In a statement shortly after, team boss Eric Boullier confirmed Petrov’s contract had been terminated and that he would not be in line for the team’s test and reserve driver role (presumably linked to his recent outbursts against the team).

And that just leaves Senna looking for a seat. So it seems ironic that on the very same day as the Grosjean announcement, Senna should appear modelling the new Lotus ORIGINALS collection. When he pictured himself sitting in for Lotus in 2012, I doubt he envisaged it being a lounge chair..

Bruno Senna and Lotus CEO Dany Bahar open the new Lotus ORIGINALS retail store in Hethel

Is this the price to be paid for waiting in the wings?

For what it’s worth, I remember enjoying Bruno’s drives in GP2, where he would comprehensively out-drive Vitaly Petrov and battle on equal terms with Romain Grosjean, so apart from his variable performance at times, I can see little justification in replacing him with Grosjean apart from the obvious financial ones (Grosjean is managed by team boss Eric Boullier and French oil giant TOTAL will be a team sponsor in 2012).

Lotus describe their new retail concept as “..a clear sign of their new brand identity and befitting the current and future collection of cars planned for 2013 and beyond.”

The first step in this process is opening the brand’s first retail store at Group Lotus HQ near Hethel.

In fact, if you’re in the area it might be worth popping in and taking a look, because in addition to the latest range of apparel and accessories, the retail store is also showcasing the new look customers can expect from Lotus dealerships in the future.

The new Lotus ORIGINALS retail store in Hethel

The dealership environment has a modern look and feel with an inviting lounge area where customers can browse the Lotus library or leisurely spec their new Lotus car. Lotus’ latest models will be on display in the store, with full paint and trim swatches to complete the Lotus shopping experience.

Commenting on the launch Group Lotus Director of Licensing and Merchandise Wiebke Bauer said: “It’s a very proud day for us today, it’s more than a simple store opening. One of the biggest challenges we have as a business, outside of selling cars, is to make the Lotus brand as accessible as possible. We have many fans out there in the world who aren’t necessarily in a position to buy one of our cars but they still want to be part of the Lotus world and this means a lot to us.”

Opening hours are 8.30am until 5pm (Monday to Thursday) and 8.30am until midday on Fridays. Hopefully you won’t find Bruno serving from behind the counter, but within the broadly defined contract he seems to be under with Lotus, you never know.

Let’s hope we see him in a race suit and off the cat-walk soon.

The ‘Lotus Licence’ is a tiered staircase programme that delivers a full programme of driver training and qualification leading up to a drive in the Evora GT4 at race standard. Level 1 covers heritage and an introduction to the Lotus brand, an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of the production facilities and general vehicle handling training.

Subject to successfully passing Level 1, drivers will advance to Level 2 and eventually to Level 3 where they hone their skills learning everything from the theory of vehicle dynamics and tyre grip to trail breaking and powersliding.

The secret of becoming a great driver lies in plenty of track time and expert training, and after completing Level 3 drivers are awarded their ‘Lotus Licence’ and judged to be capable of handling the race-ready Evora GT4.

This is where the curriculum gets serious – all aspects of the circuit for racing are encompassed with special attention to race lines, analyses and a full debrief, after the serious bit it’s on to the fun stuff – extracting more performance from the Evora GT4 race car.

The Evora GT4 is a transverse mid-engined, rear wheel drive, sequential 6-speed transmission with paddle shift and twin plate sintered clutch. Shod in slick tyres, it delivers 349 bhp at 6500rpm and 328 lb/ft (400nm) at 5500rpm of torque – sounds good? The LDA allows you to find out what it’s like to drive on track and really unleash your talent.

What’s unique about the LDA is that drivers receive dedicated 1:1 tuition for the entire programme. Selected by Martin Donnelly, instructors are not only of the highest calibre, but they are completely focussed on their pupils so drivers can advance at the quickest possible rate and receive a truly bespoke experience. Current LDA instructors include:

Chief Instructor Martin Donnelly comments: “Lotus cars are real drivers’ cars. The Lotus Driving Academy is the perfect way to experience the special relationship between a car and the track and it’s a great opportunity for customers or aspiring customers to push themselves to the limit and experience everything Lotus has to offer. The syllabus we have put together is very technical so the training is comprehensive and challenging. There really is no better driver training out there!”

Managing Director Robert Lechner talks passionately about his plans for expansion: “We are really confident with the Lotus Driving Academy model, we have seen drivers progress and achieve their potential quickly so they keep coming back! Our success is down to creating the perfect learning experience with expert instructors in a world-class environment.

