Lotus Evora S spotted in Pirelli GT racing.

[Knightewolfe]

Was watching a recorded Pirelli World Challenge Race a few weeks ago when low and behold, I spotted an Evora in the field.  Was happy to see a Lotus racing in the US again but miffed that Kpax Racing went with a McLauren to replace their Volvo S60s in the GT class (where they raced against those heinous barstards driving the monstrosities wearing the wreath and crest. A.k.a. cadillac).

 

At this time I don't remember what class the Evora was in (GT, GTA, GTS, dunno?) but will try and find out next time I hit up the Pirelli World Challenge website.

 

KW

 

edit:  Just got some new Info. Scott Dollahite (SDR Motorsports Development) is the lone team running an Evora in the Pirelli World Challenge GTS class.  Car number is #46.  Will try and find some pics later.

Edited May 16, 2014 by Knightewolfe

[NedaSay]

That would have been a Taggart autosport 345bhp Lotus Evora GT4 racing in GTS. Taggart used to race a pair of Exige Cup (GT4) in PWC. If only Lotus could help them a bit and replace the GT4 by a couple of 460bhp GTC...

Edited May 16, 2014 by NedaSay

[Knightewolfe]

Thanks for the info.  Would you happen to have pics of the Evora in Question?  I'm trying to find some but having a hard time.,

 

Wondering why they didn't go with an Evora GTX (or whichever is the one built for racing)

[Knightewolfe]

I wonder why nobody takes the Evora GX (would supercharge it) and races it in the US.  Would love to see an Evora S with the Cossie 3.8L V8 from the Lotus T125. 

 

Maybe Lotus needs to take a look at the PWC rule book for the different classes.

 

KW

[NedaSay]

Here it is during testing back in january:

 

 

 

 

And the "reason" is simple enough, Lotus cannot provide assistance (money+tech support) to teams willing to race it. Case in point: Lotus sold an Evora GX for Grand Am racing now the GTD category of TUSCC and the car never set foot on track because the team wanted funding from Lotus to race it and develop it.  

 

The Lotus Evora GTC is already eligible for Pirelli World Challenge as it is a de fact GT3 spec car. And you'll find various Evoras GT4/GTS/GTN racing in the US in "non pro" SCCA championships and of course in Lotus Cup Event.  Taggart Autosport plans was to field their GT4 in PWC but I guess funding the thing is tricky because as opposed to the endurance racing you find in TUSCC, PWC is a sprint race series, therefore you only have one driver as opposed to two or three drivers funding a car. Jim Taggart got the opportunity to race a Muehlner Motorsport Porsche GT america at Daytona and  opted for a 911 GT3R to race this season in PWC which allows him to race for overall win and he enjoys Porsche on track support. He announced that the GT4 would compete in a few SCCA endurance events later in the year.

 

Really the major reason for Lotus absence at the top level is that as opposed to Ferrari, Porsche and Audi, Lotus cannot provide on track support. Lotus budget for works or semi works programs shrunk to zilch when DB got his ass fired for mismanaging the company.

 

The other reason is that the cars do lack development, the base car is sound but according to Alex job they need proper development which Lotus hasn't been able to do lately.  In 2012, a Lotus Evora GTE did compete in ALMS with Alex Job Racing but the car lacked development due to the lack of money put into the program. AJR pitched the idea to DB who - of course - said yes and provided AJR with one of the car which competed in ILMC the previous year, the car was fast but just needed more testing and developing. AJR wanted to do it but Lotus could not provide the cash needed, so AJR moved on and raced a 458 GTE last year.

 

The Evora GTC won the Britcar championship with Team Bullrun in 2012 but the team put the car for sale shortly after the end of the championship.  Cor Euser Racing and PB Racing are each racing a pair of GT4s in the new GT4 series but this is not in the news much even though Cor Euser has had multIple class wins in VLN and Creventic events.  This year Issy Racing is racing a Lotus Evora GT4 in British GT with a cert.ain Gavan Kershaw behind the wheel so maybe Lotus we'll get to see more lotus on track in major championships. nd if you are interested in buying a racecar, one of the GT4 cars that did compete in British GT under the Lotus Sport UK banner is up for sale in the US.

