LOTUS EXIGE R-GT GETS HOMOLOGATED. WILL DEBUT AT THE 2012 RALI VINHO DA MADEIRA THIS WEEKEND
Posted: July 27, 2012 11:15 AM
The long-awaited Lotus Exige R-GT has received its starters orders from the FIA and will make its competition debut this weekend at Round 7 of the European Rally Championship in Madeira, Portugal.
The FIA have homologated the car ready for competition. It is the first car to pass the FIA R-GT regulations.
The car will be raced by the works Lotus International Rally Team crew of Bernardo Sousa and co-driver Corrado Mancini.
The team has been testing this all-new category car for the last five months, and recorded vital miles as the course car during last month’s Geko Ypres Rally in Belgium. Sousa will be racing the Exige in anger for the first time on home turf, being Portuguese and born in Madeira. The 25-year-old has marked himself out as being one of the most promising young drivers, having taken the S2000 class win at last year’s Jordan Rally.
The first priority in Madeira will be reliability, and further fine-tuning the car during the punishing schedule of a rally weekend.
Claudio Berro, director of Lotus Racing: “This is a very exciting week for us. It’s been a long time coming because the R-GT category is all new, and it’s taken time for the rules to be written and, in turn, the car to comply with the championship. Nonetheless, the process on our side has been smooth and the development of the car is really promising. We go to Portugal with realistic aims, primarily to work on reliability and performance, but it’s going to be great to experience competition. This is the first car to be homologated by the FIA for R-GT. The R-GT class is sure to make rallying more appealing and thrilling than ever, and the acclaimed Exige will earn a huge following I’m sure.”
Pier Liberali, Team Principal of Lotus International Rally Team: “After months in which the whole team has worked hard and very professionally, the long awaited day has finally come and it is surely a very exciting day for all of us, but that also brings us a lot of responsibilities. I am sure that the team, drivers and all the Lotus staff will, after this first rally, keep working with the same intensity of the last months to bring the car to the highest standards of competitiveness. To represent Lotus is a high honour and responsibility, I wish to thank them for the trust they have put in us and in our drivers”.
For Lotus, it’s a historic return to a sport in which the marque has appeared in the past with great success. Lotus won the World Rally Championship with the Lotus Talbot Sunbeam back in 1981.
Lotus Racing - Official team for 2012 FIA European Rally Championship
Posted: March 18, 2012 7:41 PM
The Lotus International Rally team is set to make its race debut in April in the FIA European Rally Championship. In partnership with Italian team United Business, who won the title last year, the hotly anticipated Exige R-GT will be painted in Lotus’ iconic black and gold colour scheme.
Former Portuguese champion and Super 2000 World Rally Championship (SWRC) driver Bernardo Sousa is in-line to race the car at the Rally 1000 Miglia in Brescia, Italy, on 19-21 April, provided the car is ready. Next week the Exige R-GT undergoes its final testing before being submitted to the FIA for homologation. Ten cars will be built this year, with seven cars allocated to the official team and European racing drivers.
Claudio Berro, Director of Lotus Racing, started his career rallying and is thrilled to be back. “This will be the first GT car to be homologated by the FIA. Lotus, of course, has been successful in rallying before, winning the 1981 World Rally Championship with the Talbot Sunbeam Lotus. So in many ways we’re all going back to our roots. Partnering with the United Business Rally Team in the FIA European Rally Championship makes perfect sense because they, like us, know how to win. I think this is going to be a very strong collaboration. The championship largely takes place on tarmac, which suits us too. It’s so exciting to go rallying with this new project. It’s another big challenge for Lotus.”
Pier Liberali of United Business, commented: “This partnership agreement with Lotus Racing fills me with pride. Lotus is one of the most famous manufacturers worldwide in the motorsports field. It is an honour for us to be able to work with them, and we will do our utmost to exceed their expectations.”
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