as one of the most innovative sports car manufacturers in the world.”

Performance

Lotus Elise

0 – 60 mph                    6.0 seconds*

0 – 100 km/h                  6.7 seconds*

Maximum speed            200 km/h (124 mph)*

Lotus Elise R

0 – 60 mph                    5.1 seconds

0 – 100 km/h                  5.4 seconds

Maximum speed            222 km/h (138 mph)

Lotus Elise SC

0 – 60 mph                    4.3 seconds

0 – 100 km/h                  4.6 seconds

Maximum speed            233 km/h (145 mph)

The 2011 model year Elise in more detail.

The Elise - the entry model

Engine

The Lotus Elise introduces the new 1598 cm3, 1ZR-FAE engine, provided by Toyota. The key to this engine’s performance and efficiency is the Valvematic system (a variable valve lift mechanism), which is combined with the dual VVT-i (Variable Valve Timing-intelligent). The engine continuously controls intake valve opening/closing timing and the intake valve lift to vary the volume of the intake airflow, giving significant improvements in efficiency and fuel economy. This ensures optimal performance based on the engines operational condition, thus helping the Elise achieve both high fuel efficiency and high performance.

First of all, the maximum power output is achieved at near maximum revs (engine speed) of 6800 rpm and maximum torque (a respectable 160 Nm, 118 lb.ft) is reached at 4400 rpm. This gives a good combination of mid range pull but also encourages the driver to rev the engine to the maximum permitted engine speed of 7000 rpm (transient rev limit). Like all Elise sportscars, there are three shift up lights, on the binnacle cumulatively lighting when the driver is getting closer to the rev limiter and when all three are illuminated, they flash to indicate that the driver is almost on the rev limiter so time to change up a gear!

The height of the engine cover has been raised by 34mm to accommodate the taller 1ZR engine compared to the previous 1ZZ engine from the outgoing model due, in part, to the additional Valvematic technology included on the new engine. This has given Lotus engineers an opportunity to subtly redesign the rear engine cover to match the design theme from the front and rear of the car.

Chassis

The Lotus Elise is built around the revolutionary and award winning extruded and bonded aluminium chassis, with a lightweight steel rear subframe. The chassis weighs 68 kg (150 lbs) and has a stiffness of 9,800 Nm per degree, giving a high level of control of the suspension. At the rear, and also acting as a rear energy absorbing crash structure, a lightweight steel subframe carries the engine and gearbox. At the front, the radiator and key ancillaries are mounted into a high tech composite energy absorbing crash structure that is both lightweight, compact and over three times more energy absorbing than the equivalent steel structure.

Ride and handling

The legendary Lotus ride and handling gives a superb high performance, sporty drive, combined with a compliant ride and progressive on limit handling, it makes the Elise a car that demands to be driven.

The entry level Lotus Elise weighs 876 kg, making it one of the lightest fully homologated sportscars in the world. This low weight translates into efficient performance with minimal environmental impact in terms of emissions and fuel consumption. The efficiency of the Elise structure means that the 136 PS (100 kW, 134 hp) delivers phenomenal performance.

Few cars can match the delicacy and accuracy of the steering, throttle and brakes of the Elise and all of these factors contribute to the excellent driving experience of the Elise.

Safety

The Elise has high performance AP Racing callipers at the front and Brembo callipers at the rear linked to 282 mm vented and cross-drilled cast iron discs to give excellent stopping power.

The Elise comes as standard with a track tuned ABS system that is designed to be unobtrusive under normal driving conditions. This system is designed to be used on track and has a high threshold, only intervening in emergencies.

The ABS system is linked to a lightweight pedal box with steel pedal arms and extruded aluminium pads. This unit also has an electronic (drive-by-wire) throttle for quick, smooth and more linear engine response.

The impressive braking coupled with excellent handling gives good primary safety and the composite front crash structure and rear crash protection offers efficient secondary safety. Driver and passenger airbags and pre-tensioning seatbelt are standard on all Elise models.

Prices will be announced in March 2010.