 

 

Fitting a Cosworth V8 is not doable while respecting PWC rulebook or the FIA GT rulebook. However the Toyota V6 3.5 GR-FE has been race tuned by Cosworth to 4000c.c N.A producing 450 BHP in GTC/GX and GTE spec.

Edited May 18, 2014 by NedaSay

[Knightewolfe]

I see.

 

Because Lotus is being stingy with the cash, their race cars are not getting the development they need (well, except for the Exige V6 I think).  I would think that if Lotus wanted to develop more road going  Evora's, they'd be champing at the bit to get race car versions to the tracks just for testing the ideas. Of course they have to pony up the money but, If I was in the financial department of Lotus, I'd be looking everywhere for a racing team who needs cars to race. I'd give them maybe two cars at a discount and send every thing they would need to develop the cars.  Of course, that will never happen.

 

For the GTS class of PWC, aren't the cars supposed to have around 400 or 450 Horsepower while the true GT cars are pushing around the 500-600 Hp mark?

 

 

Hehe, can't afford any car right now, much less a used Lotus racecar.

 

 

The PWC and FIA GT rulebooks don't allow for an engine change even though the engine manufacturer is the same? How does that keep the Cosworth V8 out of the Evora?? 

 

 

KW

Here it is during testing back in january:

 

 

Oh yeah, that is a nice pic!! Me likey!!! Now if I could just see it run.  It seems as if SDR chose to skip the Barber Motorsports Park Race (caught it on tv  as a rebroadcast. though its been several weeks since that race was held).

 

Now if NOLA Motorsports Park gets enough upgrades to convince Indy Car to come to the Crescent City next year, and if the PWC bullet train comes with, I'm damn sure gonna take the weekend off and go out and watch!!!

 

KW

 

 

 

 

 

[NedaSay]

PWC has opted to incorporate GT3 spec cars in their series, these max out somewhere betwenn 500 and 600BHP (data from Audi R8 LMS Ultra)  but a balance of performance is required so that power will go from anywhere between 450 and 570 bhp top. then they will had restrictors to cars that are deemed to powerful.

 

The GTC is a GT3 it's just not the most powerful one. That may also be a reason why it is not sought after! Actually the GTE spec suits the Evora better as the cars in this category have less power but more aero downforce and are therefore faster in the corners. But if you watch TUSCC races you'll see that there's not enough of a gap these days between the GTLM (GTE) AND GTD (GT3) categories. 

 

ACO and FIA are thinking of a new set of regulation for next year or the year after next as the current GTEs are at the end of their lives according to some.

 

 

This year, Lotus is present - through privateer teams -  in British GT, GT4 Europe, Creventic 24 series, VLN, GT Asia... It is a positive step. Lotus just got a new CEO he may see fit to have more of a presence in motorsport. The Evora engine may be too limited to race in the top class and Lotus may need to develop a new racecar based on a different model to go back to racing in GT in a big way.

Edited May 20, 2014 by NedaSay

[Knightewolfe]

If the Evora GTC is slightly underpowered, why not just supercharge it a la the Evora S?

 

I apologize for my ignorance about this, but I am just curious.

[NedaSay]

It's a very good question!

 

Lotus pondered having the GTE being supercharged for race use but decided against it. The thing is that FIA and ACO regulation the two main bodies in GT this side of the pond have a normally aspirated bias. It's the result of the crazy turbo years in both F1 and at Le Mans, turbo were producing terrifying amount of power and would be almost out of control way too often and would burn fuel like there was no tomorrow. When BPR came around in the 90's the cars where almost all normally aspirated - except for the F40 - so the regulation were created for them in mind.  Today it is better to race a 4L, 5L or 6L normally aspirated than a 3L turbo, you have more room to play in terms of restriction on the intake, fuel consumption works in your favour, cooling is easier to deal with etc etc. Today only the McLaren 12C/650S GT3 uses turbo, Mercedes Ferrari, Aston, Porsche, BMW, Lamborghini... they are all normally aspirated GT3s. Even the Nissan GTR-GT3... Nismo has had to replace the twinturbo V6 by a 5L N.A V8. 