We are very happy to run our programmes at the re-launched Lotus track and are planning to open Lotus Driving Academies internationally, our first centre outside of the UK is at the Hungaroring in Budapest and we are looking at new locations at some of the greatest circuits around the world.“

The Circuits – Hethel

Situated beside Lotus headquarters in Hethel, Norfolk UK, the official Lotus test track is where the Lotus Driving Academy is located alongside Lotus Motorsport. With a length of 3.6 kilometres and width of 12 metres, it can be used additionally for GT racing and Formula 1 testing.

As a purpose-built test circuit, it combines a variety of technical aspects with a series of bends, hairpin, corners, straights and a turning circle designed to put Lotus’ high performance cars through their paces, and to train and develop driving skills.

The Circuits – Hungaroring

The LFA Budapest is based at the Hungarian Formula 1 track in a natural valley, surrounded by 50 hectares of rolling hillside. With this natural advantage, almost 80 percent of the racetrack is visible from any point. The smallest radius of a curve is 20 metres, while the largest is 400 metres.

The full length of the start-finish line is 788 metres and the track is at its widest point 15 metres, elsewhere the width varies between 10 and 11 metres – relative to the possible highest speed.

The remit of the Advisory Council includes providing strategic input into the product, technology, quality, brand, marketing and distribution plans of Group Lotus.

Murray was Chief Designer for the Brabham team in F1, working directly for its boss Bernie Ecclestone, before joining McLaren where he designed the McLaren F1 road car. During his time in F1, Gordon was responsible for designing many Grand Prix winning cars and introducing many of the most pioneering new technologies.

More recently Gordon established Gordon Murray Design to develop an innovative and disruptive automotive manufacturing technology trademarked iStream®. The design and prototyping of their T.25 Petrol and T.27 Electric Ultra Compact City Cars has been central to both the development and validation of this process.

Commenting on his appointment Gordon Murray said: “For years I’ve been a huge admirer of Lotus, I have great respect for the legacy that Colin Chapman created and I think what Dany and the team are doing is a really good thing for the brand. He’s taking the strength from Chapman’s principals and taking the business to the next level whilst still keeping the general ethos – not an easy task! I’m really looking forward to contributing to Group Lotus during this exciting time.”

The Lotus Evora GTE Road Car Concept takes its inspiration from the Evora GTE race car, which has been competing in the new global motorsport GTE category including the famous Le Mans 24 Hours.

Lotus Evora GTE Road Car Concept

With over 420 bhp from its race-developed 3.5-litre Toyota engine, fed through a sequential AMT racing gearbox and its Pirelli P-Zero Corsa tyres, the Evora GTE Road Car Concept is the kind of model which shows that Lotus can still make pure drivers cars rather than trinkets for the rich and famous.

It’s reassuring to hear Lotus say in their press release, “The Evora GTE Road Car Concept isn’t merely a paint scheme or homage to a race car – this is a serious race car that makes for a very serious road car.” Amen to that.

Lotus were unable to confirm when the Evora GTE Road Car Concept will become a production reality, but there’s little doubt it will happen and in doing so will likely become the most expensive Lotus road car ever sold.

Exige Matte Black Final Edition

Whilst the Evora GTE Road Car Concept is a world premiere, the Exige Matte Black Final Edition is for North American markets only.

To mark the end of an era of Exige production, Lotus upgraded its power to 257 bhp, clothed in an exclusive Matte Black paint finish with black Alacantara sport seats and a high level of standard equipment, only 25 examples of this Exige will be built, each with their own numbered plate.

If you’re over in Pebble Beach this week, then both of these cars will be in the Lotus exhibit on Peter Hay Hill near The Lodge at Pebble Beach Thursday August 18 through the weekend, but the Evora GTE Road Car Concept will then move to the Concept Car Lawn at The Lodge Saturday afternoon (August 20) and remain there through until Sunday afternoon.

Gallery

The Italian Police have a long history of exotic pursuit cars, however usually the task falls to Lamborghini, who have provided a succession of unique models to the State Police.

This time it was the choice of the Carabinieri and they chose not one, but two Lotus Evora for the task. With one car stationed in Milan and the other in Rome, the rapid transportation vehicles are equipped with a portable refrigerator (for carrying blood and organs in medical emergencies), but also some of the very latest voice recognition technology including the EVA (Enhanced Vehicle Automation) system.

