In today’s fast moving world, it can be necessary to deliver products and services at very short notice indeed. But it’s also essential that quick turnarounds do not mean a lowering in standards, especially when you are dealing with a globally recognised brand such as Lotus.
Established over twenty years ago, Signtek is one of South East England’s most trusted and innovative suppliers of signage, print and vehicle livery. Signtek was contacted by the team from Lotus Sport at 5.15pm on a Wednesday evening to ask if it was possible to wrap a Lotus Evora in time for a race in the British GT Championship on the Friday.
The challenge involved the team at Signtek recreating from scratch the artwork using photos for reference and producing the specialist vinyl needed to wrap the car. They also had to strip the car of its existing livery, featuring the previous season’s design and clean it before applying the new wrap - all within a 36-hour period.
Quality was paramount, there was no margin for error - the end result had to reflect Lotus’s standing as a high profile team in the GT Championship.
The pressure was on, Lotus Sport needed the project completed on time in order to transport the car to the word famous Nürburgring in Germany in time for the qualification session.
The wrap for the Lotus Evora was to be produced using Orafol vinyl film, a high impact graphics solution, available exclusively from Robert Horne Group, which offers exceptional rendering, durability and ease of use.
“Talk about pressure! We got on the phone to the guys at Robert Horne and they pulled out all the stops to ensure the specialist vinyl we needed was with us at 7am the next morning,” says Chris Manlow, Company Director, Signtek.
The team from Signtek worked round the clock until 3.00am on the Friday morning, during which time they produced the graphics to the specification of Lotus, stripped off the old livery and wrapped the vehicle in a black and gold finish utilising the Orafol vinyl which arrived as promised.
Thanks to Robert Horne Group’s fast and efficient service, the Orafol vinyl needed to wrap the Lotus Evora was supplied overnight. The vinyl performed perfectly and Signtek’s trained and experienced vehicle wrappers were able to get the job finished by 5am on the Friday morning.
Signtek is committed to pulling out all of the stops to deliver projects on time even when the deadline is tight, with no compromise on quality. After a full 20 hour shift, the Evora was ready to be transported to the Nürburgring, where it qualified in the fastest time and came third overall in that race of the British GT.
“Not only does Orafol vinyl give great end results, it is easy to use and cost-effective for us to install. The first class product, coupled with outstanding service from Robert Horne, ensured that we delivered the project on time with no compromise on quality,” says Manlow.
This was the first time that Lotus had approached Signtek and they were delighted with the result (both of the wrap and the car’s performance). Signtek has since completed a second wrap for Lotus and has been asked to wrap another race car imminently.
