HOW DO YOU DRIVE THE MOST SOPHISTICATED RACING CAR IN THE WORLD?

evo asks World Endurance Champion and ‘rookie’ just what it takes to tame the 1000bhp 919 Hybrid by NICK TROTT : WEBBER & MONTOYA

T’S THE DAY AFTER THE FINAL RACE OF THE 2015 WORLD ENDURANCE Championship decider. Sitting high and alone in one of the mega-grandstands at Bahrain’s Sakhir Circuit, you settle in to watch a day of testing. With no racing, no crowds and no funfairs to distract, you can simply sit and watch the majesty of some of the greatest racing cars ever built pounding relentlessly around this challenging desert track. The fi rst car appears. A Porsche 911. A familiar shape in endurance racing for more than 40 years. It approaches through a fast esses, nose porpoising but maintaining startling pace. Then it accelerates, stops, turns into a hairpin, and explodes onto the straight with extraordinary, ruthless speed. What you didn’t notice was the car behind. You didn’t see it because you couldn’t hear it – not over the 911’s fl at-six scream. And because it appeared so quickly, as if bursting from a wormhole. This low, edgy, I geometric collision of wings, slats and endplates tucks in behind the 911 then hits some kind of hyperdrive. Zaaap! It simply surges past the Porsche in a display of brutal acceleration. Within a blink it’s pulled 100 metres on the 911, then it changes direction like something hitherto only seen above Roswell and is gone. Wow. If you could write a list of ingredients to create the Ultimate Race Car, it would read like the Porsche 919 Hybrid’s spec. It has ultra-advanced aero bodywork shrink-wrapped over a carbon But with the car optimising so much performance, what tub, and slick tyres that account for around a third of the width difference does the driver actually make? It could be construed of the car. It has four-wheel drive, a compact turbocharged as a rude question, but Webber shrugs it off. engine with hybrid hardware, and hydraulically interconnected ‘We still have to put the car on the limit. We have to cut the self-levelling suspension. Carbon brakes? Tick. Advanced perfect lines. We have to work the traffi c. And don’t forget that electronics? Tick. Titanium, magnesium, aluminium? Tick. the computers can’t talk to the engineers. They can measure, Porsche says the 919 has 500bhp at the rear axle from a V4 but you need the human component to validate. turbo petrol engine and another 400bhp from an electric motor was always big on that – the human component inside the 800 at the front axle – but we hear that combined it has exceeded computers telling you what’s really happening. You need the 1000bhp (and then some) in certain scenarios. The powertrain middle ear, the balance, to put the car on the limit.’ recovers energy from exhaust gases and braking, storing it in a Asking Webber at which point the 919 is delivering its ‘reservoir’ (a lithium-ion battery) positioned next to the driver’s optimum performance – just above or below slip (understeer or right arm. Fully lit the car will do 0-124mph in 4.8 seconds. oversteer) – he links this back to the difference a driver makes. That’s nearly two seconds faster than a Bugatti Chiron. ‘It’s a little bit over. That’s what a racing driver’s job is – we Sophistication and speed haven’t met like this before – not in have to have that tyre just slightly over the edge. I’m talking a a sportscar – which must make it an infernally tricky car, right? couple of per cent, if that. Managing the throttle through the ‘Not really,’ explains works driver and WEC 2015 champion corner or managing on braking – manipulating those inputs, Mark Webber. ‘The driving interface has to be simple – it has to that’s what we’re always sussing out.’ be user-friendly. The technology is brutally advanced, but for If you add this to Webber’s assertion that at Le Mans in the driver, endurance racing has to be simple.’ particular the car is ‘fl at-out, all the time’, then you realise that So if you want your sportscar to be interminably diffi cult the Porsche works drivers gently slide through every corner to drive, you’re not going to get it here. Webber explains that a huge chunk of the development testing before the 919 raced for the fi rst time in 2014 revolved around making it behave in a conventional manner. Why? says that racing Above: the 919 drivers cannot necessarily unlearn their talent, so even the Hybrid won at Le most advanced machines still have to ‘feel like a racing car’. ‘One of the joys Mans last year and secured the WEC Considering the immensely complicated but interconnected title for Porsche. systems, that this is the case with the 919 is a minor miracle. of switching from L e : Montoya in ‘It’s true,’ says Webber. ‘There are a huge amount of the hot seat – and driveability systems going on in the background, like on the F1 to WEC is that immediately on recoup side when we’re trying to get energy back in the braking. the pace. Right: Webber and team- This harvesting has an effect on how we’re braking. mates Brendon ‘Then on the drive phase – when we’re trying to get out of the he never hears an Hartley and Timo corner – we have all this power, but how the car is going to put it Bernhard celebrate down best on each corner consistently with all the different yaw their 2015 World engineer tell him Endurance Drivers’ characteristics going on is something else…’ Championship win Webber explains that it’s during this drive phase that the car’s systems could trip each other up: ‘The car has to have lots of to slow down’ different throttle angles for slightly different yaw and lateral movements, and each wheel has to do its own thing.’ The genius is that the 919 is doing this in the background – the car is juggling performance, harvesting, braking, lateral loads and so much more but the driver rarely feels it.