The Arma dei Carabinieri, which is a seperate organisation to the Italian army, play a similar role in Italy to Scotland Yard in the UK and work with the civilian police to provide a crucial service to the public.

Commenting during the handover event at Carabinieri headquarters in Rome, Lotus CEO Dany Bahar said: “We are extremely proud to be working with such an iconic and professional organisation as the Carabinieri who play an integral role in Italian society.”

“Everyone knows that Italy has more than it’s fair share of high-profile sports car manufacturers so it is a real honour for a relatively small British brand to be in this position. The feedback from the driver training on the Evora S at our test track was very positive, it’s such a responsive car to drive, I think the teams in Rome and Milan are really going to feel the benefit of working with our product.”

The British-Police-edition Evora with its blues-and-twos just wouldn’t cut it on the stylish streets of Milan and Rome.

Carabinieri spokesperson, Colonel Marco Minicucci said: “Our special Lotus Evoras combine the very best of our technology with excellent British engineering from Lotus. Not just anyone can drive these cars, we carefully selected some of our team to attend a driver training session at the new test track at Lotus’ headquarters in Hethel, Norfolk where they learnt all about the very special characteristics and incredible potential of the cars.”

By carefully selected I suspect Colonel Minicucci means “..a few of us senior police officers visited Lotus’ Hethel HQ and had a blast around their new test track!” Don’t worry Marco, we don’t blame you..

Gallery

So you might consider it sacrilege to find out that the track has been completely redeveloped, along with a new baby-smooth surface that wouldn’t look out-of-place on a state-of-the-art Tilke circuit.

But progress is inevitable, especially when you’ve got an F1 team to run. The layout of the 2.2 mile circuit has changed very little since it was built by Colin Chapman back in the 1960′s, and modernisation changes include an extra corner, new asphalt and larger run off areas which are better suited to modern racing and performance car testing.

Its mixture of corners, straight and braking zones makes it ideal for testing and optimizing every performance aspect of the latest Lotus models, and evaluating car control at the Lotus Driving Academy. In addition to a spacious new workshop, the test track will soon be accompanied by a brand new pit building and hospitality suite.

Formula One legends open the new circuit

Nigel Mansell officially opened Group Lotus’s revised and restored Hethel test track with a roar from the 1981 Essex-Lotus 81B in which he started his glorious Formula One career more than 30-years-ago.

Mansell led a convoy of seven stunning racing cars from the Lotus stable, including the innovative 1980 Type 88 twin-chassis car – which the rule makers never allowed to race; the Lotus Type 125 Exos Experience car driven by fellow F1 legend Jean Alesi; and a brace of Lotus Renault GP cars piloted by current F1 stars Vitaly Petrov and Bruno Senna.

This was the first time that modern-era F1 cars had blasted around the historic Hethel tarmac since the early 1990s.

Nigel Mansell, Group Lotus ambassador and 1992 Formula One World Champion said: “What a joy it was to be reunited with my old 81B after 30 years. This is a very special place, Hethel, and it was wonderful to open the circuit today by driving alongside my sons Leo and Greg.”

Clive Chapman, Managing Director of Classic Team Lotus said: “I remember my father testing the Lotus 49 on this circuit. He didn’t wear a helmet and you could see him grinning from ear to ear because he knew he had another winner. The circuit’s longest straight doubled as a runway, and we would land here in my father’s plane after adventurous and race tracks around the world. The revised circuit has managed to keep a lot of the character of the original, and seeing those seven cars lapping today is something I shall never forget. Lotus is enjoying exciting times once again, and it fills me with pride when I see brand new Lotus’s around the world still bearing my father’s initials.”

Jean Alesi, Group Lotus ambassador and F1 legend said: “It’s extremely fast. The first time I went out I was surprised about the length of the straights, but then of course it’s not only for motor sport but for testing road cars. The layout is perfect for that. It’s a proper test track. Today I drove Lotus’ customer F1-experience car, the T125. The development of this car is ongoing, and very very promising. James Rossiter is doing a great job helping to develop the car, and will make this new track his home. I shall be validating these tests.”

Dany Bahar, Group Lotus CEO said: “A year ago we set out our plans to introduce a new model line up, ambitious motorsport plans and a revitalization of the iconic Lotus brand. A year in, we are meeting all the targets and milestones we set ourselves. One of the milestones was the opening of our test track. You might say this is just a refurbishment of a track and not a major achievement in itself, and I agree. However, mentally and psychologically seeing this project accomplished demonstrates that step-by-step our vision is becoming a reality. It shows our entire workforce and our partners that we are delivering on our promises.”

