The Lotus Elise GT1 was a race car developed for grand tourer

Grand tourer

A grand tourer is a high-performance luxury automobile designed for long-distance driving. The most common format is a two-door coupé with either a two-seat or a 2+2 arrangement....

-style sports car racing

Sports car racing

Sports car racing is a form of circuit auto racing with automobiles that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built or related to road-going sports cars....

 starting in 1997.

Development

Lotus Cars

Lotus Cars

Lotus Cars is a British manufacturer of sports and racing cars based at the former site of RAF Hethel, a World War II airfield in Norfolk. The company designs and builds race and production automobiles of light weight and fine handling characteristics...

 had previously been using a racing version of their Lotus Esprit model in the BPR Global GT Series

BPR Global GT Series

The BPR Global GT Series was a grand tourer-based sports car racing series which ran from 1994 to 1996 before becoming the FIA GT Championship in 1997...

 since its foundation in 1994, competing in the premiere GT1 class against the likes of the McLaren F1 GTR

McLaren F1 GTR

The McLaren F1 GTR was a racing variant of the McLaren F1 sports car first produced in 1995 for grand touring style racing, such as the BPR Global GT Series, FIA GT Championship, JGTC, and British GT Championship. It is most famous for its overall victory at the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans where it...

, Venturi 600LM, Ferrari F40

Ferrari F40

The Ferrari F40 is a mid-engine, rear-wheel drive, two-door coupé sports car produced by Ferrari from 1987 to 1992 as the successor to the Ferrari 288 GTO. From 1987 to 1989 it was Ferrari's fastest, most powerful, and most expensive car...

 GTE, and others. However in 1997 the series became known as the FIA GT Championship

FIA GT Championship

The FIA GT Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation at the behest of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The championship was mostly concentrated in Europe, but throughout the years has visited other continents including Asia and South...

, and manufacturer involvement was increased with the new international exposure. Porsche

Porsche

Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....

 was the first to start a new breed of racing car in 1996, with their purpose-built homologation

Homologation

Homologation is a technical term, derived from the Greek homologeo for "to agree", which is generally used in English to signify the granting of approval by an official authority...

 special known as the 911 GT1

Porsche 911 GT1

The Porsche 911 GT1 was a car designed for competition in the GT1 class of sportscar racing, which also required a street legal version for homologation purposes...

. This was quickly followed by announcement that Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...

 planned to do the same with their CLK-GTR

Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR

The Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR is a sports car and race car that was built by Mercedes-AMG, performance and motorsports arm of Mercedes-Benz. Intended for racing in the new FIA GT Championship series in 1997, the CLK GTR was designed primarily as a race car, with the road cars necessary in order to...

 for 1997.

Thus Lotus decided that in order to remain competitive in the GT1 class, let alone be victorious, they would be required to follow the route set forth by Porsche and Mercedes-Benz. However, aware that they lacked the resources available that Porsche and Mercedes had to create not only the race cars but also the production sports cars at a guaranteed loss of money for the company, Lotus decided to take an alternate route. Through interpretation of the rules for FIA GT, Lotus realized they would only need to build a single production car in order to meet homologation requirements. The car would not even need to be sold to a customer, it merely had to be built.

With this in mind, Lotus turned to designing their racing car. Lotus decided to abandon the aged Esprit chassis and instead turn to its new sportscar, the Elise

Lotus Elise

The 1996 Lotus Elise weighed . Because of its relatively low weight, it was able to accelerate 0- in 5.8 seconds despite its relatively low power output of...

. Mechanically, only the Elise's aluminum chassis was retained for the GT1, although it was heavily modified from its stock form. A new carbon fiber body that resembled the Elise was built, featuring a much longer length in order to increase the car's aerodynamic capabilities.

For an engine, Lotus knew that the Elise's stock straight-4 engine would not be able to compete, and so it was initially decided that the car would use the 3.5L V8 engine

V8 engine

A V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of four cylinders, in most cases set at a right angle to each other but sometimes at a narrower angle, with all eight pistons driving a common crankshaft....

 out of the old Esprit racing car, attached to a Hewland

Hewland

Founded by Mike Hewland in 1957, Hewland is a British engineering company specialising in racing-car gearboxes. Hewland was the first company to manufacture a bespoke racing-car gearbox....

 six-speed sequential gear box. However testing showed that this engine was not as reliable as hoped. After installation in the production road car, the Lotus teams were left to decide whether or not to use the Lotus turbo V8 or opt for a Chevrolet LT5

GM LT engine

The LT6 and LT7 are not part of the LT V8 family. See Oldsmobile Diesel V6 engine.General Motors' Generation II LT is a small block V8 engine...

