Last weekend saw the The 31st annual International Pokka 1000 km race held at
Suzuka circuit in Japan. The race attracts many GT entries the most prominent of
which is the ex Le Mans 2002 Audi R8 which took pole position against a field of
cars including Honda NSX, Nissan Skline GTR (Nismo), Vemac, Toyota Supra,
Integra Type R and an unlikely contender in endurance racing - an Elise.
The Lotus Elise was entered in the "open" category by the Japanese
independent Lotus specialist Wing Auto/Taste Cars of Nagoya. It's a car
previously campaigned in the Italian Vallelunga 6 hour race and was originally
designed by Lotus Motorsport for endurance racing events.
The specification of the car was different to cars built for the Elise one
make race series in key areas. Power was still from the Rover K series producing
220PS (~215bhp) designated by Lotus as "EVO 4" and in this case
injected by Weber Alpha (Japan) systems. Maximum RPM by design was reduced by
700 rpm (7300) to improve reliability over long distances and camshaft profiles
were softer, again to improve reliability. The cylinder block benefited from
strengthened walling.
Also unique was a Lotus designed oil-to-water gearbox oil cooling system.
Braking was 4 pot AP front and Brembo 4 pot rear on ventilated disks. The
driving position was central, the same as the original one make race series
cars. The Endurance Elise was also fitted with a fast fill fuelling system and
additional fuel tanks to extend duration up to two hours and even benefited from
built in compressed air jacks.
In a field of cars dominated by 6 cylinders and turbo chargers the 4 cylinder
normally aspirated Elise was an unlikely contender, however in usual Lotus style
it was compensated for by the lightweight alloy chassis. Signs of wheel bearing
wear and possible failure during qualifying dictated replacement with larger
diameter Mitsubishi Evolution bearings and purpose machined hubs carried out by
ex Spice Engineering staff at Black Box Racing.
Driven by Kenjiro Katagiri, Hiroshi Hashizawa and Takahiko Hara the car was
forced to finish on lap 51 due to a timing belt failure, but nevertheless showed
the capability of what might other wise be considered a wildcard entry.
The car was supplied and supported in Japan by Elise specialist Brooke
Kensington Ltd.