It seems appropriate that on the day Elliot Moss, Stirling’s son, drives a Lotus 18 for the first time, courtesy of Classic Team Lotus, Stirling was winning the 1960 Monaco Grand Prix, the first Formula 1 win for Lotus, exactly 50 years ago. This was also the first time Elliot had ever driven a single seater let alone a race car on a race track, so the timing and type of car driven was very fitting.

The reason for Elliot driving is to demonstrate the Lotus 18 at the Classic Team Lotus Festival on 20th June 2010 at the Snetterton Race Circuit, along with 33 Formula 1 cars from the Lotus’s Formula 1 history. The festival will also feature the newest Lotus Formula 1 ca, the T127, and its drivers Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli.

As Stirling is still recovering from the injuries he sustained from his accident back in March, Elliot will drive the Lotus 18 in a demonstration run, alongside other Lotus Formula 1 cars around the Snetterton track. Stirling’s son did not follow his fathers professional career path, he is a trained chef and now run’s the family’s property business with his wife Helen, who was present at Hethel to witness a little bit of Lotus and Moss history being made.

Although Elliot grew up around the race track and race cars this was the first time he had ever driven a race car himself. Following familiarization of the Hethel test circuit in an Elise, he progressed to the Lotus 18. Clive Chapman, Colin Chapman’s son, who runs Classic Team Lotus, advised Elliot that he would stall a few times, which he did only twice, once he had adjusted to the racing clutch and the H pattern gearbox with first gear on the top right hand side, he pulled away cleanly on each of his subsequent runs building confidence and speed every time.

Watching him out on track you could see the familiar driving position that his father adopted and watching the video on playback a smooth driving style is evident, that also echoes his father. He enjoyed this first outing at Hethel, commenting that “I was surprised at how light the steering was” and for a “50 year car, it was surprisingly very quick” even though it was a 1100cc Formula Junior car with somewhere around 200bhp.

By his own admission, Elliot’s demonstration will be just that, a measured run around the Snetterton circuit, as his experience is limited. The 20th June will be the first public appearance of a second generation Moss driving a Lotus 18.

For more information on the Classic Team Lotus Festival, which promises a full weekend of racing, family attractions, live demonstrations of historic Lotus Formula 1 cars and the presence of the Lotus F1 Racing team, and to purchase tickets please go to www.lotus-festival.com