Sebastian Vettel Wins Exciting Formula 1 Turkish Grand Prix

It has been some time since we last watched such an exciting Formula 1 race as the one held on Sunday at the Istanbul Park circuit. Even though the weather did not play any role and the winner's position was not threatened at any time, it was an eventful race. Behind Sebastian Vettel, who has won three out of four GP’s this year, anything was possible.

Mark Webber crossed the finish line in second place, with the Australian managing to overtake Ferrari's Alonso with seven laps to go, after the Spaniard held the second position for a large part of the race. Still, for Alonso and Ferrari, this is the best result so far this season.

The spectacular track, combined with the fact that drivers took full advantage of their KERS and DRS systems, made overtaking very common, right from the beginning of the race. Rosberg took a great start from third, managing to pass Webber before the first corner, but the German couldn't keep the Australian behind him for long, with the Red Bull driver regaining second place after five laps. He kept the position until the middle of the race, when Alonso overtook him as well.

The most exciting racing moments involved the race between the two McLarens, Rosberg and Massa, with continuous changes in the hierarchy. Hamilton managed to finish fourth, ahead of Rosberg and Button, with Lotus Renault's Heidfeld and Petrov taking seventh and eighth place respectively. The last drivers to score points were Toro Rosso's Buemi and Sauber's Kobayashi, with the Japanese benefitting from his three-stop strategy to climb from 23rd to 10th place.

Felipe Massa finished eleventh after losing valuable time at his fourth pitstop because of a problem with one of his rear wheels. Michael Schumacher had a poor race as well, finishing only 12th after breaking his front wing at the beginning of the race following a contact with Petrov. After the Turkish GP win, Vettel consolidates his advance in the overall standings, with a total of 93 points, followed by Hamilton (59 p) and Webber (55 p). Team standings are dominated by Red Bull, with 148 points, followed by McLaren (105 p) and Ferrari (65 p).

By Dan Mihalascu

Photos: Red Bull

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Geneva 2011: Lotus Keeps its Evora Debuts Simple but Significant with Mansory in the Mix

After Lotus blew its proverbial head gaskets all over the Paris stage with a futuristic lineup consisting of a sedan and no less than four coupes, simplicity was the name of the game for the 2011 Geneva motor show. Lotus brought two special edition Evoras, a relatively low-key showing in stark contrast to its behavior in France last year.

Before you roll your eyes thinking, "Christ, another special edition blah blah blah," one of these two new Evoras is very different than another special edition Mustang or Bugatti.

The Mansory Evora comes from the union of two weight-conscious companies; Lotus prides itself on keeping its vehicles trim, while Mansory "provides valuable insights and an intuitive feeling for [high-end customisation]" while also offering "state-of-the-art carbon components".

Mansory's Lotus is dubbed the Lotus Bespoke Concept and is kind of a big deal because it establishes a relationship between a respected manufacturer and well-known tuner. You may recall Mansory from their various efforts tackling high-end vehicle customization. If all goes well, we just might be witnessing the next in-house tuner coming around.

Lotus calls the Mansory Evora an "Individualization Concept Car"; with it, the industry's resident featherweight hopes to develop its own "Exclusive" / "Individual" program for customer's seeking a coachbuilt feel. The other Evora isn't as significant consumer-wise as the Mansory model, but is important nonetheless.

The Evora Enduro GT concept is an evolution of the current Lotus Evora GT4 Endurance and will serve as the platform from which FIA and ACO GT2/GTE racers will be built. That means we'll likely see this at a variety of upcoming 24-hour enduros including the Nürburgring, Spa, and Silverstone.

