- 1,202
Time to get my Lotus Elan chronicles up to date. To recap, I've been hooning around the El Capitan endurance in an extremely modified '62 Lotus Elan, terrorising the neighbourhood Motorsport Elise which often prowls the twisty endurance circuit. The Elise got its revenge on my last attempt, as I failed to get my Elan, tuned to just 129bhp, across the finish line first. The Elan had finished second, but in that race had done enough to show that it had been the driver (me), and not the car, that had been beaten. So, keen to give the diminutive sports car the reward it so richly deserved, I returned to the El Capitan Enduro in the sky blue Lotus in search of a momentus victory.
My Elan is getting a bit well worn now. With slightly over 1500 miles on the clock, it is well into it's degeneration stage, and despite an oil change it's power figure has dropped from 129bhp to 127. Still, the difference shouldn't be noticeable. 127bhp only has to move 581kg of tuned Lotus on S1 tyres, and it more than makes up in corners what it loses on straights.
The lineup was:
1 Merc SL65 AMG
2 TVR Cerbera Speed 6
3 TVR T350C
4 Lotus Motorsport Elise
5 Shelby Series 1 Supercharged
6 Lotus Elan (me)
The lights go green and I thread my way through the field, trying to avoid incident. By the end of lap 1 I am third, 3 seconds behind the leading Elise. The Cerbera separates the two Lotus cars.
I overtake the Cerbara on lap 2, and press on, trying to catch the Elise in its slow phase on cold tyres.
On lap 3 I catch the Elise, and over take it at the bottom end of the circuit, but he pulls up alongside me on the next straight. I keep as far to the right of the circuit as I can, but he pushes my tail hard with his nose, and pitches me into a spin, which leaves me stuck in a barrier with as much steam coming out of my ears as would have been coming out of the Elan, had GT4 contained a damage model.
I charge after the Elise, now 10 seconds ahead, like a possessed demon but throw it into a sand trap at the start of the next lap. This, I feel, gives me too large a gap to catch up, so I exit the event, and restart GT4 so I can start the race again with the same lineup.
Back on the grid for my third attempt with under 130bhp. The countdown reaches zero and the Elan strolls away from the line. An underwhelming start, but over the next 66 laps the tiny Lotus will achieve the impossible.
Here are my pace notes taken directly:
LAP 1 - Move up field, and overtake Elise. Make a special effort to push Elise into the side of a mountain as I pass it - payback's a b*tch
End lap 1 in 1st place, cross line 0.7 seconds ahead of Elise.....
LAP 5 - consistent lapping has given me a 3.5 second lead over Elise, but his tyres are warming up and the gap has stopped growing.
LAP 6 - Elise starts closing gap. Gap down to 1.5 seconds (in 1 lap!) I have made no errors yet and my lap times have been between 1:57.5 and 1:58.0.
LAP 7 - Elise overtakes me on pit straight at end of lap 7.
Lap 11 - Elise pits at end of lap 11. Gap was up to 13 seconds. I take lead while he is in pits.
LAP 12 - My lap time dips under 1:57, I have a lead of 14 seconds. Elise is in second place.
LAP 22 - Still in lead. Laps have been consistently between 1:57 and 1:58. I got the gap up to about 17 seconds by lap 17, but the ELise found its pace and is now only 2 seconds behind me. I catch and lap the AMG, putting a car between the Elise and myself, and it's enough to keep me ahead until the Elise pits at the end of lap 22.
LAP 23 - My first pitstop comes at the end of lap 23. Need no fuel. Tyres are orange, and the Elan was starting to slide around a bit, but wear is perfectly even, and the lap times were still around 1:58.
LAP 24 - The Elise storms past me to take the lead as I exit the pits. He's slower on cold tyres than I am, though, and I repass him after the tunnel.
LAP 30 - I got the gap up to 3.5 seconds, but the Elise hits his stride, swallows the gap in one mighty lunge and takes the lead on the main straight. I see him coming and move well out of the way. I've had a few laps below 1:57 now and it's a testament to the Elan's forgiving handling that I have not had a single incident that has slowed my lap times down.
LAP 34 - Elise gets his lead up to just 6 seconds and pits at the end of this lap. I'm stuck behind the Cerbera (overtaking is astonishingly difficult with just 127bhp even though my car is faster around the lap) but I take the lead and have a 20 second margin by the end of the lap.
