24 July 2018

Competition to win 100.000th Lotus launches at Goodwood Festival of Speed

• Unique Jim Clark special edition Evora GT410 Sport created to raise funds for the Jim Clark Trust
• Based on Clark’s famous Lotus Elan road car with matching colour scheme and trim
• Unveiled at the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2018
• The 100,000th Lotus sports car built
• Enter the competition now at www.jimclarklotus.com

In a fitting tribute to one of the most successful racing drivers of all time, the Jim Clark Trust has launched a competition to win the 100,000th Lotus sports car built - a one off Jim Clark special edition Lotus Evora GT410 Sport.

Commissioned to celebrate the 50th anniversary of 1968 and unveiled at the world famous motoring event in the presence the Duke of Richmond, Group Lotus’ Chief Executive Officer Mr. Feng Qingfeng and Trustees of the charity, the unique vehicle will be offered as the ultimate prize for enthusiasts in a competition organised by the Jim Clark Trust - the official charity of this years’ Goodwood Festival of Speed.

The charity competition, which can be entered at www.jimclarklotus.com, gives participants the chance to own a truly landmark Lotus while raising funds to help complete the new Jim Clark Museum.

Proudly supporting the Trust, the British sports car manufacturer has designated the Jim Clark special edition its 100,000th car, and production of the unique model coincided with Lotus’ 70th anniversary celebrations at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed.

The Jim Clark Trust is marking the 50th anniversary of Clark’s tragic death while competing at Hockenheim. Formula 1 World Champion in 1963 and 1965, and the winner on the Indianapolis 500 in 1965, Clark made 72 Grand Prix starts, took 25 wins and 33 pole positions - all behind the wheel of a Lotus. Today Clark is recognised as not only the greatest driver of his generation but also one of the sport’s true icons, and the Jim Clark Trust is currently working on the new and expanded museum in the racer’s home town of Duns, due to open in 2019.

Inspired by the red Lotus Elan driven by Clark in the 1960s, registration number 997 NUR, the new Evora GT410 Sport has been hand built at Lotus’ Hethel site – the home of the company for the last 50 years. Echoing the original car’s colour scheme, with red paintwork, a silver roof and silver wheels, plus tartan upholstery, it commemorates the legacy of the one of motorsport’s most enduring figures. The car also carries Clark’s signature on each rear buttress.

Entrusted to the Formula 1 World Campion by Lotus founder Colin Chapman, the first production Lotus Elan (Type 26, Chassis 001) was Clark’s company car, and he regularly made the commute from the racing team’s then base is in Cheshunt, just outside London, to his family home in Duns, in the Scottish Borders. A trip of roughly 350 miles each way, Clark clocked up around 15,500 miles in a year, leaving the car with the team when he was away racing.

His Grace the Duke of Richmond commented, “It’s fantastic to see the crowds here at Festival of Speed so engaged and excited to remember Jim Clark and celebrate his achievements in our Silver Jubilee year. The stunning Jim Clark special edition Evora is a fitting tribute to a legendary man and his iconic Elan. Clark’s exploits on track were very special indeed and we are proud to launch this competition here at Goodwood.”

Launched in Lotus’ 70th year, the Evora GT410 Sport is a winning blend of raw ability and style. Drawing from its more potent stablemate, the Evora GT430, it incorporates many high-performance elements yet retains a subtler, understated profile. The Evora GT410 Sport is powered by a specially calibrated and tuned higher-output version of Lotus’ supercharged, 3.5-litre 6-cylinder engine. With an integrated water-to-air charge cooler, it produces 410 hp at 7000 rpm and 420 Nm of torque from 3500 rpm, allowing the Evora GT410 Sport to sprint from 0-60 mph in just 3.9 seconds.

Continuing a linage of lightweight car design, that can trace its roots back to Clark’s 1960’s Elan S2 and beyond, the development of the Evora GT410 Sport allowed Lotus the opportunity to optimise mass, resulting in a lightest possible dry weight of just 1,256 kg. Standard carbon fibre composite components include the front access panel, roof panel and a one-piece louvered tailgate with integrated spoiler, as well as the elements within the front air blade system and rear wheel exit ports. In keeping with Lotus’ philosophy of maximising aerodynamics to match the car’s personality, the GT-class coupe generates up to 96kg of downforce, providing better handling and stability at high speeds.

Lotus at the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2018
Lotus celebrated its 70th anniversary at the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2018 as an Automotive Partner of the event. This year’s Festival allowed visitors to see outstanding cars from the marques’ past running the Hill. This included Jim Clark’s World Championship winning Lotus Type 25, Graham Hill’s World Championship winning Lotus Type 49, Ayton Senna’s first F1 race winning car, the Lotus 97T, and the revolutionary Lotus Type 56 gas turbine Indycar.

Acting as the centre of the celebrations, Lotus’ current line-up of sports cars were displayed on the company’s stand in the main exhibitors’ space. This included the Celebration Exige Type 79, which appeared with a Type 79 racing car campaigned by Mario Andretti as part of his Championship winning year. The second of two Celebration cars for Goodwood, the Exige Type 49, featured in the First Glance paddock and drove the Hillclimb route all weekend. Competing in the timed shootout on Saturday afternoon, the Exige Type 49 set an impressive 53.51 seconds.