116 www.evo.co.uk www.evo.co.uk 117 PORSCHE 919 HYBRID: WEBBER & MONTOYA

What happens when you lose control?

‘You’re trying to minimise damage to the car,’ explains Webber. ‘If it’s slow speed, you just turn the car and go. If it’s a really fast corner, you want to get an idea of your trajectory and where the barriers are and if possible you want to get o the brakes to a degree. or transition for 24 hours and 3100 miles, the car exquisitely Above: four-wheel With  at-spotting and everything, you try to get away controlled and manipulated by the human at the controls. drive courtesy of an with minimum brake pressure but still retard the big electric motor on the Interestingly, Webber believes part of the reason why drivers movement or slide. If you’re going to the barrier, you front axle makes the pop your hands o wheel and brace yourself. The can do this is how they sit in the car, and how much of their body 919 monstrously fast car is pretty quiet – there’s no torque through the physically connects with the car. ‘You feel 60 per cent through your out of corners. Above engine, some noise from the tyres, and some weird arse, 40 per cent through the wheel and there’s a little through your right: Webber spills acoustics because the air is going over the car in the feet. The steering weight – the amount of grip you’re getting back the beans to Trott wrong direction. But mostly you’re just thinking about grabbing  rst gear and getting going again.’ through the front tyres, especially in the rain – is important. The same goes for high-grip scenarios, where you use all your balance cues to sense where the car’s at. But this comes down to the way you’re strapped into the car – a lot of your body is in connection Here he comes. First lap. He looks fast. Through the esses he’s with the car.’ pushing; the nose runs a little wide. The tyres are still coming up Webber goes on to explain that one of the joys of switching to temperature. Lap two, he’s on it. His lines are perfect. He looks from F1 to WEC is that he never hears an engineer tell him to slow like he’s driven the car all year. On lap three, you put a stopwatch down. He says that racing drivers want to drive on the limit, and ‘to on him. He’s within a few tenths of the quickest laps from the conserve’ is unnatural. Bahrain WEC race. Slowly, hacks emerge from the press room ‘Racing drivers don’t have that built into them. With this car, it where they’ve been writing their end-of-year opuses. ‘We saw his has been built to take a beasting. In terms of systems, we don’t have times on the monitor – and had to watch it.’ to look after anything. Nothing. Whether we’re doing one hour or a Montoya does a full three-hour stint. Then comes into the pits. 30-hour test, the systems just have to take it. You will never hear an You pray Porsche puts him on fresh rubber and gives him full engineer come on the radio and ask you to fuel save either.’ boost for a qualifying simulation. It happens, and for the next In terms of job satisfaction, that must make a difference? ten minutes Montoya is absolutely on it. He fi nishes around a ‘Yeah, but so does the way we work together as a team. Part of the second slower than the pole time from the race, in track conditions success of our car has been this – that the egos have been dropped considered less than ideal. Jaws are dropped. at the door and we’ve struck up a great relationship.’ Mark goes on ‘The car was easy,’ says Montoya. ‘You just drive it. It’s really a to explain that the three drivers work on their driving styles with race car, and you adapt to it a little bit.’ The Colombian is famous the target of ‘the car not knowing who’s in the car’. for his horizontal attitude, and the ‘Montoya shrug’ is an oft- How do they achieve this? ‘We’re constantly working on keeping used infl ection during interviews. He doesn’t romanticise about the communication up; talking about technique and having super- driving, and isn’t particularly interested in going into technical granular driver coaching with each other. If we see a line, we tell detail. If you’re born with his kind of talent, you let your driving each other. We’re always trying to be one driver.’ do the talking. ‘For me, I just get in the car, drive the hell out of it. That’s what I’ve done my whole career.’ WITH THAT, WEBBER SHAKES YOUR HAND AND HEADS Webber and Montoya trade laughs. They raced together for years over to have a chat with Juan Pablo Montoya, considered one of the and the respect is clear to see. But their approaches are wildly most single-minded racers of his generation. Since leaving F1 in different. If Montoya raced with Porsche, the seemingly confl icting 2006, Montoya has raced in NASCAR and IndyCar – championships attitudes would yield an astonishing soap opera. It won’t happen and cars from a different planet to the 919. Montoya is old-school. in 2016, with Porsche dropping down to a two-car entry, but if the The 919 is not. It’s one of the most intriguing motorsport mashups Stuttgart outfi t returns in 2017 with three cars, there’s little doubt in history. So you head back to the grandstand to watch… Montoya would have a seat. Book your grandstand ticket now. L

