Mark H Posted September 13, 2005 Share Posted September 13, 2005 http://www.autospectator.com/modules/news/...hp?storyid=1895 The one and only prototype Lotus Sport Exige, run by Proton R3 (Proton's Motorsports Division) and SuperGT team, Amprex Motorsports dominated the 12 hour Merdeka Millennium Endurance race (MME) at Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia on Saturday 27 August 2005. The Lotus Sport Exige, driven by Tengku Djan Ley (Malaysia), Genji Hashimoto (Japan) and Tony Ricciardello (Australia) clinched both the overall and “Class O” wins, having secured pole position the previous day. Not only did the team win the race but also set the fastest lap, and a new record over 12 hours of 279 laps at an average of 2 minutes 22 seconds for each of the 5.542 km long laps. The Lotus Sport Exige raced under incredibly tough conditions (with very high humidy and temperatures in the mid to high 30s Celcius with rain during the 5th hour) against a mixed GT sportscar and Touring Car field from Porsche, Honda, Nissan amongst others. Other Lotus cars (Elise and Exige) also competed, but all eyes were on the Lotus Sport Exige as it as it lined up on the starting grid for the first time. Lotus Sport Exige is a direct motorsport derivative of the successful Lotus Exige developed by Lotus Sport, the performance division of Lotus Cars Ltd. Power is provided by a 400 hp Swindon Racing Engines tuned GM 3 litre V6 racing engine and adhering to the key Lotus philosophy of performance through lightweight, the Lotus Sport Exige weighs in at just 850kg. There are no plans as yet to build further examples of the Lotus Sport Exige but the base structure has been carefully designed to comply with key motorsport regulations around the world. Chris Arnold, General Manager for Lotus Sport said: “The winning result was a fantastic achievement for the Proton R3 Amprex team and of course Lotus Sport at Hethel, Norfolk UK. I am delighted that the Lotus Sport Exige won so comprehensively and under such tough conditions in its first endurance event!. Thank you to all the team and our partners who put a massive amount of work into the project!” Results Merdeka Millennium Endurance 2005 Overall Classification: 1. Tengku Djan Ley | Genji Hashimoto | Tony Ricciardello [Lotus Sport Exige] – 279 Laps 2. Hiroki Katoh | Eddie Liew | Farriz Fauzi [Honda Civic 2.0] – 278 Laps 3. Nicholas Thomas | Clive Bates | Joe Sevack [Porsche 996] – 269 Laps 4. Rueben Wong | Ng Eng Tiong | Jeff Wright [Honda Integra DC5] – 266 Laps 5. Desmond Soh | Apathorn Karnasuta | Piti Bhirombhakdi [Mitsubishi Evo 9] – 266 Laps 6. Firhat Mokhzani | Eric Teo | TJ Chin [Nissan Skyline R34] – 265 Laps 7. Patrick Ng | Khoo Beng Swee | Khoo Kay Hong [ Lotus 340R] – 260 Laps 8. Ryo Michigami | Kunimitsu Takahashi | Tommy Lee [Honda Civic] – 253 Laps 9. Tseu Chan Kee |Faisal Zelman Malik | Wira Dani Daim [Porsche GT3] – 253 Laps 10. Sharjihan Ghouse | Jackie Ng | Freddie Chen [Honda Integra] – 251 Laps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malbon Posted September 13, 2005 Share Posted September 13, 2005 wtf...just clicked the link and got viagra for £20 for a month ??? i just wanted to see some lotuses man !! great result awesome car want one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark H Posted September 13, 2005 Author Share Posted September 13, 2005 heh no idea, my browser blocks all adverts so I cant see any on that page Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malbon Posted September 13, 2005 Share Posted September 13, 2005 heh no idea, my browser blocks all adverts so I cant see any on that page <{POST_SNAPBACK}> no..there is a changing banner under where it says new car models and..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snapper Posted September 13, 2005 Share Posted September 13, 2005 Great News for Lotus, it's just a pitty they have not built a car or two to compeate in Europe to raise the profile of Lotus cars as a whole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren5591 Posted September 14, 2005 Share Posted September 14, 2005 340r in the backround? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark H Posted September 17, 2005 Author Share Posted September 17, 2005 Press release pr_download.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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