Lotus 2-11 to enter British GT

[andy97]

At a time when the British GT series has been struggling for entries, new team Piranha Motorsport will make its debut at Brands Hatch next month with its sights set on immediate success.

The Bristol-based team will race a Lotus 2-11 Supersports in the GT4 category, the first such car to race in the British GT series, but considers its choice as the ideal car to take the fight to KTM X-Bow and other rivals in the class as it aims prove that the 2-11 is a true successor to the Lotus 11 and Lotus 23.

Set up by Chris Bialan and Simon Mason, Piranha Motorsport's ambitions do not rest solely with the British GT series either, as it will also race in the Elise Trophy and Lotus Euro Cup, and will enter the Dubai 24 hour race in January 2010 with the same car.

Both team owners have solid motorsport experience, with Bialan having raced in all the various Caterham categories and won races in the Roadsports class. More recently, he raced a Juno sports prototype in the SPEED series, taking the 2008 title and winning at Brands Hatch this season with Rob Garofall. Mason, meanwhile, is a leading driver coach, with a very successful client list spanning a variety of championships. A former chief instructor at Rockingham, he is also an accomplished endurance racer in his own right, having been Britcar driver of the year in 2005 and driver/manager at TJH Motorsport between 2005 and 2008.

Piranha also has the ability to engineer and race other cars in other series, and also has a SPEED Series Juno and an ex-BTCC Peugeot 307 S2000 in its stable. It is also evaluating an entry into in to the new Porsche Boxster series for 2010.

A shakedown event for the new team is planned at Cadwell Park on 12 September, when Bialan will debut the 2-11 in the Lotus Elise Trophy a week before its proposed British GT bow.

[Gingers4Justice]

Yay! More cars! The field has now increased by about 50%

[MJ_N_09]

Jeez. I would hate to see next year's grid.

[rich07]

Its only coincidence but when I saw this topic the topic below it was 'Mosler pulled out of British GT'. Losing cars, gaining cars.......Nice to see the Lotus in British GT though, its a really nice car. Good luck to Piranha.

[MJ_N_09]

At least Ginetta has some competition now.

[maz]

great move. does any one have any technical details about the race spec car?

[911 GT1]

Use this link:
http://www.gt4cup.com/downloads.php

and take a look under "media". There you will find the brochure of the 2-Eleven GT4.

[maz]

Originally Posted by 911 GT1

Use this link:
http://www.gt4cup.com/downloads.php

and take a look under "media". There you will find the brochure of the 2-Eleven GT4.

nice one

[andy97]

Further to the above about the debut of the Lotus 2-11 in the British GT series, Piranha Motorsport entered the same Lotus 2-11 in to the MSVR run GT Cup series last saturday at Silverstone. The first time that a Lotus 2-11 has appeared in the series.

They proved the versatility and competitiveness of the Lotus 2-11 by taking a class win in race 1 of the GT Cup and a second in class, and class lap record, in race 2. In doing so Chris Bialan proved that the combination of car and driver was capable of beating a hitherto unbeaten Class Champion. In race 2, Chris finished 19th out of 35 starters, despite having started last on the grid due to a lack of wet weather tyres available for the wet practice and having to carry a significant amount of success ballast from the first race class win.

In a very short space of time, Piranha Motorsport has learnt a great deal about how to run a Lotus 2-11 competitively, making set up changes between the two GT Cup races which resulted in lap time improvements of nearly 3 seconds a lap.

The team now have a clear idea of what’s required to win in each category in 2010 with further improvements to the car being implemented over the winter. A winter testing programme is scheduled.

The team are delighted that they proved their credentials, and proved the performance of the Lotus 2-11 GT4, despite running with minimal testing and set up. Piranha Motorsport will be back next year and are confident that the Lotus 2-11 GT4 will prove to be a quick and cost effective addition to the British GT and GT Cup grids.