*The Lotus Elise is currently undergoing EC Whole Vehicle Type Approval and official fuel consumption and CO2 emissions figures, plus performance figures are not yet available. The official figures for fuel consumption and CO2 emissions and performance will be published on Group Lotus plc’s web site as soon as they become available (www.grouplotus.com) or may be obtained from the PR Department, Lotus Cars Limited, Potash Lane, Hethel, Norfolk, NR14 8EZ, UK.

**“ProBax™” seats

Introduced for 2006 Model Year Lotus Exige and Elise cars, ProBax™ seats are designed by Lotus and specifically adapted and developed by NuBax. ProBax™ seats help to significantly improve the postural position of the occupant’s spine whilst seated compared to similar seat shells without ProBax technology. This not only results in an improved level of comfort, but also has significant medical benefits - maintaining a natural curvature of the spine, and markedly improving the body’s blood flow. Increased blood flow has been shown to enhance response times, raise alertness levels and reduce the onset of muscle fatigue. Tests on Lotus seats, with the new ProBax™ technology, have shown an improvement in blood flow of up to thirty per cent over the pre-2006 Model Year Lotus seat.

The Lotus Evora is a very desirable, multi-award winning, high performance, mid-engined sports car that presents a fantastic piece of design to bid on. The “Naomi for Haiti” Evora sports car has been specially designed by Lotus Design Director Donato Coco and reflects Naomi’s design direction. The bespoke styling combines the flag of Haiti with a dramatic colour scheme and the cars include a full range of options, meaning these cars will all become desirable collectors items.

The “Naomi for Haiti” Evoras will be auctioned at Naomi Campbell's Fashion for Relief TM charity fashion show on the 18th of February at the London Fashion Week venue at Somerset House. The remaining “Naomi for Haiti” Evoras will be entered into an auction run on the “Naomi for Haiti” website www.naomiforhaiti.com and bidding will commence at 0800 GMT on the 19th of February and will end at 1200 noon GMT on 28th of February 2010.

The grand total raised for the charity and the highest bidders will be announced by Naomi Campbell at the Geneva Motorshow on the 2nd of March. There will also be a link to the “Naomi for Haiti” website from the Lotus Cars website http://www.grouplotus.com/cars/home.html.

The Fashion For Relief™ event has selected to support the White Ribbon Alliance as it campaigns for the health needs and rights of women and girls around the world, especially supporting its partners in Haiti at this time to rebuild the healthcare system for mothers and babies.

Naomi Campbell says, "I am deeply saddened by the recent tragedy in Haiti. So many have been killed and severely affected by the earthquake - women and children in particular are most vulnerable in disasters. Fashion is universal, personal and touches everyone. I am delighted that Lotus Cars is supporting my Fashion for Relief TM charity and I am sure with such generous help we will raise crucial funds to help save the lives of women and children."

Dany Bahar, CEO of Group Lotus Plc, stated, "It is a very admirable cause and we are proud to be supporting Naomi Campbell with her Fashion For Relief™ event in aid of the women and children affected by the terrible disaster in Haiti. The whole of Lotus is supporting this very deserving charity, with many working in their own time in order to raise money for the women and children affected by the earthquake in Haiti."

The Red Cross has said that the earthquake in Haiti has affected approximately 3 million people and it is reported that upwards of 200,000 people have died in the disaster. The magnitude of the earthquake combined with the local geography and house building techniques has exacerbated the destruction.

The Lotus Evora Cup race car is the latest addition to the Lotus Motorsport racing stable. Fresh from its debut at the Autosport International racing car show in Birmingham the Evora Cup race car was given its first shake-down test at a wintery Snetterton circuit in Norfolk, UK on the 10th and 11th of February 2010.

Lotus Motorsport is conducting an extensive development program for the Evora Cup race car, with Jarno Trulli and his Race Engineer, Gianluca Pisanello bringing their vast racing, development and engineering experience to fine tune the latest Lotus mid-engined race car.

Jarno Trulli and Gianluca Pisanello provided specific input into the aerodynamic balance for slow, medium and fast corners, guidance on the racing setup of the suspension geometry and direction on the engine’s calibration.

