I'm Coming to Donington!

General General Lotus Talk
1

In conjunction with Brooke Kensington, I’ll be there to meet all of you who attend, and answer any questions you may have about my Honda engine conversions. It’s turned into a last minute thrash, but if we pull it all together, we’ll have two cars on display. One is a Sport Elise owned by Marc Charlton, that will be racing in the Cup Class of the British GT Championship this season. Very nice of the BRDC to allow it! The second car belongs to Jonny Leroux of Book a Track, and will act as our homologation car, as well as being available at their track days for demonstration rides. Looks like Book a Track is going to be one of my dealers as well as Brooke Kensington. We may have a third car there as well, that one belongs to PJ Slingerland my Dutch dealer, so you just may be able to get a test ride, weather permitting. Race car conversions will be available at Silverstone for those interested in real competition against Porsche and Ferrari. This should prove to be an interesting season.Back out to my shop, I still have lots of work to do in my part of making this happen.Joe

2

Joe,Good to hear, hope to see you there.Just a quick question about the Sport Elise owned by Marc Charlton, if he is entering British GT (GTO class), the reggs as they currently stand say:5.9 ENGINE:Provided the regulations in Articles 5.9.1 to 5.15 are complied with, the engine and ancillaries are free.5.9.1 Type and position of engine GT:(a) The make and type of engine used must remain original.(b) The position of the engine is free provided the location and orientation remains original.(c) The interior dimensions of the cockpit must remain original if the engine is re-positioned.5.9.2 Engine modifications GT:(a) The engine shall retain the original cylinder block together with the original bore and stroke dimensions, cylinder heads, valveangles, number and location of camshafts and firing order. Injection and firing systems are free.(b) The addition of material to the block or heads is not permitted. However, it is permitted to sleeve a block that originally is not fittedwith sleeves, by welding if necessary, back to the original size (not larger) as declared on the Registration Form completed andsubmitted for the Championship originally.(c) It is also permitted to modify or close the lubrication holes in the cylinder head, close standard injector holes or use helicoils.5.9.3 Type and position of engine GTO/NGT:(a) The original engine shall be maintained in its original location, position and orientation.So fitting a Honda engine is not an option.I appreciate this is not your problem, but I think you should be awaire.Simon (S)

3

Simon,Joe also says thats its "very nice of the BRDC to allow it"So maybe he will be racing but not scoring points?[This message has been edited by Phil (edited 02 March 2003).]

4

Joe will be good to see you and your ‘wares’ at Donington. Heres to a successful season’s racing.

5

Sounds interesting, I’m looking forward to seeing the cars on Saturday.

6

Simon SMarc’s Elise will be raced in Cup Class, not GTO. It’s new for 2003 and is based on HP/ Wt. They’ve changed the spec 3 times already!It started at .29HP/Kg, then went to .22, and is now at .24 Hard to say where it will end up, but the season starts April 5th-6th at Donington.See you all there!Joe

7

Joe,Do you have a product yet? When did you start shipping?Roy

8

Roy,Looks like I’ll be able to start shipping kits in mid April. Still interested? Send me an E-mail.Joe

9

Joe,as far as BRDC’s regs say, there is no distinction between GTO and CT cup class re: type of engine, yes they are restricting power to wieght, (as opposed to air restricors), but nothing in them gibes the green light to a change of engine.I can only assume that Marc has something from them speciffically authorising the change of engine? (in which case, they have not published this to other entrants/potential entrants?)Simon (S)

10

Yes Simon, Marc does have it in writing. Since you seem to take what’s currently published as gospel, which is often not a good idea, why don’t you call BRDC and ask?Just like most of us, their website isn’t updated as often as it should be.Joe

11

Joe,I have, they are not commenting for some reason.this is the reply I got when I asked the question:---------------------------------------The system works by the proposed entrant submitting a FULL vehicle spec tothe organisers and that FULL spec will then be reviewed, and approval orotherwise granted.I regret that at this time I have no written proposed spec for any carentered under your name, unless it is a car to be run by some otherperson.We have been pleased to receive your comments and have acted upon them,but I would be most please to see what type of vehicle you intend to runso that we may deal with any proposed entry in a satisfactory manner.I may have missed a point here but I have recived so many calls frompersons who do or do not in fact intend to run a car that I will now onlydeal with with entrants who give me enough information to make a sensiblecomment.Thanks for your interset. Please give me full details of your proposal assoon as possible.----------------------------------------and when I did furnish them with more detail, I still did not get a straight answer:(I basically asked if there was any reason I could not go out and fit a 3lV6 engine based on this)---------------------------------------The spec of the car you propose would be acceptable to us. The speed ofthis class will not be known until we receive entries and see how carsperform in this new venture in motor racing.The idea of a V6 3L is not likely to be acceptable as you still have tocomply with the base requirement of .24hp/kg. which was the sort of powerwhich you and others requested. The modification of other cars is a matterfor the organisers but the principle is to ensure that cars have areasonably equal performance and also show some signs of significantreliability over races up to 1000ks. It is not the intention to allow carsto buy victory but then motor racing has always been subject to theability to spend on USEFUL items. It should be noted that the organisersalso have the means of intake restrictors, extra weight and time controlsto assist in providing close racing in the classes. I do hope that youwill be able to enter the events at some future date and would encourageyou to advise the BRDC of any proposed entry and the full spec. of thevehicle to be used ,as soon as you think fit.

12

What date you coming Joe?Ian [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif[/image]

13

Ian,March the 8th at the Lotus Show [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif[/image]

14

Hey Joe is the mob form Germany going to be there showing their version of the conversion that they had at the Autosports show? If so i am definately going up for the fireworks!!!

15

[image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/blush.gif[/image][This message has been edited by Phil (edited 03 March 2003).]

16

Howsabout a track shoot out - winner takes all. [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/wink.gif[/image]

17

Yea,If you want to convince people to stump up with the cash to convert then we need a demo on a racetrack not some video doing 3000rpm down the autobahn and revving it like a novaboy…race,race,race,race!!!

18

I’ll be winging into London Wednesday about noon. Have no clue if the Homotec group will be around, but I’m certain that sooner or later there’s going to be a showdown. Maybe on the pages of EVO, that’d sell some copies.See you all on Saturday!Joe