April 19-20, Nurburgring (D)

1ST IN CLASS FOR CHRISTOPHE LISANDRE IN HIS NEW 2-ELEVEN OVER 100 MILES. DEBUT WIN FOR SEBASTIAN DUFOUR IN REGULARITY.

Competitors from 6 different European nations made the journey to the superb 5.1 km Nurburgring circuit in Germany for the first round of Lotus Cup Europe 2008.

Consisting of 17 turns, 7 left, 10 right, with an altitude above sea level at the beginning of the start/ finish stretch (highest point of the Grand Prix circuit): 620.00 m above sea level and a lowest point of the Mercedes Arena some 17 m below this.

They were joined at the circuit by members of Club Lotus Germany and supported by Muller Lotus of Konigswater.

This provided a fantastic paddock of over 80 Lotus cars in the specially provided paddock parking area ranging from Elan’s, Elite’s, Esprit’s, 340R’s (even a VX220 made a bold appearance) for the spectators to photograph the cars and talk to the owners. Like Spa, the Nurburgring has a reputation for unusual weather. On occasions, one half of the track has been completely dry whilst on the other rain is pouring. This weekend was no different, with thick dense fog closing the circuit late on Saturday, which delayed the Sunday morning events, however this did not dampen the experience for the entrants.

The 100 Mile Race

First up was the 100-mile race qualifying. The potent mix of multi marque sport scar racing can present real challenges in qualifying, as everyone looks for a clear lap, but no such problems for our Lotus drivers.

The 36 strong qualifying grid cobtained 7 Lotus’ models, 4x 2-Eleven’s and 3x Exige Cup’s amongst other marques such as Porsche 997 GT3, 996 RSR, Dodge Viper Competitions, Norma M20 Honda’s, Ferrari 430, Caterham CSR260 and R300.

Saturday’s free practice was cancelled because of the severe weather conditions and during Sunday it was soon evident that the regular Cup runners had some serious competition in the shape of the 2-Eleven’s first competitive outing.

First up was the 100-mile race qualifying. The potent mix of multimarque sportscar racing can present real challenges in qualifying, as everyone looks for a clear lap, but no such problems for our Lotus drivers.

The 2-Eleven of Christophe Lisandre (BEL) secured a dominant class pole with Thierry Verhiest (BEL) securing second also in his 2-Eleven and Oliver Cunat grapping third in a Cup 255. Some impressive driving by Christopher and Thierry and competitive rivalry during qualifying.

The race started unusually in hot dry conditions with the customary rolling start, with the top three Lotus all jumping up the field within the length of the start finish straight.

Rochat (SUI), Verheist (BEL) the #26 Porsche 997 GT3 Cup and the # 21 Caterham CSR 260 all endured an hour long battle with each other that saw much over taking and jostling for track position, however this ultimately slowed them all down but made for an interesting race.

Lisandre (BEL) in his 2-Eleven managed to keep clear of the above, and began to pick away at his competitors ahead taking 6 positions during the course of the race. Lisandre’s particular favourites being into Corner 1 Castrol S and Dunlop Curve # 8 for over taking.

At the opening of the pit window, first to enter was Patrick Goblet (BEL) on lap 14, closely followed by Rochat (SUI). Class leader Lisandre entered during lap 16 for the obligatory 5minute pitstop. The Rasse’s and Verhhiest subsequently.

Verhiest (BEL), Rochat (SUI) and Rasse (BEL) all post pitstop found a new lease of life, all posting consecutive personal fastest laps. Verhiest (BEL) and Rasse (BEL) posting their fastest times of the race on their last laps.

The Class 1 podium:

Place	Name	Points
1	Christophe Lisandre	30
2	Thierry Rochat	24
3	Thierry Verhiest	20

The Class 2 podium:

Place	Name	Points
1	Oliver Cunat	30
2	Gregory Rasse	24
3	John Rasse	20

Rankings

The Regularity Race

After the excitement of the Race event, the Regularity runners couldn’t wait to take to the circuit. Sebastian Dufour headed the field after setting the quickest time in Training Two.

In traditional Lotus Regularity style, although the regulations reward consistent driving by competitors matching their reference time, many of the entrants are not averse to a little competitive track action along the way! Two very distinct camps quickly appear those who want to win the regularity and those who just want to race.

As many of our competitors had not driven on this circuit before the first training session, there was plenty of action as the drivers tackled the demanding conditions. The dense fog of Saturday and Sunday morning gave way to warm sunny conditions, with a latent threat of rain. Two training sessions would lead the day, before the regularity race itself.

Dr. Thomas Nonn driving his Exige S had a big moment at the Ford curve but good car control ensured no damage and he continued for the rest of the session.

As usual the session developed into some hard charging drivers at the front and other regulars such as Sebastian Dufour, Damien Germes, David Bauden and Christian Delbruyere using the session to obtain their ideal lap time for the regularity race to come. The regularity race started on a drying track with a rolling start after one lap behind the safety car. Yves Cooreman (BEL) and Sebastian Dufour (BEL) fought a tough contest for the lead whilst the hard charging Patrick Goblet (BEL) contested third place.

David Bauden, Robert Montgomery and Jochen Delfs also made a fine sight in close formation around the Veedol curves.

First overall was Sebastian Dufour with 5.99 penalty points, second Yves Cooreman with 6.17 penatly points and Christophe Lisandre third.

The Regularity podium:

Place	Name	Points
1	Sebastian Dufour	20
2	Janos Gyergga	18
3	Christophe Lisandre	17

Rankings