Gallery

The other ‘subtle’ message within the picture is the contested provenance of Lotus’ racing heritage – Alesi and the Evora are pictured against the backdrop of some of the most iconic Lotus racing cars, past winners of the Formula 1 Constructors Championship, clearly portraying the ex-F1 grand prix winner as part of a renaissance to reclaim Lotus’ illustrious past.

Just in case you’ve missed the previous photo calls featuring Brundle, Villeneuve, Trulli and Kovalainen, we’ve put together a little gallery below.

Lotus’ latest signing takes to the track with the award-winning Evora

Here’s what Lotus had to say about it all..

Less than 24 hours after the announcement of his commitment to Lotus as a brand ambassador for the Type 125 programme, former F1 driver Jean Alesi visited the Lotus Headquarters in Hethel, Norfolk and put one of the road cars through its paces.

During his visit Alesi also took time out to look over the facilities including the production lines before heading out on the test track with one of the current range.

Commenting on his visit Jean Alesi said: “I’m really impressed with the set up here, it’s fantastic, so much care and attention to detail goes into the production. Every element from design through to engineering is spectacular. Driving the Evora was a lot of fun too. Perhaps people make the mistake of underestimating the Evora, it handles really well, great power, overall performance and most of all fun – everything I would expect from a Lotus. I really enjoyed driving it.”

He didn’t just keep the experience to himself though, in the days leading up to his visit, on-site Lotus employees were given the opportunity to enter a competition to win a passenger lap with the F1 legend – as a result, five lucky Lotus staff members had the exclusive chance to ride shotgun with Alesi. Not quite your average Friday at work some might argue.

Gino Rosato, Director of Corporate Operations, said: “It’s an absolute pleasure to be working with Jean again and it’s great that we can do something fun for the team here too – team morale is crucial to our success. I think Jean’s passion for motorsport and determination to make the best out of everything he does perfectly complements the spirit of Lotus.”

In the next few days Alesi will be heading to Italy for testing with the Type 125, Lotus’ exclusive ultra high performance F1 inspired customer race-car. Given his F1 pedigree, Alesi makes the perfect ambassador for the programme.

Photo Gallery

The revised Elise features detail changes designed to improve the sport car’s emissions and fuel consumption, as well as update its design in line with its Evora sibling. The Elise receives a new front bumper and splitter, rear bumper, engine cover and new front clamshell including repositioned front light clusters with LED daytime running lights.

The net effect of these changes is a 4% reduction in aerodynamic drag, reducing emissions on the entry-level 134 bhp 1.6-litre model by 13% to 155g/km. The 1.8 litre 189 bhp Elise R and 217 bhp Elise SC emit 196g/km and 199g/km respectively.

Other changes include two new designs of lightweight forged alloy wheel, a new 6-speed close-ratio gearbox and the option of cruise control available as part of the Touring pack.

Prices are yet to be announced but we expect to hear more in a few weeks time, prior to the Geneva show.

This time it’s the turn of Lewis Hamilton’s ex-teammate Heikki Kovalainen as he was given a personal tour of the production facilities yesterday. Local residents will soon start complaining about all these Formula 1 drivers clogging up their favourite watering holes..

A few Lotus employees were even more thrilled when they got a rare chance to be driven by the F1 star as he tested the Lotus Evora on Lotus’ own test track for the first time.

During his day with Lotus Cars Heikki was given a special tour of the Classic Team Lotus workshops by Clive Chapman, son of Lotus founder Colin Chapman during which he chatted to Clive and Engineer Bob Dance about their first hand experience of some of the most successful and iconic F1 racing cars of all time. The tour was steeped in Lotus history and included some of the F1 cars that helped Lotus to achieve 79 GP wins, seven constructor’s titles and 6 drivers’ championships, including Emerson Fittipaldi’s Type 72.

Dany Bahar, CEO of Group Lotus plc said, “Group Lotus is very proud of its racing pedigree and we are all very excited to share our story with Heikki. It was our honour to welcome Heikki to Group Lotus and we wish him and the Lotus F1 Racing team every success for the 2010 F1 season.”

Dany Bahar continued, “We take great pride in the sports cars that we produce at Hethel and Heikki’s visit provided a great opportunity to show off the multi-award winning cars that we produce and the advanced niche production facilities at Hethel.”

