Welcome to the Lotus on Track Racing Drivers Club – LoTRDC.

Lotus on Track is Europe’s largest track day club and prides itself on providing friendly, safe and good-value track days. The Lotus on Track Racing Drivers’ Club was formed to create a race series for Lotus Elise owners, and aims to carry Lotus on Track principles to the starting grid.

The LoTRDC was launched at the end of 2006 in conjunction with MSVR – the racing club division of Motor Sport Vision – owners of Brands Hatch and four other major circuits. LoTRDC is a non profit club registered with the UK’s National Motorsport authority the MSA. The club aims to provide drivers with a safe, friendly and socialable environment for Lotus Motorsport enthusiasts to race in. Although we have an extremely prestigious calendar for all three race series entry fee’s are keep low as we believe drivers should only pay for track time while other associated costs such as TV and marketing are covered by the many sponsors LoTRDC attracts.

Until 2007 there were only a handful of Lotus Motorsport Elises racing on the same grid. The Lotus on Track Elise Trophy was launched at Brands Hatch in March 2007 and changed that with full grids, huge support from the Lotus community and plenty of action at circuits across the UK and into Europe.

Group Lotus then asked LoTRDC to take over the organisation of Lotus Cup Europe for the 2009 season. Lotus Cup Europe is the World’s only official Group Lotus owned race series. By the end of the 2010 season, just 2 years into its partnership LoTRDC has more than trebled the grids with close on 40 cars starting each round whilst the series has visited Europe’s premier circuits. At the end of 2010 LoTRDC and Group Lotus agreed a new contract which will see LoTRDC continue to run Lotus Cup Europe until at least the end of 2013.

2011 will see the launch of LoTRDC’s first championship with Lotus Cup UK. The championship will be aimed at those who want to take their Lotus racing more seriously. With 9 races over 7 rounds the championship will be open to all Lotus models including the 211, Exige, Elise, Europa, 340R and Evora. Races will be a mixture of 1 hour endurance events and some shorter sprints. Regulations will be the same as those for Lotus Cup Europe enabling drivers to race at some great European circuits as well. Elise Trophy cars will also be able to compete in the Production class.

Lotus on Track Elise Trophy

During its inaugural season in 2007 the Elise Trophy became the fastest growing race series in Europe as well as the best supported club series thanks to the large number of Lotus Motorsport Enthusiasts following the action. It’s not just the number of cars or the fantastic support the series receives that makes the Elise Trophy the premier UK race series, the race calendar is one of the best in UK club motorsport: with races at all the major circuits such as Silverstone GP, Brands Hatch GP and Donington Park. Elise Trophy competitors also have the chance to racing at Europe’s premier circuits such as Spa Francorchamps, Nurburgring and Le Mans as the Production class regulations in Lotus Cup Europe are identical to those of the Elise Trophy. The 2011 season’s highlight will no doubt be an exclusive Elise Trophy visit to one of Europe’s great circuits: Zandvoort in Holland. Race days feature a 20 minute qualifying session plus two 20 minute races where the 2nd race grid is reversed from the top ten qualifying positions.

The series was the first ever to fill a full grid of 32 starters at the legendary Brands Hatch circuit in its inaugural meeting. In fact, the Elise Trophy proved so popular that by the final round of its first season a second grid had to be added and no fewer than 50 Elise race cars lined up, with the Production class cars being given their own races.

As well as launching its own headline event: the “Lotus Festival” back in 2007, an event which culminated in the Lotus Racing F1 team, Classic Team Lotus and Group Lotus descending on Snetterton in June 2010 for a sell out Lotus Festival, the Elise Trophy took the honour of supporting the DTM in its first season and has since supported the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, Formula Two and the World Touring Cars Championship on a number of occasions.

Proving the soundness of the original concept, in less than 4 years the Elise Trophy has seen over 80 drivers take to the grid for the first time. More new drivers have started out racing in the Elise Trophy than any other independent series over its first 3 years. To keep attracting new drivers from the Lotus community who have not raced before, the Elise Trophy will exclude professional drivers from 2011, unless it’s deemed to be in the best interests of the series, for example guest drivers.

It’s not just the Lotus Community who recommend the Elise Trophy. We’ve had some famous guests race with us, including World Land Speed record holder, Wing Commander Andy Green OBE taking part in his first ever circuit races with us at Snetterton in June 2009. This was followed by BBC1′s Formula 1 presenter Jake Humphrey who competed for the very first time as part of an MSA Go Motorsport initiative to bring more people into the sport. Jake’s adventure was filmed by the BBC and was being broadcast on BBC1 alongside its Formula 1 coverage.

Lotus Cup Europe

In October 2008 Lotus Cars announced that LoTRDC would take over the organisation of Lotus Cup Europe, the factory owned and supported series for Lotus drivers.

The race series is designed to offer Lotus owners the opportunity to experience some of the best race circuits in Europe with like-minded enthusiasts.
It’s aimed at both experienced racers as well as those wishing to compete for the first time.

In its first two seasons under LoTRDC’s organisation Lotus Cup Europe’s average grid sizes trebled with numbers averaging just under 40 cars in 2010. Drivers joined from Austria, Belgium, France, Holland, Germany, Ireland, Italy and the UK, a number of which had started racing for the first time, proving the series is suitable for drivers of all levels of experience and ability.

Whilst the 2-Eleven class is the most popular with over 20 cars the number of Exiges has increased dramatically with numbers now on a par. Production cars mostly herald from the UK but as more people realise they can have just as much fun in a slower but more financially viable environment, numbers are increasing around Europe.

With Group Lotus and LoTRDC agreeing a three year contract extension the future is looking bright for Lotus racers across Europe for the next few years.

Lotus Cup UK

A new MSA Championship for 2011: Lotus Cup UK is aimed at drivers who want all the benefits of a Championship, alongside a mixture of 1hr races and shorter 20 & 30 minute double headers. With 7 rounds and 9 races at the best UK circuits in addition to a visit to Spa Francorchamps, there really is no better Championship in which to race your Lotus in Europe. The five classes ensure that the vast majority of Lotus race cars can compete, from the Elise Trophy Production cars up to 2-Elevens.

I’m new to Lotus Motorsport can I still take part?

There’s no reason why not if you are looking for a race series with our ethos and you want to race what is arguably the World’s most evocative motorsport marques.

What level of preparation is required?

There is a brief preparation guide on this website, we recommend potential drivers contact one of the series sponsors for further information and guidance. It goes without saying that all cars must meet the minimum requirements as specified in the MSA blue book where not specified to a higher level in the series regs.

Who will be racing?

We have a mixture of novice and experienced drivers. In 2007 over half the drivers who competed were new to racing and one of our main priorities is to keep attracting new drivers to motorsport. Although we then had a handful of extremely experienced drivers including one ex-F1 driver and a number of BTCC drivers we also had a large number of drivers who had a year’s previous experience, mainly from the Production BMW series which was set up by the same group of Lotus owners who were involved in setting up the Elise Trophy. We do welcome all experience levels and will provide as much assistance and advice as possible to novice drivers.