LoTRDC, official organiser of Lotus Cup Europe on behalf of Group Lotus have released the series’ 2010 calendar. As with 2009, Lotus Cup Europe will visit seven circuits in five countries and is expected to expand on what was the most successful season for the series to date. With grids tripling in size over the previous year and no longer reliant on other cars to support the field, 2009 was a fantastic year for what was the manufacturer’s only official race series.

In addition to headlining meetings, the series will be supporting some of the biggest sports car events in Europe. The biggest coup of all is an appearance on the bill of the FIA Truck Grand Prix at Zolder.

An invitation class has been added for cars outside of the existing group structure and is aimed at modified Elises and Exiges, the Elise S and 340R. The main classes are:• Production: For series 1 and 2 Elises and NA Exiges• 211 Class: For standard and slightly modified 2-Eleven cars.• Exige Cup Class: For Exige S2 Cup cars and S2 Exige variants• Invitation: For Elise S, modified Elises, 340R and other cars not fitting in the main 3 classes.

In addition to this there will be an increase in track time, which will see the second race of the weekend increase by 10 minutes to 30 minutes while there will also be 20 minutes free practice at each of the seven rounds.

Full 2010 Lotus Cup Europe calendar

• 30 April & 1 May - Nürburgring GP (Germany)• 12-13 June – Snetterton Lotus Festival (UK)• 10-11 July – Magny Cours (France)• 31 July - 1 August – Brands Hatch GP (UK)• 11-12 September – Zolder (Belgium)• 1-3 October - Spa Francorchamps (Belgium)• 23-24 October – Assen (Netherlands)