2 hours of exclusive track time on Mount Panorama Bathurst
"My thanks to all at Lotus Cars Australia for a wonderful day at Mount Panorama today. In addition to great weather we had one of the most professionally run and friendly events that I’ve ever experienced.
Add in 2 hours (Bathurst 1000 co-driver territory) at one of the worlds greatest circuits, with the backup of the Lotus Cars Australia on track team, and you guys are making legends.
The Lotus brand is “For The Drivers” and you emphatically lived up to that today.
Thank you."
2021 will be one of the rare times that any type of vehicle gets track time on Mount Panorama. Lotus Cars Australia were able to secure an exclusive day for owners with up to 2 hours of track time spread through the day on this famous racing circuit.
There are not any street circuits that you can have exclusively for the day to have track time on, let alone driving on Mount Panorama with no speed limits on a fully closed track that was used on the weekend by Supercars to kick off their 2021 season.
With 111 official entries it became a fitting number for 2021 as we see the end of production for the Type 111 Lotus Elise sports car platform. Just 80 build slots have been allocated to Australia for the Final Edition Elise and Exige with 14 of them already taken up (more info here) and this track day event saw a great mix of new and old sports cars from Series 1 Elise through to the latest Exige Sport 410 and Evora GT430 taking to the track.
“One of the best track days I’ve done. Was first LOTD for me also, seemed like a good introduction.”
David
“As for the day itself, I would like to echo the thanks to Mark, Lee, Richard and all the Lotus team. Every year I pinch myself to remind me not to take such a wonderful track day experience for granted. Just brilliant. And as always, thanks to all the other participants for being all-round decent people.”
Michael
“Echoing the praise for Lee, Mark and the Lotus crew. Always a blast to got around Mount Paranoia.”
Tim
“Once again, Lotus put on a world class track day – including the weather! Great friendly company, track, and organisation…truly an event that I’ll remember for a loooong time!!
Thanks again to all involved with the day”
Trev
“Absolutely fabulous day !!! HUGE thanks to the Lotus Team”
Rob
“Massive thank you to the Lotus Australia guys for everything – organizing the flights and transport from Melbourne, the dinner and obviously the track day itself.
I actually feel like I should have paid more for the privilege of being first out every session and seeing an empty track in front of me!
My car continues to get better every time I drive it – super happy with all the development that we’ve done over the last few years – its amazing how much nicer it was to drive this week compared to my first visit in it to the mountain a few years back.”
Andrew
How we make it possible to drive your car on Mount Panorama Bathurst
As with all the Lotus Car Australia track day events there was a mixture of experienced and new drivers who were broken up into differeent groups to keep the speeds as similar as possible and make sure everyone could get lots of track time at a similar pace. There was a mix of regular road registered vehicles and a dedicated track cars thrown into the mix including Simon, Robert & Steve who were fresh from sweeping the podium in GT Sports Trophy at Targa High Country.
We had groups coming from Queensland and Victoria with assistance provided for transport logistics, accomodation, registration etc and their cars checked before they hit the track. Check out Mark’s smiling face as he watches one of the rare Series 1 carbon bodied Exige two door sports cars get loaded onto the CEVA transport truck.
Mount Panorama Lap Times
The competition was pretty intense at the pointy end of the Sprint Groups which saw the top 5 places taken by cars we’ve recently built with our newly developed Motec Engine Management upgrade. Andrew led the way with a 2.24.53 in front of Justin and Dion all driving Lotus Exige V6 sports cars.
Dinner on Mount Panorama Pit Lane at Bathurst
The event was kicked off by our traditional per-event dinner and back by popular demand was the choice was the pit lane tarmac of Mount Panorama that was converted from ‘hot’ race track to entertainment area in quick time before dinner was served and the sun set.
Lee & Mark shared some tales from their trips to the Mountain followed by a few insider secrets from the Mighty Mods crew who were about to take their modified Exige onto the circuit for the first time the following day.
Track day with best mates
It was another case of our track days being just as much about getting together with mates as it is enjoying your car on the track.
We had lots of couples and best mates come along to the event to enjoy a sense of community amongst driving enthusiasts.
We enjoy creating a very relaxed, inclusive community feeling amongst our group of sports car owners.
Grant Denyer returns to the race track
Fresh from his stint on ‘I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here’ and welcoming his newborn baby into the world, Grant was able to find a bit of time to take a few people for some hot laps in the ex APC Production Car he drove with Tony D’Alberto a few years ago.
This is another one of our custom spec Lotus Exige track car builds that not only took out the series but regularly saw top 3 positions during the championship a couple of years ago.
Lotus Track Day Mount Panorama 2021 photo gallery
High resolution photos are available for purchase from SD Pics here
The Drive Track Day group is perfectly suited for beginners who are doing their first track day so you can experience one of the worlds greatest race tracks without the pressures of being timed. There is no safer opportunity to do so than in this track day group where you have access to professional driving instructors who will be providing out of car tuition and tips to help increase your confidence when you go out on track. You will get expert guidance and advice about the dynamics and balance of your Lotus, correct driving lines, braking points and more. You’re guaranteed to go home a better driver.
For the faster or more experienced drivers we will have two Sprint Track Day groups which receive full timing during the day. For those who are a little more competitive or would like to test themselves against the clock all drivers are sorted into a fastest to slowest running order to ensure you get to make the most of your time on Australia’s best racing circuit.
All drivers in the Sprint Track Day groups will receive a timing transmitter so that lap times can be accurately recorded during your 6 sessions of 20 minutes each.
No, you don’t have to have a specific racing license but you will be required to have a Motorsport Australia L2S License which can be purchased online form their website
Yes, we use the full Mount Panorama Racing Circuit just like you see on TV where Australia’s best racing drivers have been before. This is not a hill climb event that uses just a section, the complete track will be closed.
No, this is a track day for road registered Lotus sports cars. There may be a couple of Lotus racing cars but these will be put into different groups to ensure driver speed and experience is not mixed between drivers.
This is not a competitive racing event and all cars will be spaced out on the track as best as possible to ensure it is safe.
This is not a speed limited track day so you can go as fast as you are comfortable driving.
A Lotus Exige sports car will reach over 250km/h down Mountain Straight and we will try and group drivers into relevant groups based on experience and our knowledge of their previously demonstrated driving performance on a race track.
This is not a competitive racing event and all cars will be spaced out on the track as best as possible to ensure it is safe.
No, passengers are not allowed to be taken on the track.
If this is your very first track day we would probably recommend doing a few days prior to this one before attempting to drive on Mount Panorama. This race track is one of the fastest in the world and is essentially a road lined with concrete walls. Unlike other race tracks in Australia there is very little run off.
So while it is possible for a beginner to attempt this track day we would suggest getting some prior experience first to ensure you are comfortable and confident.