By Phil Alex

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F1’s Team Lotus Acquires British Sportscar Maker Caterham

The owners of Formula One Team Lotus announced today the acquisition of lightweight sportscar manufacturer Caterham, for an undisclosed sum from the shareholder consortium led by Corven Ventures. Based in England, Caterham has made a name for itself for building the Seven, a lightweight two-seater sports car that was designed by Lotus founder Colin Chapman and who sold the rights of the car to Caterham in 1973.
Team Lotus chiefs Tony Fernandes, Kamarudin Meranun and SM Nasarudin said in a statement that the company plans to expand Caterham’s profile and product family while also continuing the development of the Seven.
“Caterham Cars has remained wholly faithful to Colin Chapman’s philosophy of ‘less is more’, and the DNA of the original Seven can still be traced to the newest additions to Caterham’s product offering," said Tony Fernandes.
“It is already a successful business with sales across Europe, Japan, Australia and the Middle East, and under the guidance of the existing management team, we now have all the ingredients and the launch pad to further evolve that spirit and take Caterham to new exciting horizons with innovative products and greater global brand exposure.”
Team Lotus said that Caterham will be led by the company’s existing management team, headed up by Caterham Cars Managing Director, Ansar Ali.
In celebration of the new ownership, Caterham will build a limited run of Team Lotus Special Edition Sevens. The British firm will offer just 50 upgrade packages (split evenly for the UK and rest of the world) that can be applied on the range-topping 263bhp, 150mph Superlight R500.
Priced at £3,000, the package adds special livery in the traditional green and yellow colors of Lotus, along with some other goodies such as a plaque carrying the signatures of Team Lotus F1 drivers, Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalaine. Also included in the package will be an invitation to a special tour of the Team Lotus F1 factory in Hingham, Norfolk.
Caterham managing director, Ansar Ali, said: “Caterham Cars is starting an exciting and hugely important chapter, so it’s entirely fitting that we celebrate our opportunity to take Colin Chapman’s ‘less is more’ philosophy global, with this special car.”

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VIDEO

Artist Envisions a New Take on the Lotus Caterham 7

Much in the same way as Morgan’s pre-Supersports models, the Lotus / Caterham 7 has remained relatively unchanged throughout its long life. A lightweight body with no fixed doors or roof, a flat windscreen, exposed front wheels and a four cylinder motor embody the Seven’s design and engineering philosophy.

Diseno-Art has drawn up a nice design study in the form of the “New 7”, a vehicle designed to expand and complement the existing range of 7-badged vehicles.

With larger proportions and more refinement than the archaic (yet still beautiful) lines of the current generation, the New 7 is designed to be uniquely tailored to each customer’s needs and offer a high level of customer service while still holding to the brand’s philosophy of lightweight, simple and fun.

The New 7 incorporates body parts that are easily removable for maintenance, a direct injection four-cylinder engine (with room for a variety of other types of engine at the client’s request), rear wheel drive and a manual transmission. It’s all very believable and not as farfetched as some of the design study’s we’ve featured on the site before.

You can check out our gallery below and leave a comment if you wish.

By Tristan Hankins

Source: Diseno-Art

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Lotus Evora Joins Hertz's European Car Rental Program, Rates Start from €250 a Day

If you happen to live or are planning to travel in Europe and would like to move around in a Lotus Evora but can't afford the expense of buying one, you'll be happy to know that Hertz may have a solution to your problem.

The U.S.-based car rental company has just introduced the Lotus Evora for hire in key European markets as part of its Adrenaline Range in the Hertz Fun Collection of Germany, Spain and the UK, and as a special car in the Fun Collection in France.

That's the good news, the bad news is that rates start from 250 euros (US$362) per day, and in order to qualify customers have to be at least 30 years old and need to show two credit cards.

Below is a list of the locations where you can pick up Lotus' 2+2 sport model:

France
Biarritz Airport
Bordeaux Airport
Marseille Airport
Nice Airport
Paris Downtown (Porte Maillot)
Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport

Germany
Frankfurt Rhein-Main Airport
Munich Airport

Italy
Rome Fiumicino Airport
Milan Linate Airport

Spain
Barcelona Airport
Barcelona Downtown (El Prat de Llobregat)
Madrid Airport
Madrid Downtown (Hotel Villamagna)
Madrid Downtown (Las Mercedes Business Park)
Marbella Downtown (Avenida Arias Maldonado)

UK
London Heathrow Airport

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