118 www.evo.co.uk GT4 v THE BEST OF THE REST

How pure is it? GT4 v L O T U S EXIGE SPORT 350 by N ICK TROTT PHOTOGRAPHY by ASTON PARROTT

THIS IS A TOUGH TEST – AND NOT your traditional test. Sure, it’s Britain versus Germany, and both cars have six cylinders, rear-wheel drive, two seats, a manual gearbox and a mid-mounted motor, but it’s how each expresses the thrill of driving in its purest form that we’re studying here. Lotus wades in with an acknowledgment that the Exige S – the car the Sport 350 replaces – was not as honed, not as light, and not as focused as it could’ve been. And this a car that was joint-top in eCoty 2012, remember. So has the best Exige, and one of the best Lotus’s of recent times, just got better? To find out, we’re pitting it against the current eCoty champ – the Cayman If it was human, it would be toned, trim and the new exposed gearshift mechanism. but when you tentatively blip the throttle to sports car, it’s not Lotus-light. And as we know, GT4 – a car of mesmerising purity. and confident. The GT4 weighs 1340kg – You sit almost shoulder-to-shoulder with your measure response the engine feels lazy. lightness and purity are dynamic bedfellows. The GT4 is a phenomenon. The hottest 215kg more than the Lotus – and tops out passenger, faced with a tiny steering wheel The Cayman, on the other hand, feels However, in isolation the Cayman doesn’t feel sports car of the moment. A car that is at 183mph. The Lotus sprints to 62mph in tHe Cayman and basic dials. The view forward sets your right, just right, straightaway. You find a heavy. Despite overly long gearing, it leaps off commanding a 40 per cent premium 3.9 seconds, the GT4 in 4.4. But numbers ‘is ligHt for pulse racing, the two deltoid fenders spreading perfect driving position immediately, you the line and punches hard. Likewise, your first already, and a car that triumphed over the are irrelevant here because these cars out like falcon wings. feel cocooned by solid-feeling materials rotation of the (power) steering is immediate 991 GT3 RS, McLaren 675LT, Lamborghini covet the drive above the data, and the a modern But your first impressions are dominated by and controls, and you marvel at the simple with feel and response. And when you use the Aventador SV and Ferrari 488 GTB in that sensations above the statistics. contradictions. The car feels light (the door perfection of the pedal weights and springing. brakes – optional carbon ceramics on our test eCoty 2015 test. If it was human, it would You fall clumsily into the Exige; the sports Car weighs nothing) but the steering is heavy at It’s a car you feel you can very quickly drive car – they haul with startling power. be puffed up and fearless. wide sill needs vaulting and men of a but it’s not low speeds. You fit snugly width-wise but the hard, but also a car that makes you wonder if it As you load it harder into a corner, the GT4 At 1125kg, the Sport 350 is 51kg lighter certain age will need to be wary of the seat is positioned too high, so you try (and fail) will reveal all its talents too soon. spreads the forces evenly across its axis. It than the Exige S, 2.5 seconds faster around turn/twist/slipped disc. You instantly lotus-light to wriggle lower. Finally, the engine starts with OK, we’ve pitched this as a lightweight battle, neither understeers nor oversteers – it just its Hethel test track and strikes 170mph. notice the fabulous optional tartan trim, the de rigueur (but unnecessary) flare of revs, but while the Cayman is light for a modern steers to the point of a gentle four-wheel drift

