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Lotus shows off race Exige

In a move that may silence critics who complained that the S2 Exige isn't a race-based car like its predecessor, Lotus is developing a competition-spec version to compete in the new FIA GT3 European Championship.

03rd January 2006

Called the Lotus Sport Exige GT3 (who'd have thought?) and based around the recently revealed 240R Cup, the racer is being produced by Lotus Sport at Hethel. The car has already been into a wind tunnel to test aerodynamic tweaks and has undergone an FIA-supervised shakedown session at the Paul Ricard circuit in France.

Fresh for the 2006 season, the FIA GT3 class is a power-to-weight-based category, established in a bid to even-out the racing over the course of a five-round championship throughout Europe. All entrants should have around 380bhp per ton and must also be able to trace a direct lineage to their road-going counterpart. Other brands expected to compete are Ascari, Aston Martin, Lamborghini, Nissan, Corvette and Porsche.

Lotus admits that even with the Exige's supercharger wound up to give 285bhp, it will be at a disadvantage on the more open 'power' circuits, but expects the car to shine on twister tracks.

Despite developing the Exige GT3, Lotus won't be fielding a 'works' entry in the new championship, leaving that task to privateers. Full spec and a price for the car will be announced in the next few weeks.