Lotus Miracle Man Triumphs In France

Not even a broken bone from a motorbike accident could put a stop to Gianni Guidici's assault on the SRO GT4 Supersports European Cup at the final round this weekend. And it was no mere win for the plucky Italian, after carefully removing his plaster-cast he took the championship title with one race to go at the famous French circuit of Magny-Cours.

Commenting on his win, an understandably delighted Guidici said: "My team cut the plaster-cast off my foot just before the race, I put on my racing boots and less than an hour later I won the championship! I am so pleased with the result. The win is not just for me but also for the team supporting me: my immediate support crew as well as Lotus Motorsport in Hethel. I couldn't have wished for better back up and I am delighted to have made Lotus proud."

Racing under the title Scuderia Giudici with technical and engineering support from Lotus, the Italian driver and the 2-Eleven have had a superb season of GT racing. Not only did Guidici dominate the Supersports category, but throughout the season, he also finished ahead of many of the other competitors within the whole of the GT4 championships in cars with nearly twice the horsepower (and more weight of course).

Claudio Berro, Director of Lotus Motorsport said: "This championship victory, at the end of such an exciting season, marks the start of a new era of motorsport at Lotus, we will be returning to eight levels of global motorsport from next year. We have clearly demonstrated how we mean to carry on - with competitive cars which show the capability, capacity and all out performance of Lotus. I hope that our activities in all the areas where we will be racing, including GP2, IndyCar, LMP2 and GT2 will result in similar successes."

Gianni Guidici's Lotus 2-Eleven wasn't the only Lotus in the GT4 Supersports Championships, with Marco Fumagalli recording two second places and two thirds. Julian Griffin, also driving a Lotus 2-Eleven won round eight of the championships at the Nürburgring.

It is hoped that Guidici will be returning next season with Marco Fumagalli to race two Evora GT4 race cars as Lotus Sport Italia.