 

As for superchargers, they are said not to work well in race guise, turbos are better but still at a disadvantage in terms of regulations. the Lotus EVORA GR-FE aka GL series was tuned by Cosworth to 4L and pushed 470bhp in ACO guise which was fine especially the 2012 spec which had a nice 500nm flat torque curve and at 160kg was not too lumpy.  

 

 

 

Ok I'm not super techy so this is the best I can provide for info but some here are really savvy about these things.  And here's a video from 2012 at Mosport that explains what Alex Job had to deal with with the car at the end of the Bahar tenure :

 

http://youtu.be/TebNlaLCFow

 

This video explains the situation really well, the Evora is a sublime racer that only needs development in order to get to the top but developing the car to the absolute limit requires investment. Alex Job Racing dropped the Lotus at the end 2012 due to the absence of investment by the then cash trapped Lotus.  

 

It appears that contrarly to what some people hoped or thought, we are set to remain with both GTE spec and GT3 spec for a while longer. As manufacturer could not come to term with the proposed new regulations for the GT and GT+ categories.

 

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/114020

 

So there's an opportunity for lotus to get evora back on track in GTE which is the best suited category for the car and the company available funds as it can be raced as a works or semi works team in WEC, ELMS, TUSCC, and ALMS...  If the new Boss sees motorsport as a good way to raise the company profile. but a GTE privateer program is said to cost not far from 2.5 M$, So a works or semi works program will cost the company a lot more and the competition is really stiff in both TUSCC and WEC.

Edited May 21, 2014 by NedaSay

[Knightewolfe]

I see.  So the GTS Class in the PWC is similiar to the GTE and GT3 classes of the WEC and other GT series? Interesting.

 

Hopefully we will see Lotus using a works or semi-works team sometime in the near future. 

 

[NedaSay]

I see.  So the GTS Class in the PWC is similiar to the GTE and GT3 classes of the WEC and other GT series? Interesting.

 

 

Well to simplify:

 

PWC GT is the GT3 class, power output ranges from 425-525hp at the wheels! (the Evora GTC class)

PWC GTS is for GT4 class, power output ranges from 300-400hp at the wheels! (the Evora GT4 class) 

 

Then you have all the bizarro things you can only see in SCCA:

 

• the Cadillac CTS-V, that Cadillac decided to race there so that it would have its own little pond and would not get murdered by the competition in either GrandAm or ALMS (now united under the TUSCC banner) also SCCA and also it allows be group to avoid intra group fights Corvettes in ALMS, Cadillac in PWC and everybody happy.
• the late Volvo S60, the Mazda 6 and the Honda Accord racer... Technically they are touring cars though they are GTs in terms of power and they are works program. Generally manufacturers use SCCA to establish satellites team before they move them up to bigger series like Speedsource that raced the Mazda before moving to TUSCC this year with Lola-Mazda LMP2, Honda is reportedly grooming its own factory team there before they get the new NSX on track within the next two years. 

 

And Then you have the TC cars Touring cars admitted to compete pretty much anything under sun prepared by pretty much anyone willing to compete provided the pass scrutineering.

 

In a way SCCA PWC is the american equivalent of German VLN (the Nurburgring racing series) it allows for racer to race on a lower budget and still face stiff competition, the difference right now is that PWC is sprint racing only while VLN is endurance racing focussed.

 

 

source: wikipedia and SCCA

Edited May 23, 2014 by NedaSay

[Knightewolfe]

Hmm, been awhile since I last visited this discussion.

