Lotus in ALMS 2004?

[robbo1]

More details here

[john75]

Nice to see the Lotus name back out where it belongs on the track.

The only reason I am in motorsport is because of the Mario Andretti JPS Lotus of "78"

Should be interesting to see elise mixing it with Porsche GT3 cup cars and Ferrari 360's

[The DJ 27]

john75 said:

Nice to see the Lotus name back out where it belongs on the track. The only reason I am in motorsport is because of the Mario Andretti JPS Lotus of "78" Should be interesting to see elise mixing it with Porsche GT3 cup cars and Ferrari 360's

More likely the prototypes mate. It's an old GT1 car

[top fuel]

He's right. The article says LMP1 class. It'll be great to see them race! does anyone know what the original purpose fo the Elise GT1 was?? It says that it's it's first year of competition.

[The DJ 27]

Four or five of them raced in FIA GT in 1997. Some were 4 litre V8's, others were turbocharged 2 litre 4 cylinder motors. I don't know which one this is. They were pretty quick but not what you'd call reliable

[Ahonen]

The DJ 27 said:

Four or five of them raced in FIA GT in 1997. Some were 4 litre V8's, others were turbocharged 2 litre 4 cylinder motors. I don't know which one this is. They were pretty quick but not what you'd call reliable

I think the engines were bigger than that, you know. I may be wrong, but I think the turbo versions (from an Italian team) had the 3.5-litre twin turbo V8 Esprit engine, while the (Anglo-Dutch) NA ones had a (Chevy?) six-litre V8.

Two engines were run because of a late rule change about restrictor sizes for turbo engines, as the FIA was terrified of the turbocharged Porsche GT1 running away with the Championship (and therefore handed it on a plate to Mercedes...). Lotus panicked and built the NA version, which never handled as well due to the bigger lump in the back. I think one of the turbo 'customer' cars scored its best result.

The saga of this ALMS version is very long-running. I'd be surprised (but very pleased) if it did finally race this year.

[The DJ 27]

Nope, the turbos were 2.0litre fur cylinder engines. Run by BMS Scuderia Italia, IIRC. The works Lotus cars (the yellow ones) had 4 litre NA V8's, based on the Esprit GT1 engine. There was a late rule change though, you're right. Bit of a shame really, could have been a title winning car with a bit of development. Certainly one of the best looking GT1 cars

[Ahonen]

The DJ 27 said:

Nope, the turbos were 2.0litre fur cylinder engines. Run by BMS Scuderia Italia, IIRC. The works Lotus cars (the yellow ones) had 4 litre NA V8's, based on the Esprit GT1 engine.

Sorry to be a pedant and all that old chap, but I did a quick google and, oddly, there's an article on the wee beastie here on PH:

[url]www.pistonheads.com/lotus/elise/Default.asp?storyId=4764[/url]

BMS, incidentally, ran a 911 GT1/96 in '97.

I'll get me anorak...

[The DJ 27]

Quite correct mate. Just didn't remember the works cars having a big Chevy V8 rumble if you know what I mean. You're right about BMS as well. GBF Engineering ran the two turbo Lotus'. I'll get me anorak as well

[ah746]

Hi all.

Only just realised this post existed!!!

I work with Team Elite, and can answer most, if not all, your questions...

Some extra information (Pics mainly) can be found at our website.... www.teameliteracing.com

All the bets
AH

[ah746]

Hi all.

No news to report as yet... So I thought I would give you something of an update report..

We are closing the deals any day now that will see the team relocate from Florida to Indianapolis ... We feel that the move will allow the team to move forward much quicker than the previous arrangement... All will make sense when we further reveal our plans ....

Also, the engine deal is coming along nicely... Not sure if it appropriate to mention with whom the deal is with until the ink dries, but this will mean a rebuild of the bulkheads and undertrays etc to accomodate the different dimensions of the new unit.... This will take quite some time to complete, and may affect our schedule until it is satisfactorily completed and tested .

We have a few new sponsors who have expressed interest in the entry, proving that the decision to run at Sebring was right all along.. To quote the great film "Field of Dreams".. "Built it and they will come".

Additionally, we are soon to be selling a limited number of the Team Elite innagural team pit crew shirts as used at the Sebring 12-hour race... Price undecided as yet, but interested parties are welcome to contact me (pictures available) prior to posting on the website. I think they may go quickly and perhaps not even make it to the website!

And finally, we have just rebuilt the website... No new content for the moment, but we called upon the services of Kjo Designs of Australia to give it a more jazzed-up appearance... Have a look, see what you think...

Take care everyone, hope all is well.

Regards

Antony Hayes
www.teameliteracing.com
Racing at the speed of fright

[The DJ 27]

The rumour in Autosport over here a few weeks ago is that you'll be using a Judd GV4 V10. Also, are you going to come over and do the Silverstone 1000km in August?

[P290 KVP]

Not being funny but as the car was over 20 seconds off the class pace in qualifying (yes TWENTY!!) and the car didn't do much running since (so it missed night practice) - then come the race it did a grand total of 5 laps of a 12 hour race before it shat itself.

Given this utterly dismal performance firstly maybe the money would be better spent on the car rather than the website and then can I also ask why either drivers with sponsors or sponsors alone would have any interest in this program?

I know it sounds harsh but I've always wondered what the people involved in this type of program believe is realistic.

[ah746]

We have opted to go away from the Judd... We wanted to buy thr engine, but as I understand it, only a lease programme was available, and that does not fit in with our long-term plans....

Also, because we have the engine change and also the relocation, we have decided to put our LMES plans on hold for this year...> However, we are in the process of acquiring a second chassis, and next year might be a different matter.

Moving on... Yes, we know the car was 20 seconds off the pace in qualifying, but you must remember also that this was the first time the car had run in almost two years, and also that the overweight, underpowered and short-of-revs Chevrolet engine was leaking oil... We had little or no chance to set the car up, so it was running on virgin settings..

As for the race... Again, the engine was the problem, as it flexed with the gearbox, eventually breaking beyond immediate repair. All of these factors confirmed to us that or initial plans to replace the engine were right from the outset.

However, you only point out the negative aspects... In the few laps we did in the race (Again on virgin settings) we posted 5th fastest through the speed trap...

All this will change when we get our new engine in.... trust me.

As for spending money on the website rather than the car.. Well, you are 100% totally wrong... The website is an effort by myself and two of my associates from my company, British Racing Green International... We have made no charge to Team Elite Racing, and all the money is being used for engineering purposes ONLY...

The drivers, like us, believe in the potential of the car, and all are in agreement that the engine is, was, and was always going to be, the weak spot on the car.. We had little time to prepare for the race, so we opted to just get out there, show the people we existed and to take it from there... to quote the film Field of Dreams... Build it and they will come.

The team you will see at the end of the year will be the team that we all want it to be.. This programme is still in it's infancy... Remember that we only received the car in January of this year so we have had it for less than four months total.

We believe that this car has potential... We really do... Sure, we are all dewey-eyed Lotus fans, and there is no denying that this influenced our decision to run the Elise, but we studied the performance of the car circa 1997 and compared it with the front-runners circa 2003... With the right set-up, we believe the car can shine...