068 www.evo.co.uk ’ www.evo.co.uk 069 GT4 v THE BEST OF THE REST

tHe lotus makes‘ you retHink your approaCH to driving

Lef: GT4 can’t live with the supercar-fast Lotus for outright pace, but it indulges its driver at any ’ speed and in any scenario

that signals its arrival with a gentle relaxing of dull response all but disappears. There’s still a and dry conditions during our test, the Exige steering weight, a mild hushing from the tyres mild lag when you blip for a heel-and-toe shift, yields to understeer sooner than the GT4. and a joyous sense of gliding. And it’s during but when you bury your right foot the Exige Unlike the GT4, the Lotus asks you to rethink this moment that the GT4 blows your socks off, rips forward with a vivid but linear force that your approach to driving. The Cayman can be because it can operate within this bandwidth the GT4 can’t match. Power to weight is the key bullied, and will mask poor driving, but the seemingly all day long, and with just the tiniest here – the Lotus achieves 312bhp/ton and the Exige will punish clumsiness by exaggerating of orchestrations from the driver. It will dance Cayman 288. The Sport 350 is supercar-quick. every uncoordinated input. In other words, the to your tune up to, on, and beyond the limit The revised gearshift mechanism is a treat. Lotus simply can’t be arsed if you yourself can’t. of adhesion and this, ladies and gentleman, is The throws are short and precise, and the But when you get it right, when you tap the glowing neon that signposts every great slackness that haunted the old shift has gone. into those rich messages that seep into your performance car. Indeed, you tend to overwork the shifter, just fingertips, feet and backside, the Exige is pure Good luck Hethel. to enjoy the action. This is entirely unnecessary joy. Yes, it’s flawed; the build quality is worse Once you’ve acclimatised – to the low-speed because the Exige has enough torque – 295lb ft than the Porsche’s, visibility is poor, the ride is steering weight, to the increased noise, to the – to feel fast in all six ratios and pretty much any harder than you’d expect and the pause in the seemingly dull throttle response, and to the seat throttle opening. throttle response occasionally frustrating. But height – you start to find greatness in the Exige. Find a set of corners and the Exige truly despite the total genius of the GT4, the Sport That unique, only-Lotus type of greatness. comes alive. You feel the unassisted steering 350 is more of a sports car more of the time. Punching the Sport button (and never driving tense as the forces grow, and you may feel a So these are two exceptional cars, and the the car in ‘normal’ mode again) is what pushes temptation to grip the wheel harder. But like Exige Sport 350 is the toughest like-for-like PORSCHE CAYMAN GT4 LOTUS EXIGE SPORT 350 the door ajar to the Exige’s greatness. Throttle riding a motorcycle, your tension will only rival the GT4 will ever face. We will revisit Flat-six, 3800cc 380bhp @ 7400rpm V6, 3456cc, supercharged 345bhp @ response improves, which means your right transfer to the vehicle. Despite its extra bulk, this test in summer, and explore their genius Engine Power Engine Power Torque 310lb ft @ 4750-6000rpm Weight 1340kg 7000rpm Torque 295lb ft @ 4500rpm Weight 1125kg foot talks to the engine in a much clearer and the GT4 feels like it has the same outright grip further, but for now, as pure as the GT4 is for a Power-to-weight 288bhp/ton 0-62mph 4.4sec (claimed) Power-to-weight 312bhp/ton 0-62mph 3.9sec (claimed) more confidence-inspiring manner, and that as the Lotus, but in the interchangeably damp Porsche, it’s not Lotus-pure. L Top speed 183mph (claimed) Basic Price £64,451 Top speed 170mph (claimed) Basic Price £55,900

