Hofmann's Europa to enter GT Cup
Discussion
Hofmann's Europa to enter GT Cup
We are stepping up a level with the Europa and entering it in GT Cup on October 10th and the support from the Lotus community will be greatly appreciated as ever. We tested the car last week for the first time with the high boost map and also the Pirelli slicks and the result were promising and only a few minor changes needed from the outset. Extract from our website (here http://www.hofmanns.co.uk/sports.asp) is below:
"HOFMANN’S LOTUS EUROPA GT CUP ENTRY
Chris Randall will enter the Silverstone GT Cup on October 10th with a new development of the Hofmann’s Europa which has featured strongly in the Lotus on Track Series in 2009.
The Lotus Europa development
In the move to GT Cup there have been a raft of changes to improve the Europa’s performance to achieve parity with the strong GT opposition from the likes of Corvette, Dodge, Lamborghini, Porsche and Ferrari. Importantly, the engine power has increased to over 400bhp through improvements to the Turbocharger system in collaboration with TDI plc. in Thurrock.
The extensive increase in both torque and power output has required some other compensation in transmission and braking areas, which, together with the switch to Pirelli slicks, has made a striking performance improvement. Hofmann’s technical partner, Nitron racing, have developed new improved suspension uprights and brake disk bells to compliment this package, allowing the car to run lower to the ground, increasing the aerodynamic download and also improving the cars stopping potential.
These changes have not compromised the famous agility demonstrated in all Lotus models. Data gained from the first runs in testing suggests that the additional power has actually increased the aerodynamic effect of the Reverie produced wing and underfloor by a large margin.
Hofmann’s technical
The Europa’s on track performance in terms of its road holding and braking is legendary and Chris Randall’s extensive racing results in the Elise Trophy has given him the inspiration to make an impact in GT Cup.
When asked about the Viper / Corvette / Porsche RSR competition in Gt Cup, all with significantly higher power outputs, Chris said,
“ The Hofmanns Europa is a project I had in mind to explore the performance ceiling of this immensely capable Lotus design. Its agility and braking capacity is in no way reduced by the additional engine power and the Pirelli slicks have delivered another dimension in corner adhesion.
The benefits will be immediately available to our performance clients in terms of accessibility to the experience we have gained over the past year and we would welcome interest from other potential GT Cup entrants to either prepare or run their cars.”
The Hofmann’s Lotus Europa team
Chris Randall has an extensive race winning history in the Elise Trophy / Lotus on track Racing Drivers Club (LOTRDC) as well as his inclusion in the Lotus team in British GT entries.
The experience gained by Hofmann’s in AMOC, Group C with the Momo Nissan and Britcar races was underlined by a 10 race end to end series of race wins in their first season in 2007.
The following year saw a further 9 race wins in the Elise and accordingly the rapid rise in Lotus owners interest in acquiring some of this hard won expertise. It has expanded the race team numbers for the GT Cup to 5
Chris Randall Hofmanns Driver and Entrant
Phillip SticklanD Chief Engineer
Lee Millard 1st Mechanic
Mark Tapscott 2nd Mechanic
Sam Borgman Engine and data engineer
Co Sponsors
Nitron has been a long-term partner in the Hofmann’s Lotus business and competition success story.
Their contribution in terms of the damping and braking performance found in all Hofmann’s installed components has had a significant effect on Lotus owners appreciation of their cars.
The agreement to cover a Hofmann’s inspired range of highly advanced components for all Lotus cars will take effect from the end of 2009 and potential clients and their cars are welcome to visit the new workshop and showroom facilities to see the full range and explore the possibilities to improve their on track performance.
TDI plc. have been key partners in the Europa project and have pioneered the use of the superb Solaris ECU to great effect. Their technical knowhow and knowledge of turbo control systems has been fundamental in the Europa’s on track performance and reliability. In conjunction with TDI, Hofmann’s will be bringing a range of high performance Europa products to market so our customers can upgrade their own cars to enjoy race winning performance. Also expect developments on the Toyota engined Lotus variants coming from this partnership in the future.
Reverie have designed and recently delivered some high quality carbon work for the GT Cup Europa and further customer offerings in this area will be announced in 2010.
Pro-Alloy have played an important part in the Europa project too and their fabrication expertise can be seen on many parts of the car. Heat is the biggest enemy of turbocharged cars and on the Europa we have utilised radiator cores and turbo chargecooler systems developed by Pro-Alloy to combat this. Pro-Alloy offer a range of Lotus and Vauxhall VX220 upgrades which are all available for fitment at Hofmann’s.