 

~&~&~

 

If you could build the perfect GT, GT-A, GTS, GTE, GT3, and GT4 Evora that fits into speifications r the various groups, what would you do?

[NedaSay]

uh could you give any budget information. I like this kind of exercise but it totally depends on available budget.

 

The GR-FE is not the perfect weapon for GT3 as it is way to underpowered, the torque is not quite there across the range and the cooling makes it difficult. However the Evora GTE raced and developed by AJR had improved quite a lot before AJR pulled the plug on its program due to lack of funding.

 

In my opinion the GT4 is where the Evora belongs in GT4 Enduro guise which means 440 bhp!  that car is a very potent GT4. Problem GT4 is not where the fun is at but in the US it means you can compete in Pirelli WC with tires that work nicely with the car.

 

In Europe there's the FIA SRO GT4 championship  which is adequate but receives no coverage and is kind on the rise but both PBR and Cor Euser have been struggling to find funded drivers in the current context. then there's the Creventic 24H series which would have my favours cause it's endurance racing there are 6 races on the calendar the purse is good and it can be a nice complement program to either VLN or ELMS again these are endurance focussed racing series that will accept the Evora GT4 Enduro as is. 

[Knightewolfe]

Okay,  let's just assume an unlimited budget for now.

 

roughly about $100 mil or so.

[NedaSay]

ah ah ah good one! 

 

Then it would be an all out assault in WEC GTE with the budget for the next 4 years and change That would be sweet.

 

Just so you know a privateer GTE budget is reported to be in the 2.5M EUR so around 3M USD so 100M would allow a privateer to compete for years if he's careful with the spendings.

 

However the budget you mention would allow the lucky team owner to get the rights to race the Evora as a full on works team with six PRO drivers (I have mines picked already ) and two or three junior/development/stand in driver (which I have a long list of). With that kind of money you can go to Hethel and form a partnership with the company. You could also start your own team from scratch or pick the more reasonable option to subcontract the endeavour to a long established team with no program at the moment, the list of these teams is very long these days, 888, AJR...  And you should also be able to sign a top GT designer and engineers to help develop the car throughout the 4 year program. If I were in charge of such a program ;

 

Cosworth would once again be my pick to develop the engine

Xtrac would once again be in charge of developing the gearbox

Ohlins for shocks and dampers, there is no reason to change  so I'd keep them

Team Dynamics for the wheels although Rays and Motegi Racing have worked on wheels for the Evora.

Dunlop for the tires ( assuming their motorsport budget is still sufficient for a global effort) 

The trick would be to find a lubricant partner interested in a global GT racing program and that is not already involved in some other teams. But lubricant could also be sourced for a fee so not 

 

 

Other huge plus of a 100M program is pretty much a guarantee of getting one or two slots on the grid at Le Mans which guarantees your program the most visibility.

 

If you are able to provide that kind of budget you let me know cause I'd want in on the action, you can safely go to Hethel and ask for brand new chassis and access to all intangible assets pertaining to the previous works programs ( JetAlliance, AJR, PBR/Giudici)

 

However a more realistic way to spend your hard earned money would no doubt be to let the team grow in a less agressive and demanding environment, so I would rather consider year one as a reboot with two old Evoras specced up and two PRO/AM pairings in a selection of ELMS, WEC events. With a lot of time dedicated to testing and developing brand new cars for year two and beyond.  If year one and testing are conclusive then switch to WEC with 2 all PRO cars and the 2 old AM cars. This is pretty much what Prodrive - Aston Martin has been doing. 

 

Porsche is the 800 pound gorillas with 2 PRO cars and a budget that is unfathomable as Porsche has been saving a lot of money for  the past 10 years not having an official race program and suddenly deciding to come back not only in GTE but also LMP1. 

 

Ferrari is using AF Corse and has a whole bunch of cars racing in GTE PRO, PRO/AM and AM but everybody knows that two cars are full on works effort with Scuderia Ferrari drivers and engineers embedded with the AF corse crew. Their budget come from cheap change from the F1 program and money provided by the satellite teams.

