Thus Lotus decided that in order to remain competitive in the GT1 class, it would be required to follow the route set forth by Porsche and Mercedes-Benz.

However, the company management was aware that they lacked the resources available that Porsche and Mercedes had to create not only the race cars but also the street legal variants.

Therefore at a guaranteed loss of money for the company, Lotus decided to take an alternate route- making a single road version of their new race car.

The last 2 races of the GT championship at Sebring and Laguna Seca the factory lotus used a 2 valve Nascar engine with steel block which gave more power and was much more reliable.

[2] Debuting at Hockenheim, on 13 April (first round of the 1997 FIA GT Championship season), the three factory Elise GT1s and the privateer GBF car took to the grid.

For race two (Silverstone, 11 May), privateer GBF UK received their second car (an untested chassis bearing number 06 driven by Andrea Boldrini and Mauro Martini).

The teams did not attempt the Suzuka round and again could only earn 12th place at Donington and 11th at Mugello when the series returned to Europe.

Following the 1997 season, Lotus and its parent company, Proton, decided that the GT1 was not only lacking in pace in comparison to Porsche, Mercedes-Benz and the older McLarens, but that it was also extremely expensive.

The Chevrolet V8 was not a custom built race engine like its competitors, leaving it lacking in top speed while the Lotus twin-turbocharged V8 was faring even worse.

Because Lotus planned on continuing to compete in FIA GT Championship, they decided to build a new race car for the 1997 season, due to Esprit GT1 not being powerful enough to compete with other GT1 race cars like Porsche 911 GT1, Mercedes CLK GTR and McLaren F1.

Through interpretation of the rules for FIA GT, Lotus realized they would only need to build a single production car in order to meet homologation requirements.

A new carbon fibre/ kevlar body that resembled the Elise was built, featuring a much longer length and a bigger width in order to increase the car's aerodynamic capabilities.

The road version of the GT1 was fitted with a water-cooled 3.5 L 4-stroke Lotus Type 918 Garrett twin-turbocharged V8 engine with a power output of 550 PS (542 HP) at 6,500 RPM, attached to the Renault 5-speed manual transmission.

The car was also fitted with a double wishbone suspension on both front and rear and an aluminum roll cage that was bolted down to the chassis.

According to some sources it's still owned by Lotus and stored in a warehouse in England, but some say it could have ended up in the hands of a private collector in the Netherlands.

Date of homologation: April 1, 1997 End of homologation: December 31, 2004[5] Former factory driver Mike Hezemans of the Netherlands, feeling that the Elise GT1's main faults were in its power and aerodynamics, decided that the car should not be abandoned and convinced his father Toine Hezemans to provide financial help in his project.

The original Hewland gearbox would be replaced with a unit from Gemini Transmission but after failing to even get past initial practice at the next race at Hockenheimring, the project was cancelled.

The car has been restored to its original 1998 specification by NASCAR Whelen Euro Series team Hendriks Motorsport and was shaken down in January 2021 at TT Circuit Assen by Toine's son Loris Hezemans.