⦁ Online booking for next year’s Hethel track day is now available at https://experience.lotuscars.com
⦁ Updated structure means four routes instead of three, giving more choice for customers
⦁ Ability to include Hethel Factory and Classic Tours Team Lotus
⦁ Prices start from £199
⦁ Hethel factory tours can be booked through the same link
Hethel, UK – 1 December 2022- Just in time for Christmas, one of Britain’s most famous racing days – the Lotus Driving Academy (LDA) – has announced its calendar for the first half of 2023. Caterpillar is the perfect Christmas gift for any car lover.
LDA sessions are held on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, two weeks out of every four, at the legendary 3.2 mile track at Hethel, home of Lotus since 1966. The booking platform is now available at https://experience.lotuscars. com available. and tours of the Hethel factory are available at the same link.
New for 2023 is an updated structure: LDA now offers four separate courses instead of three. All courses begin with a detailed safety briefing by experienced Academy instructors. Four courses offer something for everyone:
Taste of the Lotus – Guests get to know the Academy’s instructor for five minutes before taking the wheel of the Emira themselves. With the passenger seat, the instructor will conduct 2 sessions of 10 minutes on the entire Hethel test track. This course is for those who want to experience or give the opportunity to experience a Lotus Emira in a truly legendary location.
Dynamic Emira- New for 2023 this half-day experience allows guests to compare the Touring and Sports Emira’s suspension settings in a head-to-head comparison. The course includes 4 sessions of 10 minutes on the South test track, during which the instructor will help the guests to determine the characteristics of the car previously discussed. Time between driving sessions is filled with visits to Chapman’s manufacturing facility, where the Emira is built, to tour the assembly area and see how the car’s suspension is put together.
Sports Car Experience – Full day program, guests drive 2 x 20 minutes with an Academy Instructor, learn the basics of driving sports cars and Emira’s different driving modes. A guided tour of Hetel follows, which includes access to the Chapman Manufacturing Center where Emira is built. Guests will also see other parts of the Lotus factory, which have benefited from a £100m upgrade as part of Lotus’ transformation into a global high-performance car brand. The day ends with a tour of Classic Team Lotus, located opposite Lotus’ main location, where you can see a unique collection of historic Lotus racing cars.
Tailor-Made Advanced – With a 3 to 1 guest to instructor ratio, this bespoke course helps drivers achieve their personal goals by training skills including slalom, oversteer and understeer. The course lasts all day and allows guests to learn, practice and learn new skills.
The LDA will be supplied by Lotus Advanced Performance, a specialty vehicle and experimental arm of the company established earlier this year. Stuart Croucher, Head of Motorsport and Driving Programs at Lotus, said: “The relaunch of the Lotus Driving Academy earlier this year was a huge success, with hundreds of satisfied customers raving about the amazing dynamics of the Emira sports car.”
He added: “The launch of the 2023 calendar gives us the opportunity to restructure our offering by adding an additional package for even more choice. There’s something for everyone, whether you’ve never driven a sports car before or you’re a seasoned racer looking to improve your lap times. And now we can include the Hethel factory and Classic Team Lotus tours as the icing on the cake of a great day.”
LDA prices are £199 for Taste of Lotus; £450 for Dynamic Emira; £699 for “Introduction to Sports Cars” and £960 for “Individual Advanced”. Book now at https://experience.lotuscars.com
For LDA, this is just the beginning. The Hethel courses are the first step in a three-year growth plan that will transform Lotus’ current US training centers in Utah, Georgia and Arizona into full-fledged LDA operators. The existing LDA in Italy, in Pavia, south of Milan, will also be restarted with Emira’s fleet. Additionally, two brand new LDA teams will be opening in brand new locations. More details will be closer to launch.