 

In the US  Chevy and Dodge are pretty much using the same recipe for their TUSC program, 2 cars each and all PRO line ups. However Dodge/SRT has faced budget problems and was not able to compete at Le Mans as a result and dare i say the TUSC program is a bit behind  the eight ball. 

 

Remember that the most difficult aspect in all of this is probably not to run but to really race and to continually develop the cars over a long period of time. This is something Lotus may not be in a position to help you with as Lotus is tiny when compared to the brand or companies mentioned above.    

 

 

Of course all of that is only valid if you decide to stick with the Lotus Evora, If ever the 2010 intent prototype Esprit was to get into production it would de facto become the new go to GTE racer for Lotus as its chassis, engine and engine layout would be more appropriate to racing.

[Knightewolfe]

Hehehe,  of course this is all hypothetical. Hell, I wish I had $100 mil for real.  Alas, ,one can only dream. 

 

~&~&~

 

World Endurance Challenge, i could imagine that.  I'd want to run at least one car in either the GT or GTS class of PWC. Would run 2 Evora S' and switch to twin-turbocharging instead of supercharging.  Would have one veteran driver and one rookie or new driver as well as running either 2 or 4 mid-career drivers in Exige V6 Cup as a training ground/substitute proving ground. That would probably run about $20 mil there to get the cars, drivers, engineers, and whatnot tog et the program off the ground. Would also partner up with an established team (AJR, 888, etc), to spread out the engineering ideas and other stuff for T&D.

 

I would also have a small budget just to be able to either fly the teams to Hethel for discussions with Lotus or to fly Lotus engineers to wherever my HQ was just to go over data gathered from racing.

 

You're idea about starting out with a quartet of old Evora's specced out for whatever series I'm racing in has a lot of merit.  Especially if you have a pair of the so called 'Gentlemen Driver's' (think Prince Albert von Thurn und Taxis or someone similar) running at least two of them with full support from my hypothetical team.

 

While Porsche may be the 800 pound Sasquatch of WEC, in PWC GT its those blasted cadillacs who are the 1000 pound pain in the gluteous maximus. While the bowtie boondoggle, the blue oval banshees, and the Kia's are top of the rosters in GTS. At first I'd just want to run the Evoras for T&E purposes to gain data and possibly compete in the manufacturers and drivers championships while waiting for a new Espirit with a NA longitudinally midship-mounted Lotus version of the  Toyota 4.6 or 4.7L V8 from the base model Tundra or a twin-turbocharged version the 4L V6 from the Tacoma, 4Runner or the like. (maybe even one of the Lexus 4.8L V8's).

 

I'd still contract with Cosworth for the engines. They seem to do well with the 3.8L V8 in the Lotus T125.

Would either go with Brembo, Stop Tech, or Wilwood for brakes.

Eibach and/or Tein for Suspension components (Would have Lotus suspension experts do the work).

Dunno about Xtrac for the gearbox but if you recommended them, good enough for me.

Now for tires, I'd run Pirelli P Zero Corsa Trofeo's for PWC and use Firestone Indy Firehawks for other series. With the possibility of Falken's, Yoko's, or Toyo's as Backups.

dunno about which lubriants to use.

 

of course this is all  hypothetical idea but it is good to dream.

 

 

KW

Edited August 6, 2014 by Knightewolfe

[NedaSay]

Well running in PWC will cost you a lot less than you think. The series has been tought first and foremost to keep the cost low so your budget will be lower to a TUSC privateer GTC team with one major difference, two cars = two drivers. cost of a season under 1.5M no pits refuel means no expensive tooling and race suits for crew even tough PWC is thinking of adding a few endurance races probably year after next. 

