Lotus Sport Exige GT3

Dec 2005

A prototype of the Lotus Sport Exige race car was unveiled at the annual FIA GT Championship presentation ceremony outside the world famous Casino in Monte Carlo, Monaco on 02 December, 2005.

The following day, the first test for the car took place at the high speed Paul Ricard High Tech Test Track in Southern France under FIA supervision, the first stage in the Lotus Sport Exige GT3 becoming eligible for FIA GT3 competition.

This latest FIA series, which will start in 2006, is for race cars that have an equal power to weight, and that have a direct lineage to their road going versions.

Full Press Release here

In Feb 2006, Lotus Sport (the performance division of Lotus Cars) and Cadena announced the signing of a two-year agreement for the supply of a minimum of 2 Lotus Sport Exige GT3 race cars to be campaigned initially in the British GT Championship in 2006 with an expectation of also entering FIA European GT3 Championship in 2007. The team will be branded Lotus Sport Cadena.

Cadena was created specifically for the 2005 British GT Series although it did enter certain FIA GT and Spanish GT rounds with mixed results using the Mosler GT2 chassis. The origins of the team stem from a ten year interest in motorsport by team principal Paul Whight who has raced historic Aston Martins, CanAm cars and then the last Group C Aston Martin chassis – AMR-1 – which ran at Le Mans in 1989 at the hands of David Leslie. Previously, Paul Whight was involved in the successful campaign of a Lotus Sport Elise in the Cup Class of the 2004 British GT Series.

Lotus Sport Cadena will field four drivers to contest the 2006 British GT series, all having raced previously in Lotus racing cars. Cadena Lotus Sport Elise British GT driver Barrie Whight will once again be partnered by Gavan Kershaw, Principal Vehicle Dynamics Engineer for Lotus Engineering and driver of the Lotus Sport Elise in 2004 and the Mosler MT900R for the Cadena GTC team during the 2005 season. George Mackintosh, who claimed last year’s Yokohama Mid-Engined Sportscar championship in a Lotus Elise, and Sam Blogg who took second place in the series also competing in a Lotus Elise, complete the team’s second pairing.

The opening round of the 2006 Avon Tyres British GT season takes place at Oulton Park on the 16th and 17th of April, with subsequent visits to high profile national circuits, Mondello Park in Ireland and Pau in France.