Sport Pack Premium Pack Technology Pack Star Shield on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Race Recap: 2013 Indian Grand Prix mostly calm with chances of Championships

The smog around the Buddh International Circuit got so bad over the weekend that the FIA had to change the practice sessions. Then the soft tires that Pirelli brought to be the options were found to degrade so quickly that teams had to change their qualifying and race strategies. The only man it didn't seem to affect was - guess who? - Sebastian Vettel, who put his Infiniti Red Bull Racing on pole position.
Behind him came Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes-AMG Petronas, Mark Webber in the second Infiniti Red Bull and on medium tires, Felipe Massa in the first Ferrari, Kimi Räikkönen in the first Lotus, Nico Hülkenberg in the first Sauber, Fernando Alonso in the second Ferrari, and the McLaren duo of Sergio Perez and Jenson Button. The tire strategizing didn't work out for Romain Grosjean in the second Lotus, who didn't get out of Q1 after only running the medium compound tire and lined up 17th.
The Indian Grand Prix has been held twice and Vettel has led every single lap of both races. If nothing else, we knew there would be at least one new thing about this Indian Grand Prix: there'd be a lap not led by Vettel since he qualified on softs and would have to pit before Webber and Alonso who were both on mediums.

Lotus is building 60 extra light, extra aerodynamic Exige Cup 380s

Lotus is never done adding lightness and once again turned its attention to the Exige. Like so many other special Lotuses, this one, called the Exige Cup 380, makes the same 375 horsepower from its supercharged 3.5-liter V6. However, the weight savings is a significant 117 pounds compared with the 2,447-pound Exige Sport 380. This savings comes from the inclusion of many carbon-fiber parts including a one-piece rear hatch, side intakes, hood, front splitter, side sills, and seats, among others. Lotus also removed the gas struts for the hatch to save 2.2 pounds. And if that's not enough, you can save another 2.2 pounds by choosing the optional HVAC and air vent surrounds, and 22 pounds with an optional exhaust system. The Exige Cup 380 also produces significantly more downforce than the Sport, 43-percent more to be exact. That results in maximum downforce of about 441 pounds at the Cup 380's top speed of 175 mph. The car achieves this thanks to a revised front bumper and splitter, vents above the front wheels, more vents behind the rear wheels, and a new rear wing. Even the windshield wiper rests in a vertical position to aid aerodynamics. The Cup 380 doesn't just benefit from better aerodynamics and less weight. The rear tires are wider than the Sport 380 at 285 mm. The Cup 380 also has two-way adjustable shocks and adjustable front and rear anti-roll bars. Even the stability control can be adjusted to the driver's needs. The car is stopped by four-piston brake calipers at all four corners, and a standard steel roll bar protects the driver. If owners wish, they can also add an FIA-certified full roll cage. Lotus will only build 60 of these Exiges, and they're only available in Europe. They're not cheap either. In the UK, buyers will spend GBP83,000 in the UK and ˆ109,900 in Europe. That means this Exige would cost between $106,000 and $118,000, at current exchange rates. Related Video:

Lotus suing former CEO Bahar over spending on homes, helicopters and watches

More details have come out about the legal suit and countersuit being contested between Lotus cars owner DRB-Hicom and former CEO of Lotus Dany Bahar. Bahar was brought in by Malaysian car company Proton in 2009 to turn Lotus around, and events during his tenure have made just about everyone wonder "What's going on?" That's not unusual - it can take a minute to figure things out when a new leader takes everything in a new direction - but in this case the clouds didn't clear quickly enough.
When the Malaysian government sold Proton to Malaysian auto supplier DRB-Hicom earlier this year, a forensic accounting team from Ernst & Young and The Rothschild Group started going over the books. Not long after, Bahar was suspended in June from his position and then fired. In his countersuit against DRB-Hicom, claims of lavish spending began to surface. Then the stories and leaks and rumors really began, the UK's Financial Mail reporting on more than one million pounds spent on private flights and home renovations, the New Zealand Herald talking about other executives sacked so that DRB could rearrange a 270-million-pound bank loan to Lotus, and rumors on forums about Bahar flying from his home in Norfolk to Hethel HQ and spending 30,000 pounds on motorsports books for his office.
In the latest Bloomberg report it is said that DRB-Hicom seeks 2.5 million pounds ($4 million US) from Bahar "for unauthorized expenses and overpaid salary and bonuses," including the purported expense of 3,000 pounds on watches for company managers. DRB-Hicom also says Bahar made damaging statements to the media, on top of breaching his contractual duties. Bahar's countersuit seeks $10.6 million from DRB-Hicom.