The braking power of the Europa is aided immeasurably by the inclusion of sintered brake friction material produced by Carbon Lorraine. Their unique material has been refined through a joint development program with Hofmann’s and we now offer Lotus specific brake pads which are market leading in terms of performance.
The final part of the equation is the collaboration with Chris Tullet exhaust in Aylesbury. Along with developing the race winning exhaust package for the Europa, Hofmann’s/Tullet’s have also developed a range of performance exhaust to suit Elise/211 and VX220 varients.
Further enquiries to www.info@hofmanns.co.uk"
We are stepping up a level with the Europa and entering it in GT Cup on October 10th and the support from the Lotus community will be greatly appreciated as ever. We tested the car last week for the first time with the high boost map and also the Pirelli slicks and the result were promising and only a few minor changes needed from the outset. Extract from our website (here http://www.hofmanns.co.uk/sports.asp) is below:
"HOFMANN’S LOTUS EUROPA GT CUP ENTRY
Chris Randall will enter the Silverstone GT Cup on October 10th with a new development of the Hofmann’s Europa which has featured strongly in the Lotus on Track Series in 2009.
The Lotus Europa development
In the move to GT Cup there have been a raft of changes to improve the Europa’s performance to achieve parity with the strong GT opposition from the likes of Corvette, Dodge, Lamborghini, Porsche and Ferrari. Importantly, the engine power has increased to over 400bhp through improvements to the Turbocharger system in collaboration with TDI plc. in Thurrock.
The extensive increase in both torque and power output has required some other compensation in transmission and braking areas, which, together with the switch to Pirelli slicks, has made a striking performance improvement. Hofmann’s technical partner, Nitron racing, have developed new improved suspension uprights and brake disk bells to compliment this package, allowing the car to run lower to the ground, increasing the aerodynamic download and also improving the cars stopping potential.
These changes have not compromised the famous agility demonstrated in all Lotus models. Data gained from the first runs in testing suggests that the additional power has actually increased the aerodynamic effect of the Reverie produced wing and underfloor by a large margin.
Hofmann’s technical
The Europa’s on track performance in terms of its road holding and braking is legendary and Chris Randall’s extensive racing results in the Elise Trophy has given him the inspiration to make an impact in GT Cup.
When asked about the Viper / Corvette / Porsche RSR competition in Gt Cup, all with significantly higher power outputs, Chris said,
“ The Hofmanns Europa is a project I had in mind to explore the performance ceiling of this immensely capable Lotus design. Its agility and braking capacity is in no way reduced by the additional engine power and the Pirelli slicks have delivered another dimension in corner adhesion.
The benefits will be immediately available to our performance clients in terms of accessibility to the experience we have gained over the past year and we would welcome interest from other potential GT Cup entrants to either prepare or run their cars.”
The Hofmann’s Lotus Europa team
Chris Randall has an extensive race winning history in the Elise Trophy / Lotus on track Racing Drivers Club (LOTRDC) as well as his inclusion in the Lotus team in British GT entries.
The experience gained by Hofmann’s in AMOC, Group C with the Momo Nissan and Britcar races was underlined by a 10 race end to end series of race wins in their first season in 2007.
The following year saw a further 9 race wins in the Elise and accordingly the rapid rise in Lotus owners interest in acquiring some of this hard won expertise. It has expanded the race team numbers for the GT Cup to 5
Chris Randall Hofmanns Driver and Entrant
Phillip SticklanD Chief Engineer
Lee Millard 1st Mechanic
Mark Tapscott 2nd Mechanic
Sam Borgman Engine and data engineer
Co Sponsors
Nitron has been a long-term partner in the Hofmann’s Lotus business and competition success story.
Their contribution in terms of the damping and braking performance found in all Hofmann’s installed components has had a significant effect on Lotus owners appreciation of their cars.
The agreement to cover a Hofmann’s inspired range of highly advanced components for all Lotus cars will take effect from the end of 2009 and potential clients and their cars are welcome to visit the new workshop and showroom facilities to see the full range and explore the possibilities to improve their on track performance.