Heikki was not on Lotus soil long before he was behind the wheel of the Lotus Evora trying it on for size on Lotus’ own test track and commented “The Evora was everything I expected, Lotus is famous for fantastic sports cars and the Evora did not disappoint. The power to weight ratio gives the car a real racecar feel and allowed me to really push the car round the track. I enjoyed every lap and had fun sliding it sideways!”

He went on to say, “The day has been great, I was really excited to see so many happy, motivated people and the support of the Lotus workforce is very much appreciated, I really got a sense of the passion the people have for the Lotus brand.”

Heikki concluded, “I’d really like to thank everyone at Lotus for a great day, it was an honour to meet Clive Chapman and learn more about his legendary father and to see Lotus’ classic F1 cars. I’m really keen to drive one of the JPS cars and maybe will be at Lotus again sometime soon to drive the Type 72!”

You’ve got to admire Dany Bahar and his team at Lotus Cars for making such good use of the marque’s return to F1 in 2010 – let’s hope the season ahead brings as much good cheer as these early

Well, in less than a year the Evora walked away with Top Gear’s Sports Car of the Year award, plus an armful of similar trophies from journalists around the world. Then more recently it’s been swooned upon by F1 royalty, including Jacques Villeneuve, Martin Brundle and Lotus F1’s new driver Jarno Trulli, who made the Evora the first ever Lotus he had driven.

So where does Lotus go from such a successful launch year? Well, it creates a GT4 racing version of the Evora and launches its own one-make race series which will no doubt help customers connect the ethos of Lotus Cars with that of its Malaysian backed F1 team. Genius.

The Evora Cup will be launched at the Autosport International racing car show in Birmingham, UK on the 14th January 2010, where further details of their innovative European race series for 2010 will also be revealed.

The Evora Cup race car has been developed by Lotus Motorsport and is designed to make it immediately competitive in GT4 racing, together with a number of different endurance and sprint racing series. At the heart of the Evora Cup is an all new 4 litre V6 race engine that boasts more than 400 PS and a dry sump system for the high cornering forces encountered during racing. The mid mounted engine is mated to a Cima six-speed sequential paddle shift dog gearbox, designed purely for motor sport.

GT4-spec Lotus Evora Cup will have its own race series in 2010

The Evora body has received a Dallara developed aero package, which includes a number of updated carbon fibre parts which are said to significantly improve performance for racing applications, providing greater downforce and improved cooling. The engine remains in its mid-engine layout, within its high-tech, super-stiff extruded and bonded aluminium chassis and double wishbone suspension all round.

The race car will come with adjustable motor sport dampers and six piston front brake callipers, with two piece aluminium belled brake discs. The car has an electrical cut off, fire extinguisher, traction control and is designed to have all the relevant FIA compatible motor sport equipment ready to race.

“Performance through light weight” is a Lotus philosophy and the Evora Cup race car has been pared down to less than 1200 kg, which translates into a reduction of more than 200 kgs over the production car. This weight saving has been achieved by using high performance parts and materials and deleting parts not required for motor sport

Claudio Berro, Director of Motorsport at Group Lotus says, “Lotus has an enviable heritage of producing very competitive racing cars and we wish to continue this heritage with the Evora Cup race car. The company started by creating world beating racing cars and this is evident from the design of Lotus cars as the production cars have many racing car design features and perform exceptionally well on track.”

“The Evora Cup racing car is the first step along the route for Lotus Motorsport to realise its racing ambitions. I am looking forward to seeing the Evora racing this year in the Lotus Evora Cup competition and I am excited by the plans for 2011, where Lotus intends to introduce a pan European one make race series for the Evora Cup.”

The 2010 Evora Cup series will be a European event with points initially being awarded to competitors for entering races with the points values awarded relative to Evora finishing positions. There will be five points for attending any eligible national race meeting with five points awarded for the first Evora to finish down to one point for the fifth.

The series will then culminate with two Lotus Festivals, with provisional dates for Donington Park in the UK (16th & 17th October 2010) and the second at Vallelunga in Italy (21st and 22nd November 2010). All the competitors from around Europe will be invited to race at these festivals and there will be double points on offer. The championship winner will be the driver who accrues the most number of points from a maximum of 6 races over the 2010 season.

Lotus has offered a prize fund of at least €100,000 to reward competitors in the series, which will go some way to offsetting the likely purchase price of £120,000 excluding taxes..

Drivers are invited to register their interest at the Lotus Evora Cup website, or at Autosport International show this week.

Lotus Evora Cup site

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