After driving the Lotus Evora Cup for the first time, Jarno Trulli said, "I have enjoyed driving the road going Lotus Evora very much and I believe that the Evora Cup will be a very competitive race car package. It was very rewarding to be the first to drive the Evora Cup race car even though the snowy conditions at Snetterton were fairly challenging at times!"

Jarno continued, "The car will continue to be developed with new updates coming soon, but even after the initial drive it is obvious that the car has huge potential. I look forward to working with Lotus Motorsport in developing the car further and I know that my years of motorsport experience will help make the Evora Cup race car even better."

Claudio Berro, Director of Motorsport at Group Lotus plc stated, “It is a privilege to work on the development of the Evora Cup race car with such an experienced driver and engineering team as Jarno Trulli and Gianluca Pisanello and I believe that this collaboration will produce a great race car for a range of motorsport applications. It is a very exciting time for Lotus and I am honoured to be leading the motorsport programmes at Lotus, starting with the Lotus Evora Cup racing car and race series.

Gianluca Pisanello, Race Engineer for Jarno Trulli said, “I am impressed with the whole Evora Cup race car package, which demonstrates that the road going Lotus Evora is such a competent sports car in the first place and an excellent basis to develop a competitive race car.”

In the past a number of Lotus F1 drivers have successfully raced or assisted in the development of Lotus Cars including F1 World Champions Jim Clark and Nigel Mansell. Jim Clark was a great exponent of the three wheel drift in his Lotus Cortina, campaigning the Lotus to win the British Touring Car Championship in 1964. Whilst Nigel Mansell raced for Lotus he was involved in the development of the prototype Active Suspension Lotus Esprit.

The Evora Cup race car is an evocative sports car that will offer a great platform to race in high level motor sport. The GT4 race car will go on sale starting at £120,000 excluding taxes for the sprint racing version, with the endurance specification race car £150,000 excluding taxes.

The final design, aero’ package and techincal specifications will be presented at the Geneva Motorshow in March 2010.

For more information please check out  http://www.lotusevoracup.com

It was a real thrill for the Lotus workforce to see Lotus F1 Racing Driver Heikki as he was given a personal tour of the production facilities yesterday, and even more exciting for those few employees who got a rare chance to be driven by the F1 star as he tested the Lotus Evora on Lotus’ own test track for the first time.

During his day with Lotus Cars Heikki was given a special tour of the Classic Team Lotus workshops by Clive Chapman, son of Lotus founder Colin Chapman during which he chatted to Clive and Engineer Bob Dance about their first hand experience of some of the most successful and iconic F1 racing cars of all time. The tour was steeped in Lotus history 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.

Dany Bahar, CEO of Group Lotus plc said, “Group Lotus is very proud of its racing pedigree and we are all very excited to share our story with Heikki. It was our honour to welcome Heikki to Group Lotus and we wish him and the Lotus F1 Racing team every success for the 2010 F1 season.”

Dany Bahar continued, “We take great pride in the sports cars that we produce at Hethel and Heikki’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.”

Heikki was not on Lotus soil long before he was behind the wheel of the Lotus Evora trying it on for size on Lotus’ own test track and commented “The Evora was everything I expected, Lotus is famous for fantastic sports cars and the Evora did not disappoint.  The power to weight ratio gives the car a real racecar feel and allowed me to really push the car round the track.  I enjoyed every lap and had fun sliding it sideways!”

He went on to say, “The day has been great, I was really excited to see so many happy, motivated people and the support of the Lotus workforce is very much appreciated, I really got a sense of the passion the people have for the Lotus brand.”

Heikki concluded, “I’d really like to thank every one at Lotus for a great day, it was an honour to meet Clive Chapman and learn more abut his legendary father and to see Lotus’ classic F1 cars.  I’m really keen to drive one of the JPS cars and maybe will be at Lotus again sometime soon to drive the Type 72!”

Major new projects with three Chinese clients ensure an excellent start to 2010 for Lotus Engineering, the automotive consultancy and technology division of Lotus Cars Limited. These projects result in a fourth consecutive year of growth in new orders for Lotus Engineering’s global third party consultancy work, with a quarter of the financial year still to go.