070 www.evo.co.uk www.evo.co.uk 071 LOTUS CEO JEAN-MARC GALES

PICTURES ON A WALL

HE LAST SEVEN YEARS WILL SURELY DRB-Hicom group – signalled faith in Hethel by appointing Jean- be remembered as the most calamitous in the Marc Gales as the new CEO of Lotus. history of Lotus – more so than the tragic months Gales was a grown-up – a key player in the industry. A after Colin Chapman’s death in 1982. Luxembourgian engineer, he’d been CEO of the European It started with the appointment of Dany Bahar Association of Automotive Suppliers, the president of Citroën and in 2009 – a former Ferrari commercial Svengali Peugeot and had held several senior roles at Daimler, GM and bursting with the kind of panache and promise not seen at Hethel Volkswagen. He’d haunted the corridors of Brussels, and lobbied Tsince Chapman. And as we know, that didn’t quite work out… at the EU, but even Gales must’ve felt he’d stepped into a snake pit Just a year later the Malaysian government sold its 42.7 per cent when he joined Lotus. Customers were furious, staff defl ated, and stake in Proton to industrial conglomerate DRB-Hicom, which in dealers angry worldwide. So what did he do fi rst? Shut his offi ce turn put a further seven per cent of Proton’s shares on the open door and whisper quietly: ‘What have I let myself in for?’ market. Under Malaysian law, this meant that all activities within Gales talks fast. Short, sharp sentences. the Proton Group other than normal trading had to be suspended. ‘Pragmatism is probably the word. Yes, pragmatism. We had to Bahar was in the middle of a spending spree that he hoped would stick to the core of what Lotus should be – of what Colin Chapman see fi ve new models in fi ve years (and the death of the Elise as defi ned. I know many manufacturers who would kill someone to we know it). Suddenly Hethel had to reduce production, suspend have such a brand image. But we have it. We are drivers’ cars.’ much of its R&D, delay the launch of the then new Exige S – for Gales doesn’t enjoy talking about his predecessors, but he rolls which it had 400 orders – and put the launch of an all-new Esprit his eyes when he talks about the near-history of Lotus. ‘I don’t on the backburner. understand why they wanted to deviate from what Lotus is. Concurrently there were rumours of a $350million debt to Simplifi cation, lightness, unequalled steering feel, very precise suppliers, growing intrigue around Bahar’s business expenses, and driving – that’s what set us apart. And we have that DNA in the ultimately the threat of DRB-Hicom selling Lotus and cutting its company. We all have that vision in our head. A lightweight car that losses. Or worse, closing it for good. doesn’t need a big engine to be fun. A car that doesn’t need to be Then in May 2012 Bahar was suspended ‘to facilitate an two metres wide. We keep them small. We keep them light.’ IS THIS HOW WE investigation into a complaint about his conduct’. Allegations of But Lotus has a unique problem. A perception has developed, gross misconduct and misappropriated company funds circled, orchestrated by the car industry, that power is route one to as did lawyers, furious dealers, exasperated customers and, performance, and while lip service is paid to lightweighting, WILL REMEMBER LOTUS? ultimately, a very black thundercloud above Hethel. For all the almost every key sports car maker in the world has increased speed talent he had secured, including AMG’s Wolf Zimmermann and with the deployment of more horsepower. A horsepower cockfi ght, Ferrari 458 designer Donato Coco (and not forgetting Bob Lutz and in other words, in which Lotus and Gales attempt to battle with NOT IF CEO JEAN-MARC GALES HAS HIS WAY… , who were both on the advisory board), Bahar’s forensic attention to lightweighting. Surely it’s a losing battle? vision for an upmarket/luxury/premium/lifestyle brand wasn’t ‘No!’ responds Gales. ‘Not at all. It’s getting much better. When I something DRB-Hicom could sustain. joined, I thought the Exige was a fantastic car, but too heavy. So we Nick Trott meets the boss of Lotus to talk about the Whether Bahar was a sacrifi cial lamb or did indeed spend money took 1.5kg out of the gearchange, 10kg out of the brakes and rims, the company didn’t have remains a mystery, but his termination as and redesigned the subframe, took out 5kg, and went to a lithium- next Elise, selling 2000 cars a year and the future of Hethel CEO meant Lotus purists could fi nally retire their much-perforated ion battery, which saved another 10kg. We took the car apart. Put it voodoo dolls. on big tables and looked at every part. Without this, the Exige was However, things weren’t over yet. The company was still on life- 1176kg – now it’s 1125kg, but it goes to 1085kg with all the carbon by NICK TROTT support, then on 2 May 2014 Proton – now a full member of the bits and lithium battery. And now it’s sold out until October.’

