About

Lotus Cup Europe is firmly established as one of the continent’s strongest single-marque championships. Originally set up by Lotus as a direct response to customer and dealer interest for a fun but professionally run series, it has attracted competitors from across the continent.

Lotus Cup Europe was granted FIA International Series status in 2013, similar to prestigious Championships such as DTM, GT World Series & European Le Mans Series.

The championship is open to a wide range of cars from the Elise through to the current Emira GT4, with entries being split into four groups: GT Cup, Exige Cup, 2-Eleven/Open and Production.

Championship points are scored according to group position. This means that drivers from all four groups have a chance of competing for the overall title. Current champion Bence Balogh won from the GT Cup ranks last year in his Evora GT4 whilst Jean-Pierre Genoud-Prachex was runner up in his 2-Eleven with Jason McInulty third in his Production Elise Cup R.

In 2023, 14 races will be held across 7 events. Race weekends feature two free practice sessions followed by qualifying. Most rounds then feature two races incorporating rolling and standing starts while at Le Mans there will be three races as part of the 24 Heures Camions event. On the second visit of the season to Spa-Francorchamps there will be a one off 50-minute pit stop race.

The vast majority of events have been broadcast either as part of an exclusive programme or via live streaming over the last ten years, something that will continue in 2023. The championship enjoys unrivalled support from the Lotus community, with many owners and enthusiasts attending events. This is backed up by social media activity, where close to 60,000 Facebook & Instagram followers gave the Lotus Cup Europe pages over 2.9 million views and 90,000 likes in 2022.

The championship is open to drivers at all levels of experience, provided that they hold an International D licence or higher. Whilst the series has grown hugely since its inception over a decade ago, the emphasis has firmly remained as a fun and social environment in which to compete.

2023 Calendar:
1-2 April	Zolder
21-22 April	Hockenheim
12-14 May	Oschersleben
2-4 June	Spa-Francorchamps
14-15 July	Spa-Francorchamps
22-24 September	Le Mans
6-8 October	Dijon-Prenois

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Contact
- General enquiries: Paul Golding paul@lotrdc.com
  Commercial: Richard Short rich@lotrdc.com
  Regulations and eligibility: Mark Anderson mark@lotrdc.com
  Press: Elise Golding elise@lotrdc.com

Packer doubles up at Le Mans as Georges, Lisandre and Chris Laroche secure class titles

Monday 10 October 2016

Britain’s Jon Packer celebrated a brace of victories at this weekend’s (8/9 October) final rounds of the 2016 Lotus Cup Europe season, but could not prevent race two winner, France’s Xavier Georges from taking the V6 Cup class title.

Packer’s Evora stormed into the lead in the opening race from surprise polesitter, Sweden’s Tommie Eliasson, and Georges, both in Exiges, who would eventually take second place. The Frenchman got his revenge in the standing-start second encounter, whilst Packer fought to second, with the Exige of Dane Nikolaj Ipsen battling his way up the order to third.

The final race offered double points, but second for Georges behind Packer was enough to secure the V6 Cup title. Eliasson led the early running but had to settle for third place.

The 2-Eleven class championship came down to a straight fight between reigning category champion Jean-Baptiste Loup and Christophe Lisandre, both from France. Loup retired from the opener, and Lisandre lost ground in the second race, but the former needed a point for fastest lap to stand a chance of retaining his crown. Fifth in class secured Lisandre the title.

With Britain’s Harry Woodhead forced to withdraw from the meeting after practice, Frenchman Christopher Laroche was guaranteed the title. Racing with his brother Franck the pair were forced to start from the back after qualifying and they shared class wins with Dutchman Eric van’t Oever (Exige) and Swiss Sharon Scolari (Elise).

With the Overall 2016 title claimed by Production class runner Tamas Vizin from Hungary last month at Zolder, the category saw three closely-contested races. Frenchman Thierry Hedoin, who had often finished as class runner-up during the season, won all three but not without needing to fight. Briton James Knight offered much resistance, as did Swede Sven Pettersson, whilst his compatriot Daniel Palma and Britain’s Mark Yates also made podium appearances.

The final round of the Lotus Cup Europe season supported the 24 Heures Camions truck racing event for the second time, with a huge crowd enjoying the three races.

Lotus Cup Europe will return in spring 2017, with a full race calendar due to be released in the coming weeks.

Words & photographs by Kevin Ritson, LoTRDC Press Officer