Top Gear drives the Lotus Exige S
The Clermont-Ferrand GP circuit was famous for its gut-wrenching corners. Can the new Lotus Exige S take the strain?
Posted: 20 Jun 2012
You'll find the old circuit to the west of Clermont, marked on signposts as the D5F, or on the map as a complicated grey squiggle. It's almost exactly as it was in the old days, bar some white lines down the middle and a roundabout at one end. It kinks and writhes like a wild hosepipe. It's lined by tall trees and sharp cliffs. And the prehistoric stones are still here, raked up by tyres and scattered over the road. They shower the underside of the car, and, through the skeletal seats (heated, by the way), you can sense each piece ping against your bum. With no carpet to muffle the sound, the cabin's filled with a sort of white noise. It's like tailgating a gritter.