The fastest Australian car from WTAC 2010, the mighty GT3 Lotus Exige of Sydney based race engineering shop Prepd Motorsport have confirmed entry into the Pro Class at WTAC 2011 once again back in the hands of V8 Supercar and part time factory Audi driver Warren Luff. This car is one of a handful of cars built by the Lotus factory for racing in the FIA GT category several years ago but the car has since had quite a substantial power up by the guys at Prepd.
“This car came from the Lotus factory in 2007 with around 270 horsepower and in Time Attack trim we will be pushing well over 500 horsepower” said Prep’d engineer Lachlan Cook “but remember as this is still a two wheel drive car, we have the same problem as everyone else, putting the power down on what are essentially road tyres”
Photo: Matt Cook
The car still runs the original Toyota 2ZZ GTE engine but the supercharger that ran on this car from the factory is long gone and in its place a rather large Garrett turbocharger and intercooler set up all built by the guys at Prep’d.
The engine features forged internals a MoTec ECU and a host of other tweaks. The suspension is Ohlins and the brakes are AP Racing and the whole package weighs in at well under 800kg. The biggest change this year will be that the car will be running on sticky Yokohama AO50 tyres which should see the times tumble.
“Whilst there was some controversy over this entry last year being an FIA car, my attitude is to read our rules and that if it fits our rules then it’s in” said Ian Baker – Superlap Australia’s CEO, “this car was a hit with the fans last year, not only the Lotus people but also the Toyota guys and I’m sure this year will be no different.”
“To be honest, this car is a few years old now and is certainly a long way from what the factory intended and is now probably more Prepd motorsport than factory Lotus. As far as any sort of parity goes this team still have an awful lot of time to make up if they plan on catching the front runners who by all accounts are predicted to be much faster this year than last”
Photo: Adam Drake
“To be honest, last year we were really only using Superlap as a shakedown for an upcoming GT round” said chief engineer Lachlan Cook “but we had such a blast at last year’s event that both the cars owner Angelo Lazerus, Luffy and myself decided to come back and have another crack at it. This year Yokohama have offered to support us with some sticky ADVAN tyres and we believe that should push us closer to the pointy end”