LAP 36 - Finally pass the Cerbera after the tunnel. Was stuck behind it for two and a half laps and lost about a second a lap during that time.
LAP 39 - Post my fastest lap of the race - 1:56.575. Gap to the Elise peaks at 40 secs at start of lap 40.
LAP 45 - I keep lapping consistently and make no mistakes but the Elise still manages to smash my lead down to 14.5 seconds before he peels into the pits.
LAP 46 - My second and last pitstop. 4 new tyres but don't need to take on any fuel. The Elan will finish the race on a single tank. Things are starting to look good now. I have 20 laps to go, which means if I end up battling against the Elise on the last lap, I should still have some colour in my tyres. My lead after my pitstop is 15 seconds.
LAP 57 - Elise only manages to get the gap down to 12 seconds before he makes his final pitstop. My lead after his stop is 39 seconds, and I now feel that the little Elan is just about assured a memorable victory.
LAP 66 - I've had to pass the two TVRs and the AMG in the last few laps. I realise that up till now, I've had very favourable traffic, and it's helped my race a lot. I cross the line in first place, to win from the Elise by 23 seconds.
Here's the finishing order
1st Lotus Elan
2nd Lotus Motorsport Elise
3rd Shelby Series 1
4th TVR Cerbera Speed Six
5th TVR T350C
6th Merc SL65 AMG.
Here, I believe, the Lotus Elan really proved it's worth as a road racer that can take on and beat the best. Even with a fully customised suspension and drivetrain, and a stage 3 weight reduction, the handling remains as friendly, forgiving, and agile as it was as standard. This car carries unbelievable speed into and through any corner, and its light weight and racing brakes mean it's braking zones are surprisingly short, too. But to win with only 127bhp must surely make this one of the most economical champions in GT4.
Well, El Capitan has been conquered. What challenges lie ahead for the little Elan?
I have two on the radar: The New York 200, a tight, twisty circuit which I am betting the Elan can master with 127bhp, and the Laguna Seca enduro, which I will probably tackle with the full turbocharged 200bhp that the Elan can muster, and a set of racing tyres. There's some pretty fast competition in this event, but I think the Elan's good tyre life, excellent grip and superb poise may give it a chance on a circuit where the AI has a tendency of throwing themselves at the scenery on a regular basis.
I'll fill you in on the results of those events once they have happened, but until then I leave you with this thought:
Take the "Capit" out of "El Capitan", and you are left with "Elan". See? The car owns this place!
My Elan is getting a bit well worn now. With slightly over 1500 miles on the clock, it is well into it's degeneration stage, and despite an oil change it's power figure has dropped from 129bhp to 127. Still, the difference shouldn't be noticeable. 127bhp only has to move 581kg of tuned Lotus on S1 tyres, and it more than makes up in corners what it loses on straights.
The lineup was:
1 Merc SL65 AMG
2 TVR Cerbera Speed 6
3 TVR T350C
4 Lotus Motorsport Elise
5 Shelby Series 1 Supercharged
6 Lotus Elan (me)
The lights go green and I thread my way through the field, trying to avoid incident. By the end of lap 1 I am third, 3 seconds behind the leading Elise. The Cerbera separates the two Lotus cars.
I overtake the Cerbara on lap 2, and press on, trying to catch the Elise in its slow phase on cold tyres.
On lap 3 I catch the Elise, and over take it at the bottom end of the circuit, but he pulls up alongside me on the next straight. I keep as far to the right of the circuit as I can, but he pushes my tail hard with his nose, and pitches me into a spin, which leaves me stuck in a barrier with as much steam coming out of my ears as would have been coming out of the Elan, had GT4 contained a damage model.
I charge after the Elise, now 10 seconds ahead, like a possessed demon but throw it into a sand trap at the start of the next lap. This, I feel, gives me too large a gap to catch up, so I exit the event, and restart GT4 so I can start the race again with the same lineup.
Back on the grid for my third attempt with under 130bhp. The countdown reaches zero and the Elan strolls away from the line. An underwhelming start, but over the next 66 laps the tiny Lotus will achieve the impossible.
Here are my pace notes taken directly:
LAP 1 - Move up field, and overtake Elise. Make a special effort to push Elise into the side of a mountain as I pass it - payback's a b*tch
End lap 1 in 1st place, cross line 0.7 seconds ahead of Elise.....
