Lotus heads to Le Mans with its latest and greatest!
Lotus will be out en-masse this year for the 24-Heures-du-Mans 90th anniversary competing in LMP1 and LMP2 and showing-off the newest addition to the Lotus family, the Exige S Roadster.
Lotus, together with its LMP1 team Lotus Rebellion Racing, and LMP2 team Lotus Praga, prepare for the famous French weekender and get set to journey through the night to complete the longest distance possible in 24 hours. It's a gruelling challenge but one Rebellion Racing and Lotus Praga Teams are ready to take on!
Whilst the prestigious Circuit de la Sarthe is almost ready to welcome the legions of race fans preparing to descend upon the French town of Le Mans for the 90th year - a sense of endurance is very much palpable, such is the mood of the organisers, locals and competitors, all of whom have been preparing tirelessly for the famous race.
The fans however will no doubt be fresh, excited and full of anticipation for the world-famous motoring event. Those looking to make the most of the Le Mans experience can find the Lotus stand in the Le Mans Village, where the latest addition to the Lotus Cars product range, the brand new Exige S Roadster will be on display. This will be the first public appearance of ‘the fastest convertible Lotus ever' since the car went into production.
The Lotus stand with stocked Lotus Originals boutique is open to visitors daily at the following times:
Wednesday 19th June, 12.00 - 00.00 hrs
Thursday 20th June, 12.00 - 00.00 hrs
Friday 21st June, 10.00 - 20.00 hrs
Saturday 22nd June, 09.00 - 02.00 hrs
Sunday 23rd June, 09.00 - 17.00 hrs
Not to be missed; the Lotus stand will be home to two exclusive autograph sessions for fans and customers with chance to meet the Lotus Praga drivers. Details are as follows:
Wednesday the 19 June
· 2:30pm - 2:45pm
· LMP2 Car #31 - Drivers: Kevin Weeda, James Rossiter, Christophe Bouchut
Thursday the 20 June
· 5:00pm - 5:15pm
· LMP2 Car #32 - Drivers: Thomas Holzer, Dominik Kraihamer, Jan Charouz
Lotus LMP1 - Rebellion Racing
The "3N" trio that prevented Audi's clean-sweep in last year's Le Mans 24 Hours by claiming a fourth place finish, will be reunited in the black and gold #12 Lola-Toyota. Nick Heidfeld (Germany), Neel Jani (Switzerland) and Nicolas Prost (France) will share driving duties for the Le Mans 24 Hours.
In the Team's sister car, the #13 Lola-Toyota, Andrea Belicchi (Italy) will be joined by ELMS LMP2 Champion Mathias Beche (Switzerland) and CongFu Cheng (China), his teammate during last year's FIA WEC 6 Hours of Shanghai win.
LMP2 - Lotus Praga
After its first participation last year, Lotus is fielding two of the new Lotus Praga T128 LMP2 cars. Kevin Weeda, James Rossiter and Christophe Bouchut will be at the wheel of #31. For Weeda it will be the first time to race at the endurance classic. Rossiter was already contesting in 2011, whereas Bouchut counts among the endurance experts and will celebrate his 20th participation at Le Mans this year. The Frenchman even won the 24 Hours race in 1993.
Thomas Holzer, Dominik Kraihamer and Jan Charouz will compete in the sister car #32. All of them already gained experience at the Circuit des 24 Heures at their participations in the previous years.