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From the road to the racetrack - 20 years of Lotus Esprit in motorsport

Name: Lotus Esprit 1980
Brand: Lotus

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Created on October 22, 2017

Text:

Balz Schreier, Zoe Waltenspül, Sara Räss

Photos:

Jan Hettler

Norbert Vogel

Jean-Charles Colombier

Martin Lee (flickr KartingNord)

Stephan Kremer / racing-history.de

Iain Nicolson

Walter Etten (flickr)

Kévin Goudin

Archiv

Jan Hettler

Norbert Vogel

Jean-Charles Colombier

Martin Lee (flickr KartingNord)

Stephan Kremer / racing-history.de

Iain Nicolson

Walter Etten (flickr)

Kévin Goudin

Archiv

Lotus Esprit S1 (Jenvey Chassis) (1980) - 1000km Dijon 1980

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Lotus Esprit Sport 300 (1994) - Number #62 with Richard Piper at the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1994

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The first Lotus Esprit was shown as a prototype in 1972. Design by Giorgetto Giugiaro

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Lotus Esprit S1 (1975) - Silver exhibition vehicle at the Paris Motor Show in October 1975

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1000 Kilometer Race Nürburgring 1980 - A huge starting field of sports prototypes, Group 5 vehicles and touring cars gets ready, with the exotic Lotus Esprit (left row, third car from the left) in the middle. 44 laps of the Nordschleife await the 74 starters!

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Lotus Esprit S1 (Jenvey Chassis) (1980) - 1000km Dijon 1980 with Richard Jenvey (GB) / Lawrie Hickman (GB)

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Lotus Esprit S1 (Jenvey Chassis) (1980) - 1000km Dijon 1980 - from 1980 the Jenvey-Esprit drove with a revised engine

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Lotus Esprit S1 (Jenvey Chassis) (1980) - View of the engine, 1000km Dijon 1980, from 1980 the Jenvey-Esprit drove with a revised engine

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Lotus Esprit S1 Group 5 (1980) - 1000 Kilometer Race Nürburgring on May 25, 1980 by Richard Jenvey and Larry Hickman. After all, this car lasted 37 laps.

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Lotus Esprit (with 7.2 liter engine) (1982) - BRSCC Motor Racing in Aintree (England) on April 10, 1982, number #1 by George 'Welly' Potter

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Lotus Esprit (1982) - #5 by Tony Sugden, BRSCC Motor Racing in Aintree (England) on April 10, 1982

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The times of the super saloons - Lotus Esprit (1982) - number #15 of Tony Sugden with Cosworth BDG Turbo engine - behind it a BMW M1?

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Lotus Esprit (1982) - number #33 with Cosworth BDG engine, Donington GT on May 2, 1982, driver Pat Thomas

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Lotus Esprit (1982) - Number #52, BRSCC Motor Racing in Aintree (England) from April 10, 1982

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Lotus Esprit (1982) - Super Saloon Race Ingliston 1982, driver George Coghill

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Lotus Esprit (1982) - Super Saloon Race in Ingliston 1982, driver John Bothamley

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Lotus Chevron-Esprit (1985) - number #5 with Chevron chassis and Cosworth BDG engine, driven by Jon Fletcher, Donington GT 1985

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Lotus Esprit (1985) - Tony Sugden in the number #9 Esprit with Cosworth engine

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Lotus Esprit V8 (1986) - Thundersports Donington, number #5 by Jon Fletcher

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Lotus Esprit V8 (1986) - Tony Sugden in #12, Thundersports Donington

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Lotus Esprit (1986) - Jon Fletcher's #5 Esprit ahead of Tony Sugden's #12 Esprit in the 1986 GT race at Thundersports Donington Park

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Lotus Esprit (3400cc) (1987) - Thundersports Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park on April 17, 1987 with number #29 of Tony Sugden

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Lotus Esprit (with Cosworth 1.5-liter engine) (1988) - Good Friday in Snetterton 1988, number #57 by Eddie McLurg

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Lotus Esprit X180R (1991) - Doc Bundy during the IMSA races in the USA

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Lotus Esprit (1992) - IMSA Supercar Championship at Watkins Glen - Winner Hurley Haywood in the Porsche 911 Turbo and Doc Bundy in the #14 Lotus Esprit, which eventually won the season

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Lotus Esprit Sport 300 (1993) - Number #45 on arrival at Le Mans 1993

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Lotus Esprit Sport 300 (1993) - number #44 with Richard Piper/Ferdinand de Lesseps/Olindo Iacobelli at the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1993

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Lotus Esprit Sport 300 (1993) - Number #44 and #45 at the 1993 24 Hours of Le Mans

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Lotus Esprit Sport 300 (1993) - number #45 with the Japanese Youjirou Terada and Peter Hardman/Thorkild Thyrring at the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1993

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Lotus Esprit Sport 300 (1994) - The Lotus team scruitineering before the 24 Hours of Le Mans, #62 with drivers Richard Piper / Peter Hardman / Olindo Iacobelli

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Lotus Esprit Sport 300 (1994) - De Doncker/Vandriessche Esprit #30 at the 24 Hours of Zolder 1994

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Lotus Esprit Sport 300 (1994) - number #61 of Thorkild Thyrring/Andreas Fuchs/Klaas Zwart, Chamberlain Engineering Team, Le Mans 1994

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Lotus Esprit Sport 300 (1994) - Number #61 with Thorkild Thyrring/Andreas Fuchs/Klaas Zwart at the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1994

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Lotus Esprit X180R (1995) - The three Lotus Esprits at the 1995 12 Hours of Sebring (#10 by Doc Bundy)

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Lotus Esprit V8 (1998) - #34 of Ian Astley and Martijn Koene, British GT Championship Spa 1998

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Lotus Esprit is rarely seen at historic motorsport events, here a Lotus Esprit V8 GT1 (1996) - GT1 Legends - Goodwood Members' Meeting 2017

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Summary

The Lotus Esprit was active in motorsport for many years, but it did not attract attention because of its successes, which mostly failed to materialize. Nevertheless, this racing car has been fascinating through all its evolutions, from the S1 in 1979 to the V8 in 1998. We show the Esprit in motorsport during all these years in many pictures in this racing car article.

This article contains the following chapters

From the beginning of the Esprit
A cautious start in motorsport with private teams
Lack of success led to the Super Saloons
First successes in the USA
The US version X180R became the European Sport 300
Le Mans 1993 - how a Japanese dethroned Toyota
Le Mans 1994 - like the strippers at the fairground
Unsuccessful even with 8 cylinders
Back in factory use after 26 years
A rarity in historic motorsport

Estimated reading time: 7min

Preview (beginning of the article)

The Lotus Esprit is a sports car from Great Britain produced from 1976 to 2003. A basic distinction can be made between the early and the later Lotus Esprit. The design by Giorgetto Giugiaro was revised by Peter Stevens in 1988, so that the Esprit had a new silhouette from then on. In almost every model year, a slightly newer version of the Lotus was launched on the market. Both in Europe and in America. The first designs for the Esprit's body shape were based on suggestions by Giorgetto Giugiaro. The Esprit was first presented as a prototype in Turin in 1972. However, during the three years between the presentation of the prototype and the start of production, the original design was improved.

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