Lotus has revealed a racing version of its new Evora specifically designed for 24-hour endurance racing. The Lotus Evora Type 124 will make its racing debut at the 2010 Nurburgring 24-hour race, and will compete in several other endurance events next year, including the planned BritCar 24 hours at Silverstone.
The Evora might seem an odd choice to take racing - Lotus would be the first to admit that the Evora is Lotus's least track-focused product for quite some time - but engineers at Hethel say it's something they always planned.
"Every Lotus car is designed to be at home on the race track as well as the road, and the Evora is no different," says Roger Becker, Vehicle Engineering Director for Group Lotus Plc. "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 Evora Type 124's Toyota V6 has been tweaked to put out 'around 400bhp' - approximately 120bhp mor ethan the standard car, while Lotus has managed to lop around 200kg from the car's kerb weight.
The Type 124 is fitted with AP Racing six-piston calipers front and rear, a race-tuned Bosch ABS system, four-way adjustable dampers and adjustable anti-roll bars.
Lotus has also fitted a six-speed sequential paddle shift racing gearbox, a full FIA-spec roll cage, and a carbon fibre rear wing, diffuser and front splitter.