www.evo.co.uk 113 LOTUS CEO JEAN-MARC GALES

GALES ON... MOTORSPORT ‘For the last 30 years I have been looking for the equation that gives the conversion of motorsport into sales. Win on Sunday, sell on Monday? Frankly, if you’re not in F1 or LMP1 in the top teams, there’s no point in participating. We have the Lotus Driving Academy and we’d like to establish the Lotus Cup in more territories, but what we can’t a ord, we can’t a ord. Perhaps if we  nd an enthusiastic dealer, and some enthusiastic drivers, we will do the Nürburgring 24 Hours.’

HYBRIDS Whether this fastidious attention to detail has indeed resulted jobs and evo has heard accusations of insensitive HR practice Above: Elise S Cup arrived was 200. We have 250 orders for the Evora 400 in the US alone. in new sales or it’s a result of an energised dealer network (up from during the redundancy period. Also, with a sixth of the workforce last year and showed But we have to keep that sustainability. ‘When I came into this industry people said, “Why do you want to 137 dealers globally to 202) is up for debate – and more likely it’s gone, Lotus undoubtedly lost ground in engineering, consultancy exactly what Lotus is still ‘We are such a small company, we need to spend what we capable of – it’s laugh-out- do this? It’s over for the car – do both – but sales are up and Gales is convinced the Lotus ‘way’ is and R&D – but Gales responds by arguing that Lotus had to put an earn but put a small amount aside for the new Elise – and then a loud good to drive. F a r l e : electronics instead.” There will be more relevant than ever and customers are returning ‘after having emphasis on its own product fi rst. Gales (right) and evo editor new Evora comes later. You will see three or four variants every autonomous driving, but never in a gone to Porsche or whoever and miss steering feel’. ‘We had to do it,’ he says. ‘We had 1200 people building 1200 Nick Trott during a tour of year.’ Then, pointedly, Gales adds: ‘We will not do fi ve new Lotus. And hybrids are completely against our philosophy. Why two ‘The Boxster has lost a bit of its charm, the Zenos is an open car cars; now we have 900 people building 2000 cars. We had to the factory at Hethel models in fi ve years…’ powertrains? We are spending on and the 4C is not there with its steering and a few other chassis reduce the cost of the cars, so everything was reviewed. Lotus has yet to crawl fully from the snake pit, but it has electrical again and maybe one day areas.’ So does Gales think the Elise – now 20 years old – is still ‘Every maintenance contract was renegotiated. Everybody fl ies climbed further in two years than many predicted. Key markets you will see an electric Lotus [like competitive today? ‘Undoubtedly. But Elise is more than that. Elise economy – but we only fl y if we have to. Most board meetings are now have fuller dealer networks, including Germany (up from the Tesla Roadster – below].’ is a brand. It is a landmark, and the next car will be a brand again. done by video conference. We even went from 23 colours to 11 – fi ve to 14 dealers) and France (from four dealers to 14), plus It will be like the current one but better. Better means not heavier. we even stopped using the standard Lotus yellow. It was £40 per representation in Qatar, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Dubai, and of It will need to have smart side airbags because we want to export litre! Now the standard colour is £20 per litre, and we use six to course the growth in the crucial US market. it to the US again. It may be a bit wider, but not much – perhaps seven litres per car. It is virtually the same shade and nobody has Lotus has undoubtedly benefi ted from other manufacturers 40mm each side. I want to keep it compact. The problem I have noticed. We are too small to have special colours, and we have to moving further away from the ‘pure’ sports car sector, thus with modern cars is that they’re too wide. We need to keep it small, be self-suffi cient.’ amplifying that unique Lotus DNA, but there remain risks from as our early cars were – the Elan, as the Elise was.’ Gales claims Lotus is indeed now self-suffi cient. But over- post-Brexit currency fl uctuations and domestic concerns over SPORTS CAR We walk and talk – Gales is keen to show us the factory and the ambition haunted Lotus even when it was broke, so is over-ambition DRB-Hicom. The latter partly stems from losses at Proton. carbon and trim shops. We walk past a bare structure, half built a danger now? Analyists in Malaysia are hopeful that a government loan FUTURE by Bahar to accommodate production of his range of cars. Nature ‘I know. I know,’ says Gales with a note of exasperation in his ‘We even will revive Proton’s fortunes, but two other solutions have ‘Out of 80-100million cars sold is reclaiming it. As we head to the trim shop, we’re told the Lotus voice. ‘Both feet on the ground – we have to do it. So every day a been rumoured: DRB-Hicom could dispose of Proton’s assets, per year, there will be a place for Carlton was built here and the Tesla Roadster nearby. The Tesla, cash meeting, every day an accounts meeting, every day a fi nance stopped using including (you guessed it) Lotus, or it could fi nd a permanent 3000-5000 sports or fun cars. it is thought, was the most profi table car Lotus has built in the meeting, every day a supplier meeting. partner. The latter won’t be easy: while Proton currently We are also working with the last 20 years. ‘But the big bills are behind us. We made a massive change to platform-shares with Honda and Suzuki, neither are thought to SMMT and the Euro Commission Our conversation turns to the USA. ‘It will be our biggest market the Evora, and the 3-Eleven was an Exige built from scratch. What the standard be soliciting a permanent partner. to protect the small car, because the manufacturers need some in 2016,’ begins Gales, ‘but maybe the best news is that in 2014 we comes in the next two years are different versions of Evora and Inevitably, attention will turn to Chinese fi rm Goldstar, with protection. But people will always had around 500 cars on stock – and now we have zero. Also, in smaller changes on Exige and Elise.’ Lotus yellow whom Gales signed an agreement in 2015 to build Lotus-badged want a sports car. What happens 2013 we had more loss than turnover and in 2012 we had twice as Gales says this means that Lotus will not spend signifi cantly on cars in the People’s Republic. But the offi cial line is that this deal when a small child draws a car? much loss as turnover.’ engineering, and will start reinvesting the profi t from selling the is in place to ‘seek available opportunities’ in China alone. They draw a sports car – probably an Elise! We need to work on the Gales, as is well reported, took signifi cant costs out of the cars into brand-new products, and specifi cally the new Elise. paint. It was Either way the Lotus position remains complex, but with Gales homologation side, but from a business. Overheads were £60million; Gales claims it is now ‘The cash cycle is starting to turn,’ he says, ‘and here’s the good on board ‘stability’ and ‘sustainability’ are words mentioned as market point of view there will £35million. But there’s been a human cost. 260 people lost their news: we have over 800 orders. A year ago it was 260 and in 2014 it £40 per litre!’ often as ‘light’ and ‘weight’ at Hethel. Long may it continue. L always be a sports car.’

114 www.evo.co.uk www.evo.co.uk 115