TDI plc. have been key partners in the Europa project and have pioneered the use of the superb Solaris ECU to great effect. Their technical knowhow and knowledge of turbo control systems has been fundamental in the Europa’s on track performance and reliability. In conjunction with TDI, Hofmann’s will be bringing a range of high performance Europa products to market so our customers can upgrade their own cars to enjoy race winning performance. Also expect developments on the Toyota engined Lotus variants coming from this partnership in the future.
Reverie have designed and recently delivered some high quality carbon work for the GT Cup Europa and further customer offerings in this area will be announced in 2010.
Pro-Alloy have played an important part in the Europa project too and their fabrication expertise can be seen on many parts of the car. Heat is the biggest enemy of turbocharged cars and on the Europa we have utilised radiator cores and turbo chargecooler systems developed by Pro-Alloy to combat this. Pro-Alloy offer a range of Lotus and Vauxhall VX220 upgrades which are all available for fitment at Hofmann’s.
The braking power of the Europa is aided immeasurably by the inclusion of sintered brake friction material produced by Carbon Lorraine. Their unique material has been refined through a joint development program with Hofmann’s and we now offer Lotus specific brake pads which are market leading in terms of performance.
The final part of the equation is the collaboration with Chris Tullet exhaust in Aylesbury. Along with developing the race winning exhaust package for the Europa, Hofmann’s/Tullet’s have also developed a range of performance exhaust to suit Elise/211 and VX220 varients.
Further enquiries to www.info@hofmanns.co.uk"
Let 'em 'av it! Good luck!
Bit of an update post the racing yesterday... What a fantastic couple of days!
The test day on Friday was a mega steep learning curve and very enlightening. First session out I came up behind the Aston DBRS9 and passed him easily and all the Porsches and Ferrari were seeming potentially beatable. Second session out I managed to get behind the Viper and stay with him and I really had to pinch myself at that point. On the times I was in the mid 26's and he was probably half a second ahead although it was becoming evident that my car would slow heavily as everything heat soaked after 6/7 laps. The one other issue that was apparent was that my little 200 width tyres were struggling to stop my car compared to the road rollers on the other cars and they were degrading fast too. We ended the day with the car in one piece, pleased with the pace with a whole stack of data and new information to get our heads around.
Saturday morning came and with the a damp track waiting it transpired we had a problem. Pirelli had no wet tyres available for our little 16" fronts so we had to go to qually with inters on the front and wets on the rear. Unsurprisingly the balance was atrocious and I was sideways everywhere, wishing I had gotten round to booking that Walshy day! Having expected a top 3 position on the grid I had only managed a lowly 12th with a huge pack of Ferrari's to deal with in the race. We decided that we needed to do something brave if I was to pass all those cars in front so we took a big gulp and fitted the 17"/8" wheels I usually use on the back of the car on the front and go from a 245 to a 265 tyre at the rear. I absolutely hate making big changes before the start of a race but sitting 12th on the grid it seemed we needed to get that extra amount of stopping power to pass the more powerful cars and we didn't have much to loose.
The start of the first race went brilliantly and I managed to get past the first gaggle of supercars in short order and I think I was up to about 7th after lap one. I kept ploughing on, passing as many cars as possible until getting caught up with the fast Morgan Aero 8 and an F430 being driven by somebody who REALLY didn't want to let a little Lotus past. We had a terrific few laps swapping places, with the 3 cars winning a performance advantage on different places on the track. Racing was hard, fair and fantastic fun and I this point I was having an amazing time. Eventually I made it past those two cars and cleared a gap and I had no idea I was running in second place overall until I was pulled aside to stand on the podium, where I stood grinning like a little school boy with all the Lotus guys cheering (thanks guys, really touched). It was a terrific entry in to GT Cup and I was actually glad about starting 12th as it made for a hugely enjoyable race.
The second race didn't go nearly so well. I got ruined on the start, pushed out wide on the first and second corners and lost some places. I was soon gaining ground though and started to get my head down and pass some cars. Things weren't all well with the car though. The higher ambient temps in the afternoon and the extra 40kg ballast we were given were causing the oil/water temps to creep up and the car was getting hotter and hotter and the ECU was pulling more and more power out to make sure everything remained safe. Backing off helped, but not enough, so I decided to save the engine and pull in to ensure we can make the grid in the next round with some extra cooling capacity. A shame, but I wasn't too worried as we were there to learn and the weekend had been a belter.
