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Comments on the Lotus Motorsport Weekend of 8-9
October 2011 FORMULA ONE – JAPANESE GRAND PRIX
Lotus Renault GP displayed some promising
performance in Japan, which translated into two
Championship points on Sunday.
Having been out of contention two weeks ago in
Singapore, the team bounced back at Suzuka by
getting both cars in the top ten in qualifying.
Despite taking a bite out of the barriers on
Saturday morning, Bruno Senna managed to claim
P9 while team-mate Vitaly Petrov took P10..
Both drivers started on the medium compound tyre,
while the other cars around them were on softs.
The strategy meant the LRGP drivers had searing
pace in the final quarter of the race, but for
the start they were at a disadvantage. Petrov
switched from medium rubber to soft on lap 39,
his final pitstop, and was then unleashed to
pass multiple cars and finish in ninth place.
Senna suffered from traffic and tyre degradation
and finished 16th.
The 15th round of the 2011 season represents
Vitaly’s seventh points finish. He is now ninth
in the Drivers’ Championship behind Michael
Schumacher: “Ultimately our target was to finish
in front of Force India and this is what we
achieved. When I put on the soft tyres at the
end of the race I felt so much grip; I smiled
and then pushed a lot! Then I overtook I don’t
know how many cars. It’s a pity Sergio [Perez]
was just too far ahead. Now we go to Korea
looking for another top ten finish.”
Bruno out-qualified his team-mate for the third
time in four races, but was unable to convert
this promise into points: “From my perspective,
it was a disappointing race having started in
such a promising position. I encountered lots of
traffic problems and my tyres were degrading
quite fast. We certainly looked stronger over
three days here than we did in Singapore.
Hopefully I will be back in the points in
Korea.”
Lotus Renault GP Team Principal Eric Boullier
was encouraged by the R33’s pace in clean air:
“First and foremost it’s good to be back in the
points. We had a different strategy to most
teams and it worked reasonably well for Vitaly,
but not so well for Bruno who struggled with a
lot of traffic. Unfortunately the Safety Car did
not help us either, but at least we have two
more points to help us hold off the threat of
Force India in the Constructors’ Championship.
Finally, on behalf of the whole team I would
like to offer my congratulations to Sebastian
Vettel for his second World Championship win.”
Group Lotus Motorsport Director, Claudio Berro,
is focused on the fight in the Constructors’
Championship: “A good effort from Vitaly, he
picked up two points which will help the team in
its goal to remain fifth in the championship.
Lotus Renault GP now has 72 points, a fairly
comfortable margin over Force India with 48.
Ideally we want both cars to finish in the top
ten at each race and, encouragingly, our drivers
showed the pace is there in qualifying. We hope
to edge further ahead next weekend in Korea, to
which the team turns its attentions immediately.”
BRITISH GT CHAMPIONSHIP – SILVERSTONE
Lotus Sport UK took its second GT4 victory on
the trot on Saturday at Silverstone’s two hour
sportscar enduro, the final round of the 2011
British GT Championship.
In qualifying, Chris Holmes and Phil Glew put
the car on pole for the second race in
succession, ahead of Scuderia Vittoria Ginetta’s
Dan Denis and David McDonald. Glew’s lap of 2m
13.478s was quick enough to put the Evora 23rd
overall on the 30 car grid, despite some of the
GT3 competitors passing him on the straight and
then baulking him in the corners, where the
Evora enjoys an advantage. The No.49 Lotus of
Leyton Clarke and Freddy Nordstrom lined up
fifth out of the seven GT4 starters.
Glew led the class from the start ahead of
Denis’ Ginetta, with the pair battling hard in
the early stages before the Evora started to
establish a gap. The lead was maintained after
the mid-race handover to team-mate Holmes, and
victory proved comfortable after the No.50
Ginetta was given a drive-thru and slipped to
third.
After 52 laps, the No.48 Evora won a lap ahead
of ABG Motorsport KTM’s Peter Belshaw and Marcus
Clutton, who claimed the GT4 championship
honours. Clarke and Nordstrom came home sixth.
“We had a great battle with the No.50 Ginetta at
the start,” Glew said. “I just couldn’t shake it
off no matter what I did. All of a sudden the
race came to us; we seemed to manage the tyres
better, pulled a bit of a gap, which built up a
30 second lead and the rest is history.”
Team manager Gary Ayles said: “Overall it was a
great weekend for us although we suffered a few
minor niggles in free practice we made up for
this later. In the race, we had to work for it
but by the end of his stint Phil had broken the
back on the Ginetta and established a strong
advantage. Chris then got in and did an
incredible job. He’d had so little time in the
car up to that point, I thought his performance
was absolutely top draw. The cars ran
faultlessly during the race - it was a fantastic
end to the season.”
Group Lotus Motorsport Director Claudio Berro
said: “The progress this team has made this year
is very pleasing and we’re proud of taking our
second consecutive victory. The Evora GT4 had
proved an exceptional racing car, and I would
like to thank the drivers and the team for their
brilliant efforts.
BLANCPAIN ENDURANCE SERIES
Silverstone also played to host to final round
of the 2011 Blancpain Endurance Series on Sunday
and, after a season long battle between the top
contenders and the Evora GT4 of Lotus Sport
Italia (run by Gianni Giudici), it came down to
the final race to decide the championship honors
The infamous trio of drivers - Greg and Leo
Mansell alongside Edoardo Pisocopo – made the
perfect start in the Evora GT4 by clinching pole
position, however due to the points situation
Lotus Sport Italia still needed a race win and a
DNF for fellow championship contenders RJN
Motorsport for the team to secure the title in
the three hour endurance race.
Following a great team performance the honour
was left to Greg Mansell to bring the Evora GT4
over the finish line taking first place in the
GT4 category but narrowly missing out on the
Championship title as RJN Motorsport finished
albeit three laps down.
‘We can be very proud this weekend finishing
both the British GT Championship and Blancpain
series with a win, it bodes well for 2012” said
Group Lotus Motorsport Director Claudio Berro.
The next outing for the Evora GT4 will be this
weekend (15th 16th October) as Zandvoort plays
host to the final round of the GT4 European Cup
where several Evora GT4 race cars will be in
action.
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