TEAM ELITE WITH WORK TO DO
Team Elite came away from the Sebring 12-hours, the opening round of the
American Le Mans Series, encouraged by the speed of the Lotus Elise and having
learned a great deal about running the car.
The team, with its drivers Jay Cochran, Damien Faulkner
and Ed Zabinski, worked hard to establish areas on which to concentrate in
testing for the rest of the season, and fully expect to improve the
competitiveness of the car before its next race.
Team Elite, headed by Keith Smout, is a young Canadian
outfit which formed in 2003 and which has high hopes with its Lotus. The team
intends to run in the Prototype 1 category, selecting rounds of the Le Mans
Endurance Series and the American Le Mans Series this year, and take the car
to Le Mans in 2005.
“The car was fifth fastest through the speed trap, which
was some consolation, but we spent the entire weekend chasing an oil leak and
that took our attention away from developing the rest of the car,” said Smout.
“What eventually stopped us during the race was a gearbox problem.
“We think that there was another 10 to 14 seconds in the
car around Sebring given the right preparation. We need to get in plenty of
test miles, and learn more about the car before we race it again.
“We believe that the Lotus has a lot of potential,
despite its age. The chassis is very stiff and was designed by some of the
best in the business so we are very happy with that. We are considering
installing another powerplant for later in the season but at the moment the
priority is getting onto the track and testing.”