 

I'd be you I'd bring Ashley Freiberg and Madison Snow. no need for a veteran when you have two young very talented and already quite seasoned racecar driver who have not been contracted by factories. Shit I wanted to keep these two for the day I come up with the cash to start my team lol

 

As for the engine mods don't get excited your option are limited to same spec so GR-FE only and the 3.5 of the standard evora is already bored out to 4.0 in race guise.  A time attack team has replaced the engine by an Hayabusa V8 but as far as I know they can only compete in Lotus Cup USA open mods and other club series. I heard a few Exige V6 will be involved in Lotus cup USA this year so you should go check them out.

 

 

As for the cadillac, Kia and soon Acura ruling PWC no surprise there, they are the ones rolling on company money while all other teams are pure privateers except for the Dyson and his new Bentley deal.

 

 

Be sure also to pick the right category as it's pretty much guaranteed that the field will be split up next year as there are too many cars running in PWC.

 

I know that at least one Evora GT4 ( ex Lotus Sports UK) is available for sale in the US for less than 125k. That'd be a good basis  I think...

 

Cheers to hopes and dreams may they turn into projects and endeavours sooner than later   

[Knightewolfe]

yeah, watched the Dyson Bentley in some PWC races I watched on my laptop today.  For a such a big lady that Bentley can dance.

 

You're right about PWC being cheaper than WEC and the like, so I wonder if the 3.5L supercharged would be somewhat competitive. If not, have it bored out to either 3.7L or 4.0L. With the proper tuning that might bring about 500 or so HP.  Did not know about the two drivers you mentioned.  But if I did ave the cashish to run a team, they'd be my first calls to drive.

 

The one reason I'd want a veteran in m driver lineup would be to help out the others with the optio of being my lead driver if I decide to compete in two different series or if  I chose to step up to the GT class with the dreamed about Esprit while keeping my Evoras in GTS.

[NedaSay]

Well if you want a 500 bhp solution for your dream PWC Evora GT, Swindon engineering may have a fix for you, these guys kept working on the GR-FE after Cosworth stopped. They say that they have a 500BHP tune ready for Evora. They were also involved in the GTE roadcar demonstrators.    

[Knightewolfe]

Now that I'd have to read about.  Just because it is my dream Evora S.

[SDR Motorsports]

Hey Guys,

Happen to come across this forum and I think you are talking about us! :-) Here is a photo of the #46 Lotus Evora running in Pirelli World Challenge GTS class. We have been running 2016 season. We raced last weekend in Canada - Mosport and are working very hard to make Lime Rock this coming weekend 5/26 - 5/28. Appreciate all the support to follow us and like our Facebook pages:

https://www.facebook.com/SDRmotorsportsteam/?pnref=story

https://www.facebook.com/ScottDollahiteDriver/

-SDR Motorsports Development 

[Knightewolfe]

SDR, thanks for the information about the #46 Evora. Alas, this year I have not been able to keep up with the PWC like I used to do. Maybe I'll get the app that allows me to catch the livestream of the PWC races.

By the way, is that the old Alex Jobs Evora? If not, what are the specs that you are running for the Pirelli World Challenge.

~&~&~

 

Neda, think we should revisit this topic this year??

 

KW.

On 5/24/2016 at 08:46, SDR Motorsports said:

Hey Guys,

Happen to come across this forum and I think you are talking about us! :-) Here is a photo of the #46 Lotus Evora running in Pirelli World Challenge GTS class. We have been running 2016 season. We raced last weekend in Canada - Mosport and are working very hard to make Lime Rock this coming weekend 5/26 - 5/28. Appreciate all the support to follow us and like our Facebook pages:

https://www.facebook.com/SDRmotorsportsteam/?pnref=story

https://www.facebook.com/ScottDollahiteDriver/

-SDR Motorsports Development 

SDR, is it possible to get a poster (or some other swag) of the #46?  :-)

:-)

 

KW

[NedaSay]

No KW, this is not a GTE car it's a GX car, an Evora GTC specced specially for Grand Am initially. 

[Knightewolfe]

Ahhh, I see. My mistake. Its still a beautiful car though. I'll have to try and catch it on the tc sometime soon.

 

KW