So big thanks to all my boys at Hofmann's and all those who have helped with the car along the way, particularly Sam from TDI who was mega this weekend. Also thanks to GT Cup for being so friendly and helpful on my first outing, I'm looking forward to remaining part of this terrific series. Thanks to the Lotus community for the support, this is such a great community to be part of I hope I can continue to keep the Lotus end up against the big cars.
The test day on Friday was a mega steep learning curve and very enlightening. First session out I came up behind the Aston DBRS9 and passed him easily and all the Porsches and Ferrari were seeming potentially beatable. Second session out I managed to get behind the Viper and stay with him and I really had to pinch myself at that point. On the times I was in the mid 26's and he was probably half a second ahead although it was becoming evident that my car would slow heavily as everything heat soaked after 6/7 laps. The one other issue that was apparent was that my little 200 width tyres were struggling to stop my car compared to the road rollers on the other cars and they were degrading fast too. We ended the day with the car in one piece, pleased with the pace with a whole stack of data and new information to get our heads around.
Saturday morning came and with the a damp track waiting it transpired we had a problem. Pirelli had no wet tyres available for our little 16" fronts so we had to go to qually with inters on the front and wets on the rear. Unsurprisingly the balance was atrocious and I was sideways everywhere, wishing I had gotten round to booking that Walshy day! Having expected a top 3 position on the grid I had only managed a lowly 12th with a huge pack of Ferrari's to deal with in the race. We decided that we needed to do something brave if I was to pass all those cars in front so we took a big gulp and fitted the 17"/8" wheels I usually use on the back of the car on the front and go from a 245 to a 265 tyre at the rear. I absolutely hate making big changes before the start of a race but sitting 12th on the grid it seemed we needed to get that extra amount of stopping power to pass the more powerful cars and we didn't have much to loose.
The start of the first race went brilliantly and I managed to get past the first gaggle of supercars in short order and I think I was up to about 7th after lap one. I kept ploughing on, passing as many cars as possible until getting caught up with the fast Morgan Aero 8 and an F430 being driven by somebody who REALLY didn't want to let a little Lotus past. We had a terrific few laps swapping places, with the 3 cars winning a performance advantage on different places on the track. Racing was hard, fair and fantastic fun and I this point I was having an amazing time. Eventually I made it past those two cars and cleared a gap and I had no idea I was running in second place overall until I was pulled aside to stand on the podium, where I stood grinning like a little school boy with all the Lotus guys cheering (thanks guys, really touched). It was a terrific entry in to GT Cup and I was actually glad about starting 12th as it made for a hugely enjoyable race.
The second race didn't go nearly so well. I got ruined on the start, pushed out wide on the first and second corners and lost some places. I was soon gaining ground though and started to get my head down and pass some cars. Things weren't all well with the car though. The higher ambient temps in the afternoon and the extra 40kg ballast we were given were causing the oil/water temps to creep up and the car was getting hotter and hotter and the ECU was pulling more and more power out to make sure everything remained safe. Backing off helped, but not enough, so I decided to save the engine and pull in to ensure we can make the grid in the next round with some extra cooling capacity. A shame, but I wasn't too worried as we were there to learn and the weekend had been a belter.
So big thanks to all my boys at Hofmann's and all those who have helped with the car along the way, particularly Sam from TDI who was mega this weekend. Also thanks to GT Cup for being so friendly and helpful on my first outing, I'm looking forward to remaining part of this terrific series. Thanks to the Lotus community for the support, this is such a great community to be part of I hope I can continue to keep the Lotus end up against the big cars.
Well done. We were unaware of the issues for the first race, but it was great seeing the Europa fight it out with the Aero 8 and that White Ferrari. All three of you made for some very entertaining racing, without being biased. For those middle laps waiting to hear that Aero 8 thunder round and seeing the Europa like a fly giving chase was fantastic. Never thought you would get in front of those two and then go on to leave a gap. They must have been holding you up.
The Piranha Motorsport Lotus 2-11 did well on its debut in GT Cup as well, winning its class in race 1 (beating the hitherto unbeaten class pace setter)and coming second in class (and setting class fastest lap) in race 2 despite starting last on the grid (no wets for practice either!) and having a huge success ballast from race 1 to contend with. Piranha learnt a lot from the meeting and the set up changes it made between race 1 and 2 resulted in lap times nearly 3 secs quicker than in race 1.
Piranha are looking to develop the car over the winter and enter a mixed series of British GT and GT Cup races in 2010.
Piranha are looking to develop the car over the winter and enter a mixed series of British GT and GT Cup races in 2010.
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