 6.0L V8 engine

V8 engine

A V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of four cylinders, in most cases set at a right angle to each other but sometimes at a narrower angle, with all eight pistons driving a common crankshaft....

 from the Chevrolet Corvette

Chevrolet Corvette

The Chevrolet Corvette is a sports car by the Chevrolet division of General Motors that has been produced in six generations. The first model, a convertible, was designed by Harley Earl and introduced at the GM Motorama in 1953 as a concept show car. Myron Scott is credited for naming the car after...

 ZR-1, a car which Lotus had originally helped to develop when they had been owned by General Motors

General Motors

General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...

. Lotus further developed the LT5 by fitting it with a flat-plane crankshaft for the Elise GT1 Race car. With this, seven Elise GT1 racing chassis were built, going to factory teams GT1 Lotus Racing (run by Fabien Giroix

Fabien Giroix

Fabien Giroix is a French racing driver from Saint-Maur.-Formula cars:Giroix began his career in French Formula Renault in 1984, finishing 4th. In 1985 he drove in the French Formula Three Championship and finished 12th. In 1986 he only participated in a handful of Formula 3 races in the British...

's First Racing) as well as privateers GBF UK and Martin Veyhle Racing. The factory GT1 Lotus Racing team would be the only ones to opt for the Chevrolet V8 instead of the Lotus turbo unit.

Racing history

Debuting at the first round of the 1997 FIA GT Championship season

1997 FIA GT Championship season

The 1997 FIA GT Championship season was the first season of FIA GT Championship motor racing. It featured a series for Grand Touring style cars broken into two classes based on power and manufacturer involvement, called GT1 and GT2...

, the three factory Elise GT1s took to the grid. Unfortunately, their debut was short lived, as all three cars failed to finish, all due to alternator problems in the engine. For race two, privateer GBF UK received their two cars. Again the three factory cars suffered, failing to finish because of gearbox difficulty. GBF's Elise GT1s fared slightly better, with one of their entries actually finishing, although classified last and 25 laps down from the winner.
The third race of the season in Helsinki

Helsinki

Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...

 was a shorter race, featuring a smaller field. Only three Elise GT1s were entered, but GBF was able to succeed in taking 5th place, earning them points in the championship. The other two Elise GT1s also finished the race as well, an improvement for the company.

However as the season progressed, the teams began to suffer. After Helsinki was the 24 Hours of Le Mans

24 Hours of Le Mans

The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the world's oldest sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since near the town of Le Mans, France. Commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency, race teams have to balance speed against the cars' ability to run for 24 hours without sustaining...

, in which only a lone GT1 was entered due to concern over the car's ability to last 24 hours. The car unfortunately did fail due to an oil leak after 121 laps. Returning to FIA at the Nürburgring

Nürburgring

The Nürburgring is a motorsport complex around the village of Nürburg, Germany. It features a modern Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a much longer old North loop track which was built in the 1920s around the village and medieval castle of Nürburg in the Eifel mountains. It is located about...

, the full team managed to muster only 11th place, while at Spa

Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps

The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps is the venue of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix and the Spa 24 Hours endurance race. It is also home to the all Volkswagen club event, 25 Hours of Spa, run by the Uniroyal Fun Cup. It is one of the most challenging race tracks in the world, mainly due to its...

 they achieved 8th, but at Zeltweg

Zeltweg

Zeltweg is a town in Styria, Austria. It is located in the Aichfeld basin of the Mur River in Upper Styria. Larger municipalities in the vicinity are Judenburg, Knittelfeld and Fohnsdorf.-History:...

 all five cars failed to finish again. The teams did not attempt the Suzuka

Suzuka Circuit

, Suzuka Circuit for short, is a motorsport race track located in Ino, Suzuka City, Mie Prefecture, Japan and operated by Mobilityland Corporation, the subsidiary of Honda Motor Co., Ltd..-Introduction:...

 round, and again could only earn 12th place at Donington

Donington Park

Donington Park is a motorsport circuit near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England.Originally part of the Donington Hall estate, it was created as a racing circuit during the pre-war period when the German Silver Arrows were battling for the European Championship...

 and 11th at Mugello

Mugello Circuit

Mugello Circuit is a race track in the Mugello region of Italy near Florence. Its length is . It has 15 turns and a long straight.Grand Prix motorcycle racing host an annual event here . Also, the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters hold an annual event. The track is property of Scuderia Ferrari which...

 when the series returned to Europe. The final two races in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 saw only the factory team bring two cars, in which they managed a 13th and 9th place finish. The factory squad ended the season without any points, while GBF's points finish at Helsinki earned them 8th place in the championship.