To continue to build on the success of both the Lotus Engineering and Lotus Cars divisions, Lotus has also made changes to the senior management structure. Dr Robert Hentschel joins Lotus as Director of Lotus Engineering. Dr Hentschel’s task will be to lead the expansion of Lotus Engineering’s third party consultancy work and to further develop its position of technology leadership in lightweight architectures, driving dynamics, efficient performance and electrical/electronics. Dr Hentschel will have full responsibility for Lotus Engineering worldwide, reporting to Dany Bahar, CEO of Group Lotus plc. Dr Hentschel brings a wealth of experience from the automotive industry and engineering services sector, most recently from positions at EDAG as Chief Operating Officer for North American operations and previously as Head of the Electrical/Electronics Business Unit.

Paul Newsome, previously Managing Director of Lotus Engineering, takes up a new role as Director of Product Engineering for Lotus Cars to develop an exciting range of new Lotus cars.

Dr Hentschel commented: “This is a fantastic opportunity for me to contribute to the continued success of this outstanding business which boasts talented engineers and an iconic brand. Lotus Engineering has an exceptional heritage with an exciting array of future products, technologies and services that will further enhance its position as a pioneer in the new automotive era. Our key areas of expertise allow us to deliver exciting vehicles and sustainable transport solutions that are exactly aligned to the needs of the global automotive industry.”

The Lotus Evora is a highly acclaimed road car that incorporates many race car elements to give it incredible handling and performance. The Evora has a mid-engine layout, high-tech, super-stiff extruded and bonded aluminium chassis and double wishbone suspension all round. These elements mean that it is a relatively easy progression from the production car to a competitive race car.

The Evora Cup race car has been developed by Lotus Motorsport and is designed to offer a level of performance that would make it competitive in GT4 racing. The race car will be eligible to compete in a number of different national and international series, with options for endurance racing and sprint racing.

The Evora Cup show car is finished in Epsom Green with a Solar Yellow stripe down the centre. It is an evocative sports car that will offer a great platform to race in high level motor sport.

At the heart of the Evora Cup race car is a new 4 litre V6 race engine that boasts more than 400 PS and a dry sump system for the high cornering forces encountered during racing. The mid mounted engine is mated to a Cima six speed sequential paddle shift dog gearbox, which is designed for international motor sport.

The efficient Evora body has received a Dallara developed aero package, which includes a number of updated carbon fibre parts and significantly improves performance for racing applications, giving greater downforce and improved cooling.

“Performance through light weight” is a Lotus philosophy and the Evora Cup race car has been pared down to less than 1200 kg, which translates into a reduction of more than 200 kgs over the production car. This weight saving has been achieved by using high performance parts and materials and deleting parts not required for motor sport

The Evora Cup race car will come with adjustable motor sport dampers and six piston front brake callipers, with two piece aluminium belled brake discs. The car has an electrical cut off, fire extinguisher, traction control and is designed to have all the relevant FIA compatible motor sport equipment to race.

Claudio Berro, Director of Motorsport at Group Lotus plc stated, “Lotus has an enviable heritage of producing very competitive racing cars and we wish to continue this heritage with the Evora Cup race car. The company started by creating world beating racing cars and this is evident from the design of Lotus cars as the production cars have many racing car design features and perform exceptionally well on track.”

Claudio Berro continues, “The Evora Cup racing car is the first step along the route for Lotus Motorsport to realise its racing ambitions. I am looking forward to seeing the Evora racing this year in the Lotus Evora Cup competition and I am excited by the plans for 2011, where Lotus intends to introduce a pan European one make race series for the Evora Cup.”

The 2010 Evora Cup series will be a European event with points initially being awarded to competitors for entering races with the points values awarded relative to Evora finishing positions. There will be five points for attending any eligible national race meeting with five points awarded for the first Evora to finish down to one point for the fifth.

The series will then culminate with two Lotus Festivals, with provisional dates for Donington Park in the UK (16th & 17th October 2010) and the second at Vallelunga in Italy (21st and 22nd November 2010). All the 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 6 races over the 2010 season.

