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F1 just got a whole lot quieter, and some people are really unhappy about it

The scene is the front straight of the Albert Park Circuit at the Australian Formula One Grand Prix, and what you see on track on either side of the gentleman wearing the orange hat is a Mercedes AMG Petronas being followed by a Lotus. The first major clue, as should be obvious by the nose of the Mercedes, is that this scene was captured last year. The other major clue in the photo is the gentleman in the orange hat: he's wearing earmuffs to silence the noise. We count at least four people wearing them, and that's before the camera pans. Some F1 fans have been pleased with the sound of the new 1.6-liter V6 engines, but it appears that the majority are not; the organizers of the Australian Grand Prix are threatening to sue because of a "lack of sexiness," and F1 impresario Bernie Ecclestone has declared he was "horrified by the lack of [noise]." YouTube user krookzeh has posted a video comparing last year's 2.4-liter V8 cars on the first lap at Albert Park with the new turbo V6 cars on the first lap this year. You can compare the sounds and the number of earmuffs in the short clip below. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. News Source: ESPN F1 [1], [2], krookzeh via YouTube Motorsports Lotus Racing Vehicles Videos F1 australian grand prix

Lotus team out of Le Mans, full driver list published

We can scratch off one more car from the list for the 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Lotus T129 LMP1 car has been dropped from the entry list of the 82nd running of the historic race, with organizers citing "a lack of preparation" as the reason. On a more positive note, the list of 168 drivers in 56 vehicles has been officially published for the June 14 race.
Like the Lotus team currently in Formula One, the Lotus T129 uses the iconic British brand's name and colors but is actually built by a separate company. It previously ran a Lola chassis in the LMP2-class (pictured above). The Le Mans organizers claim the car will likely be on display during the 24-hour race, but it won't make it's competition debut until the World Endurance Championship round at the Circuit of the Americas in September. The T129 is being replaced by an Oreca 03 chassis with Nissan power in the LMP2 class, entered by Millennium Racing.
The Lotus' retirement came as the teams had to send in the names of the three drivers nominated to race each car. This year there are racers from 26 countries with the most coming from France (39), Britain (29), the US (17) and Italy (15). The latest tally of entries breaks down to 9 LMP1s, 19 LMP2s, 9 LM GTE Pros, 18 LM GTE Ams and the Nissan ZEOD RC as the experimental Garage 56 entry.

Last Lotus Elise delivered to the person it was named after

Lotus just made an announcement on its social media channels that the last customer-bound Elise has been built — we'll note that Lotus built the very last Elise for itself — and delivered to its final customer, Elisa Artioli. If you havenÂ’t heard of her before, itÂ’s time for a little Lotus history lesson. Back when the Elise came to fruition and was released in 1996, Romano Artioli was the companyÂ’s chairman. When it came time to finalize a name for the two-seat sports car, Romano looked to his granddaughter, Elisa, for inspiration.  For those who find full-circle stories satisfying, itÂ’s hard to get any better than this one. The Elise youÂ’re looking at here is the final customer-bound Elise in the world, and itÂ’s going to none other than the woman who the car is named after. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. As for the spec of the car itself, this is an Elise Sport 240, and itÂ’s painted in “Championship Gold.” The Sport 240 features a 1.8-liter supercharged four-cylinder thatÂ’s good for 240 horsepower and 181 pound-feet of torque. Weighing only 2,033 pounds, itÂ’s capable of a 4.1-second 0-60 mph sprint and has a top speed of 147 mph. What a lovely story! WeÂ’ve asked Lotus for more photos and additional information, and weÂ’ll update when we hear back.