Following the 1997 season, Lotus and its parent company, Proton

Proton (company)

Proton is a Malaysian automobile manufacturer headquartered in Subang Jaya and Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia, with a manufacturing plant in Tanjung Malim, Perak. Founded in 1983, it was Malaysia's only carmaker until the establishment of its competitor and arch-rival, Perodua, in 1993...

, decided that the GT1 was not only lacking in pace in comparison to Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, and the older McLarens, but that it was also extremely expensive. The Chevrolet V8 was not a custom built race engine like its competitors leaving it lacking in top speed while the Lotus turbo V8 was faring even worse. The chassis was also too similar to a production car to compete with the exotic designs of other machines. The project was therefore cancelled and the factory team folded. The privateer teams also either folded or bought more capable machines.

Miraculously, in 2003 British squad Team Elite announced plans to purchase Elise GT1 chassis #05 and to use in the 12 Hours of Sebring

12 Hours of Sebring

The 12 Hours of Sebring is an annual motorsport endurance race for sports cars held at Sebring International Raceway, a former Army Air Force base in Sebring, Florida...

 and 24 Hours of Le Mans

24 Hours of Le Mans

The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the world's oldest sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since near the town of Le Mans, France. Commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency, race teams have to balance speed against the cars' ability to run for 24 hours without sustaining...

 in 2004 as a closed cockpit Le Mans prototype

Le Mans Prototype

A Le Mans Prototype is a type of sports prototype race car most notably used in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, American Le Mans Series and Le Mans Series...

. This was similar to a plan by Panoz

Panoz

Panoz Auto Development is an American manufacturer of high-performance automobiles founded in 1989 by Dan Panoz, son of pharmaceutical and motorsport mogul Don Panoz. The company is located in Braselton, GA. Panoz products have included the Panoz Roadster and AIV Roadster, and the Panoz Esperante...

 and French squad Larbre Compétition to use a Panoz Esperante GTR-1

Panoz Esperante GTR-1

The Panoz Esperante GTR-1 was a race car developed by Panoz Auto Development and Reynard Motorsport for grand tourer endurance racing in 1997. Although named after the Panoz Esperante roadster, the GTR-1 actually bore no mechanical relation to the production Esperante, instead sharing only minor...

, a car which had originally competed with the Elise GT1 in FIA GT in 1997, as a closed cockpit prototype as well. The Elise would be modified to meet modern regulations as well as to attempt to bring the seven year old car up to speed. Unfortunately at Sebring the car proved its age, lasting a mere seven laps before its transmission failed. The project was promptly cancelled.

Bitter GT1

Former factory driver Mike Hezemans of the Netherlands, feeling that the Elise GT1's main faults were in its power and aerodynamics, decided that the car should not be abandoned. Buying two former Elise GT1 chassis, Hezemans turned to Bitter Cars

Bitter Cars

Bitter is a premium sports-luxury automobile marque originally produced in Germany and later Austria. Founder Erich Bitter, a former race car driver turned automobile tuner, importer and ultimately designer began crafting his own vehicles after business ventures with Italian manufacture...

 of Germany to modify the car. The front end was made longer and smoother in an attempt to increase front downforce. To replace the Elise GT1's Chevrolet V8, Hezemans and Bitter turned to Chrysler

Chrysler

Chrysler Group LLC is a multinational automaker headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925....

, buying Viper GTS-R

Chrysler Viper GTS-R

The Chrysler Viper GTS-R was a successful racing variant of the Dodge Viper developed in conjunction with Chrysler of North America, Oreca of France, and Reynard Motorsport of the United Kingdom. Officially unveiled at the 1995 Pebble Beach Concours, it has won numerous championships and famous...

 8.0L V10s which were being used in their GT2 class racing cars. The new cars were named Bitter GT1s, and promised to compete in the 1998 FIA GT Championship season

1998 FIA GT Championship season

The 1998 FIA GT Championship season was the 2nd season of FIA GT Championship. It is a series for Grand Touring style cars broken into two classes based on power and manufacturer involvement, called GT1 and GT2...

.

Unfortunately the cars were never able to match even the lackluster performance of the original Elise GT1s. The only race in which they actually competed, Silverstone

Silverstone Circuit

Silverstone Circuit is an English motor racing circuit next to the Northamptonshire villages of Silverstone and Whittlebury. The circuit straddles the Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire border, with the current main circuit entry on the Buckinghamshire side...

, saw both Bitters failing to finish. After failing to even get past initial practice at Hockenheimring

Hockenheimring

The Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg is an automobile racing track situated near the town of Hockenheim in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located on Bertha Benz Memorial Route. Amongst other motor racing events, it biennially hosts the Formula One German Grand Prix...

, the project was cancelled.

External links

• Supercars.net - Elise GT1
• Bitter Cars - Bitter GT1