2000 Autobytel Lotus Sport Elise Championship

For Adam made the switch from single seater racing to GT style racing cars.

The 2000 Autobytel Lotus Championship saw Adam in his first year in GT Style racing cars, he adapted well and won the inaugural Autobytel Lotus Sport Elise Championship by taking 9 pole positions and 9 race wins in 13 starts, he had 3 second places and 1 DNF.

" I really enjoyed the Lotus Sport Elise championship, it was good that we all had the same equipment, and the only focus was driving ".

Autobytel Lotus Sport Elise Championship

The Autobytel Lotus Championship will provide the support for the world's most popular touring car championship , the BTCC. The Championship will fill the gap between club racing and international sportscar racing. Each race will run on a timed basis of 24mins and the Championship will visit the TOCA night races at Silverstone and Snetterton and hold double header meetings at both Donington and Brands Hatch, making it an ideal training ground for any aspiring driver. The BTCC regularly attracts crowds of 30,000 and represents an excellent promotional platform from which to launch Lotus ' return to the motorsport arena. The Championship will also support the Sports Racing World Cup at Magny-Cours (France) and Spa Francorchamps (Belgium) as well as a race at the Nürburgring in Germany.

Just like Lotus, the Championship 's inaugural Title Sponsor, Autobytel , is an innovator in its own field. It was the first company to create an on-line environment to purchase new and used cars, finance and insurance form the convenience of a PC. This multi-year deal will see the series renamed as the Autobytel Lotus Championship and all the competing Elise's will be adorned with the autobytel .co.uk web address across their window strips. As part of the car sponsorship package, major sponsors such as Nortel Networks ( Adam's title sponsor ) and Toshiba will have a Sport Elise painted in their own livery, enjoy corporate hospitality at both the new Lotus Motorsport Race Centre at Hethel and at race tracks, have paddock and factory passes and will be able to attend driver activity days at Lotus .

The Lotus Sport Elise From the outset it was always the intention that the Elise should go racing, and now, in the dramatic form of the Lotus Sport Elise, that's precisely what it's about to do. But although it's based on the remarkable chassis of the road-going Elise, the Sport Elise is pure racecar. It has restyled bodywork, including an aerodynamic hardtop, a centrally mounted seat, race-specification suspension and brakes, a full roll-cage and safety equipment, and a competition-spec. 1.8-litre K-Series engine producing in excess of 200bhp all the cars use the same controlled fuel and Yokohama Radial Slick and Wet Racing Tyres.

Click here to see the 2000 Lotus Sport Elise season review video

Racing in the 2000 Autobytel Lotus Sport Elise Championship in ' guest races ' were no fewer than 3 Ex-Formula One drivers, Martin Donnelly, Tiff Needel and Ian Ashley as well as Le Mans and Japanese GT hero Takeshi Tsuchiya all joining in on the action at various circuits, Martin Donnelly having the best result a 2nd to Adam in the first race at Brands Hatch.

Adam had sewn up the Championship up at Silverstone in September and was crowned the 2000 Champion with one more race to go at Magny Cours in France.

As part of his prize for winning the Championship Adam was presented with a road going special edition Lotus Elise Sport ( which later became the Lotus Exige as it's known today ), as well as a driver development program which he was involved with the development of Lotus race cars in 2000 and 2001.


4 APR	8	Sat	Autobytel Lotus Sport Elise Championship Round 1 Qualify: 1st Race: 1st - WINNER	Brands Hatch GP	2000 Lotus Sport Elise Championship
	9	Sun
	23	Sat	Autobytel Lotus Sport Elise Championship Round 2 Qualify: 1st Race: 1st - WINNER	Donington Park
	24	Sun
5 May	30	Sun	Autobytel Lotus Sport Elise Championship Round 3 Qualify: 5th Race: DNF ( Engine Expired )	Thruxton
	1	Mon
	20	Sat	Autobytel Lotus Sport Elise Championship Round 4 Qualify: 1st Race: 1st - WINNER	SPA Francorchamps
	21	Sun
	28	Sat	Autobytel Lotus Sport Elise Championship Round 5 Qualify: 1st Race: 2nd	Oulton Park
	29	Sun
6 Jun	10	Sat	Autobytel Lotus Sport Elise Championship Round 6 Qualify: 1st Race: 1st - WINNER	Silverstone Int.
	11	Sun
	24	Sat	Autobytel Lotus Sport Elise Championship Round 7 Qualify: 2nd Race: 1st - WINNER	Croft
	25	Sun
7 Jul	7	Sat	Autobytel Lotus Sport Elise Championship Round 8 Qualify: 5th Race: 2nd	Snetterton
	8	Sun
	29	Sat	Autobytel Lotus Sport Elise Championship Round 9 Qualify: 1st Race: 1st - WINNER	Donington Park
	30	Sun
8 Aug	12	Sat	Autobytel Lotus Sport Elise Championship Round 10 Qualify: 1st Race: 1st - WINNER	Nurburgring
	13	Sun
	27	Sat	Autobytel Lotus Sport Elise Championship Round 11 Qualify: 1st Race: 2nd	Brands Hatch
	28	Sun
9 Sep	15	Sat	Autobytel Lotus Sport Elise Championship Round 12 Qualify: 1st Race: 1st - WINNER	Silverstone Int.
	16	Sun
10 Oct	27	Sat	Autobytel Lotus Sport Elise Championship Round 13 Qualify: 4th Race: 1st - WINNER	Magny Cours
	28	Sun

Telephone: 01922 703000www.adamwilcox.com Facsimile: 01922 703002

A d a m W i l c o x M o t o r s p o r t, P l e c k R o a d, W a l s a l l, W e s t M i d l a n d s, W S 2 9 E X