LOTUS SPORT UK MAKE PROMISING GT START


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Alistair Mackinnon & Mario Attard did a great job in the #49 Lotus. Photo: www.jakobebrey.com

A week on from the Avon Tyres British GT opener at Oulton Park we take a closer look at the performance of the Lotus Sport UK team who opened their 2012 championship account with three podium finishes from two races at the picturesque Cheshire circuit.

In challenging weather conditions Sailesh Bolisetti took to the wheel of the #48 Lotus Evora for the first stint in race one despite only having driven the car briefly in the wet. Promising lap times kept the car in the running for a good finish in GT4 before Phil Glew took over. Setting a stunning pace he reeled in the Ginetta of Hughes and Fannin who had a 1m37s gap at the start of his stint, by the end of the race he had closed that gap down to 37 seconds.

Marco Attard started in the #49 Lotus and following a great start kept 3rd place. With a solid pace throughout the race and improving lap times Alistair MacKinnion took over to keep the car in a podium scoring position.

Race two saw the #48 car star from pole position with Glew leading the way throughout his stint, he matched the pace of Hughes in the Ginetta and would pull out a 6 second lead by the time he came in for the driver change. Unfortunately for Bolisseti the pace of Jody Fannin in the Ginetta proved too strong and lost a place; despite this he kept his head as others slid off the circuit and bring home the car in a brilliant second place.

Alistair Mackinnon started in the #49 car from third place but lost out as the back end of the Lotus stepped out and dropped him down to fourth place. Attard put in a solid drive to bring the car home in one piece finishing fourth in class.

Lotus Sport UK Team Manager summed up the opening weekend as follows; "All the drivers drove fantastic races over the weekend in very testing conditions, and also the fact we had no major offs, or damage proves what a professional job the guys did. Our rookie Sailesh coped with all the new things to learn extremely well, and the fact he has only ever raced in the wet a handful of times proved that he will be one to watch in GT's in the future."

You can follow the team on twitter at @LotusSportUKGT and on facebook at www.facebook.com/LotusSportUK .


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