Lotus has unveiled their race prepared car based on their newly launched Evora. The car, named as Lotus Evora Type 124(to be pronounced as one twenty four), is to be used for the most punishing track racing of all, the 24 hour endurance racing. The car will be racing in 2010/2010 in various endurance racing, starting off with the ADAC Nurburgring 24 Hours in May 2010.

The factory supported car will take part in endurance races at Sepang (Malaysia), Silverstone (United Kingdom) and Dubai Autodrome (UAE). The Type 124 is a FIA compliant race car. At the time of designing the Evora, Lotus engineers had track racing in their mind. The Evora has the perfect configuration for racing. It has an extremely stiff, but lightweight, aluminum chassis, with a mid mounted V6 engine powering the rear wheels. The Type 124 gets a six speed sequential gearbox operated via paddles behind the steering wheels. The car uses double wishbone suspension components made of forged aluminum to keep the cars weight low. Lotus engineers have tuned the Toyota sourced 3.8 liter engine in the standard Evora to 400 horsepower. This is an increase of exactly 124 horsepower, and will give certain clues about how the car got its name. Lotus has also managed to reduce the weight of the car by 440 pounds, to 2640 pounds.

This is no mean achievement considering that the car was, at the first place designed to be as light as possible. The other modification made on the car for endurance racing includes the addition of a 120 liter fuel tank, a fire-extinguishing system and full FIA specification roll cage for crash protection. The body panels remain the same as the road car, but are made from carbon fiber to reduce the weight. The only aerodynamic modifications are the massive spoiler, air splitters and rear diffuser. The race car has six pistons per caliper, AP Racing brakes at the front and rear. The car employs race tuned Anti-lock braking system developed by Bosch. It also features adjustable anti-roll bars and four way adjustable dampers. The Type 124 runs on Pirelli racing slick mounted on an 18 inch racing alloy wheel.

Press Release:

Lotus Evora Type 124 Endurance Racecar

The Lotus Evora Type 124 Endurance Racecar has been developed from the award-winning Evora road car and is built to FIA regulations and safety standards.

The Type 124 (pronounced One Twenty Four) Endurance Racecar is the next step in the evolution of the Evora. The car will make its 24 hour racing debut at the ADAC Nürburgring 24 Hours which provides a great test for the Evora’s performance, efficiency and durability under tough and demanding endurance race conditions.

At the heart of the Lotus Evora are fundamental racecar elements: mid-engine layout, high-tech and super-stiff extruded and bonded aluminium chassis and very strong lightweight forged aluminium wishbones. All these elements mean that it is a natural evolution from the road going Lotus Evora to a competitive endurance racecar.

From the outset the design team had intentions to take the Evora racing and the chassis was designed with this in mind. Endurance races are the perfect events to showcase the efficiency, handling and durability characteristics that have been fundamental to the concept of the Evora.

The Lotus Evora Type 124 Endurance Racecar has a race-tuned version of the mid-mounted Toyota V6 engine, with power increased to over 400 ps (depending on race regulations). Vehicle mass is expected to be reduced by up to 200 kg, bringing the weight of the racecar to less than 1200 kg (depending on race regulations).

Further changes for the Lotus Evora Type 124 Endurance Racecar include a six speed sequential paddle shift racing gearbox, full FIA specification roll cage, FIA-compliant 120 litre ATL fuel system, FIA fire extinguisher system, competition carbon fibre rear wing, diffuser and front splitter.

The racecar is fitted with AP Racing 6 piston callipers front and rear, with a race-tuned Bosch ABS system, 4-way adjustable dampers and adjustable anti-roll bars. The racecar runs on 18? rims shod with Pirelli racing slicks and the wheels widths have been increased over the roadcar to 9 ½ J on the front and 11 J on the rear.

The aerodynamically efficient Lotus Evora Type 124 Endurance Racecar body design, made from lightweight composite and carbon fibre panels, remains predominantly unchanged from the road car, with the only modifications being to the lower sections of the front and rear clamshells and the side sills.

Luke Bennett, Director of Lotus Cars Limited, said, “Motorsport has been in our blood ever since our founder, Colin Chapman, built the first Lotus back in 1948. We are proud of our motorsport history, which includes victories in Formula One, Le Mans, saloon car, rally car and sportscar racing around the world; more recently, we won the British GT3 Championship in 2006 with the Lotus Exige. The Lotus Evora Type 124 Endurance Racecar is from the same unique stable and we expect it to be a competitive racecar when we enter various endurance races next year.”

Roger Becker, Vehicle Engineering Director for Group Lotus Plc said, “Every Lotus car is designed to be at home on the race track as well as the road, and the Evora is no different. 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.”