The Lotus Cup China one-make racing series arrived in Malaysia at the Petronas Sepang International Circuit last weekend, when the Sepang 1000KM endurance race was also held. The one-make racing series features the Lotus Emira.
While the Sepang round of Lotus Cup China 2025 is positioned as the season finale in this year’s calendar for the series, the Malaysian circuit will become the season-opener next when the Lotus Cup China series will boast of an extended calendar, featuring more than the five rounds of the just-concluded 2025 season. At present, the full list of dates and venues for the 2026 season are yet to be confirmed.
The running of Lotus Cup China is to re-assert that motorsport remains very much at the heart of Lotus, said
Lotus Cars Malaysia executive director Mohamed Reza Abdul Mutalib. The Emira is the last remaining internal-combustion-engined, two-door sports car in the present-day Lotus road car line-up, alongside the Eletre and Emeya which are battery-electric vehicles.
The Lotus Emira Cup begins life as the Emira i4 that is the basis of the race car for the Lotus Cup China one-make series, and as its model name indicates, its powertrain is the M139 2.0 litre turbocharged unit from Mercedes-AMG, and like the road car, the race car uses an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission sending drive to the rear wheels.
The race car gets a different exhaust system to that of the road car but powertrain is otherwise unchanged, according to a Lotus Cup China representative. Acceleration on the 0-100 km/h benchmark claimed to be under four seconds, and kerb weight is 1,350 kg for the race-prepared Emira Cup.
Chassis equipment include modified AST 5100 coilover units adjustable for ride height as well as compression and rebound damping, while front and rear control arms are adjustable units, and are fitted with spherical bearings.
Rolling stock is a set of 18-inch forged alloy wheels, shod in Vitour Tempesta P1 tyres measuring 255/35ZR18 in front and 315/30ZR18 at the rear. Braking hardware is by AP Racing, with J-hook discs in front and slotted discs at the rear. According to the Lotus Cup China rep, ABS is carried over from the road car, and the setup does without driver-controllable brake bias adjustment.
As a one-make series aimed at amateur racers and those making their start in sports car racing, the Emira Cup is sparing altered from the road car, besides requisite safety equipment for this racing application. Safety kit in the Emira Cup includes an FIA-certified roll cage, racing bucket seat and six-point harness, and a semi-automatic fire suppression system.
The steering wheel is by AiM, incorporating a data display unit, which is the sole display for the driver in the Emira Cup. The road car’s instrument display and infotainment unit which remain physically present in the race car have been disabled, according to Lotus.
The transmission selector continues to be in place, albeit in a re-fabricated housing instead of the road car’s centre console. The radio and datalogger units are located behind the driver, on what would be the passenger side of the vehicle.
In addition to the 2026 season of Lotus Cup China, the British marque is aiming to enter the Emira Cup in further race series where the race car could be eligible, possibly including entries in the Thailand Super Series (TSS) next year, said Mohamed Reza.
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