A prize fund of at least €100,000 will be available.

The final design and specifications will be presented at the Geneva Motorshow in March 2010.

Drivers are invited to register their interest at the Lotus Evora Cup website: http://www.lotusevoracup.com

The Evora Cup race car will go on sale at £120,000 excluding taxes.

The Lotus Type 72 was driven by such Lotus greats as Jochen Rindt, Emerson Fittipaldi, Ronnie Peterson and Jacky Ickx and won three Formula One Constructors’ Championships (1970, 1972 and 1973) and two Drivers’ World Championships (the first being won by Jochen Rindt in 1970 and the second by Emerson Fittipaldi in 1972).

The colour scheme of the Exige S Type 72 commemorates the famous and easily recognisable black and gold Lotus Type 72 livery and is finished by the same sign writer who painted racing cars for Team Lotus.

Performance through light weight has long been a Lotus philosophy. The 935kg Exige S Type 72 sprints to 60 mph in just 4.5 seconds and to 100 km/h in 4.7 seconds, before reaching a top speed of 145 mph, 233 km/h. The Exige S Type 72 also offers class leading fuel economy and emissions, with fuel economy of 6.5 litres/100 km (43.5 mpg) on the Extra Urban Cycle and CO2 emissions of 199 g/km.

The Exige S Type 72 is a powerful supercharged mid-engined sportscar that is equally at home on the racetrack or open road. The intercooled engine has VVTL-i technology ensuring impressive performance all the way to the rev limiter at 8500 rpm.

The Sport Pack comes as standard on the Exige S Type 72 which has a bespoke high quality interior, including black micro fibre ProBax sports seats with gold stitching. Each car comes with a special build plate commemorating one of the F1 car’s 20 Grand Prix victories. The exterior of the Exige S Type 72 features unique black and gold light weight wheels and is finished with hand-painted gold Type 72 and Exige S logos, (the Sport Pack also includes a T45 steel main roll hoop, Lotus Traction Control, twin oil coolers and an adjustable front anti-roll bar).

All Lotus cars offer outstanding handling and performance, and the Exige is no exception offering excellent dynamics and great driver involvement. Lotus ride and handling gives an inspiring driving experience and the mid-engined layout of the Lotus Exige S Type 72 offers fantastic balance and agility.

Luke Bennett, Operations Director for Lotus Cars Limited stated, “The Lotus Exige S Type 72 is an evocative sportscar, combining cutting edge handling and performance with the iconic Type 72 colour scheme, one of the most famous racing liveries of all time. The Exige provides an intense driving experience either on road or track and this limited edition is a worthy car to celebrate such a legendary racing car.”

Clive Chapman, Director of Classic Team Lotus said, “The Type 72 was a very significant car for Team Lotus and indeed for the world of F1. It was a revolutionary design that pioneered the use of side mounted radiators to achieve its distinctive ’wedge’ profile, which delivered a significant aerodynamic advantage. Furthermore, by minimising unsprung weight and using a torsion bar, rising rate suspension, tyre performance was excellent. The Lotus Type 72 design was so advanced that it was competitive for an extraordinary six years.”

The Exige S Type 72 options include: Air Conditioning, Limited Slip Differential and the Performance Pack, which includes a power increase to 240 PS, larger AP Racing brakes, enlarged roof scoop (compared to the standard Exige S) and Lotus variable traction control and Lotus launch control.

To commemorate the impressive number of Grand Prix wins the Type 72 achieved, Lotus will be producing 20 of this special edition for the UK, a further 20 cars for mainland Europe and there will be a limited run of cars in Japan and selected markets around the world.

Lotus Exige S Type 72 prices:

UK Price: £35,995 MRSP, excluding on the road costs of £950

Euro zone price: €40,332, including delivery and other on the road costs, excluding local country tax.

Exige S: 199 g/km CO2

8.5 l/100 km (33.2 mpg) Combined Cycle

11.9 l/100 km (23.7 mpg) Urban Cycle

6.5 litres/100 km (43.5 mpg) Extra Urban Cycle

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.”