LAP 5 - consistent lapping has given me a 3.5 second lead over Elise, but his tyres are warming up and the gap has stopped growing.
LAP 6 - Elise starts closing gap. Gap down to 1.5 seconds (in 1 lap!) I have made no errors yet and my lap times have been between 1:57.5 and 1:58.0.
LAP 7 - Elise overtakes me on pit straight at end of lap 7.
Lap 11 - Elise pits at end of lap 11. Gap was up to 13 seconds. I take lead while he is in pits.
LAP 12 - My lap time dips under 1:57, I have a lead of 14 seconds. Elise is in second place.
LAP 22 - Still in lead. Laps have been consistently between 1:57 and 1:58. I got the gap up to about 17 seconds by lap 17, but the ELise found its pace and is now only 2 seconds behind me. I catch and lap the AMG, putting a car between the Elise and myself, and it's enough to keep me ahead until the Elise pits at the end of lap 22.
LAP 23 - My first pitstop comes at the end of lap 23. Need no fuel. Tyres are orange, and the Elan was starting to slide around a bit, but wear is perfectly even, and the lap times were still around 1:58.
LAP 24 - The Elise storms past me to take the lead as I exit the pits. He's slower on cold tyres than I am, though, and I repass him after the tunnel.
LAP 30 - I got the gap up to 3.5 seconds, but the Elise hits his stride, swallows the gap in one mighty lunge and takes the lead on the main straight. I see him coming and move well out of the way. I've had a few laps below 1:57 now and it's a testament to the Elan's forgiving handling that I have not had a single incident that has slowed my lap times down.
LAP 34 - Elise gets his lead up to just 6 seconds and pits at the end of this lap. I'm stuck behind the Cerbera (overtaking is astonishingly difficult with just 127bhp even though my car is faster around the lap) but I take the lead and have a 20 second margin by the end of the lap.
LAP 36 - Finally pass the Cerbera after the tunnel. Was stuck behind it for two and a half laps and lost about a second a lap during that time.
LAP 39 - Post my fastest lap of the race - 1:56.575. Gap to the Elise peaks at 40 secs at start of lap 40.
LAP 45 - I keep lapping consistently and make no mistakes but the Elise still manages to smash my lead down to 14.5 seconds before he peels into the pits.
LAP 46 - My second and last pitstop. 4 new tyres but don't need to take on any fuel. The Elan will finish the race on a single tank. Things are starting to look good now. I have 20 laps to go, which means if I end up battling against the Elise on the last lap, I should still have some colour in my tyres. My lead after my pitstop is 15 seconds.
LAP 57 - Elise only manages to get the gap down to 12 seconds before he makes his final pitstop. My lead after his stop is 39 seconds, and I now feel that the little Elan is just about assured a memorable victory.
LAP 66 - I've had to pass the two TVRs and the AMG in the last few laps. I realise that up till now, I've had very favourable traffic, and it's helped my race a lot. I cross the line in first place, to win from the Elise by 23 seconds.
Here's the finishing order
1st Lotus Elan
2nd Lotus Motorsport Elise
3rd Shelby Series 1
4th TVR Cerbera Speed Six
5th TVR T350C
6th Merc SL65 AMG.
Here, I believe, the Lotus Elan really proved it's worth as a road racer that can take on and beat the best. Even with a fully customised suspension and drivetrain, and a stage 3 weight reduction, the handling remains as friendly, forgiving, and agile as it was as standard. This car carries unbelievable speed into and through any corner, and its light weight and racing brakes mean it's braking zones are surprisingly short, too. But to win with only 127bhp must surely make this one of the most economical champions in GT4.
Well, El Capitan has been conquered. What challenges lie ahead for the little Elan?
I have two on the radar: The New York 200, a tight, twisty circuit which I am betting the Elan can master with 127bhp, and the Laguna Seca enduro, which I will probably tackle with the full turbocharged 200bhp that the Elan can muster, and a set of racing tyres. There's some pretty fast competition in this event, but I think the Elan's good tyre life, excellent grip and superb poise may give it a chance on a circuit where the AI has a tendency of throwing themselves at the scenery on a regular basis.
I'll fill you in on the results of those events once they have happened, but until then I leave you with this thought:
Take the "Capit" out of "El Capitan", and you are left with "Elan". See? The car owns this place!
👍
