Lotus is preparing for the Geneva debut of its latest Lotus Evora GTE with Formula 1 Champion Kimi Raikkonen in tow.

While specs and information on the new Team Lotus F1 inspired sports car are limited, the Evora GTE concept revealed last year is already a winner in the looks department. Last year, our editor-in-chief Colum Wood got to experience the Evora GTE first hand when it unveiled at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and said the “Lotus Evora GTE Road Car concept makes the Porsche GT3 look like a chick car.”

A blend between a standard Evora and the GTE-class racing cars, the road-going Evora GTE not only produces 420-hp, but also dropped some 165 pounds from the standard model. Now with the new F1 tie-in, we should expect unique racing livery and extra hardware to deliver a more focused driving experience.

Look out for its official debut on March 6th at the Geneva Motor Show.

GALLERY: Lotus Evora GTE

Knowing that the 444-hp Lotus Evora GTE will be making its way to America makes us giddy. So naturally, when we saw more photos of the most powerful Lotus ever made, we had to share them with the rest of the world.

Up until now, we’ve basically been treated to seeing the Evora GTE under the typical auto show floor lighting. Now we get to see the retina-burning, bright yellow in its natural environment with its 3.5L V6 powerplant ready to rock. These photos really show off what the Evora GTE’s all about, the overall wider vehicle sporting plenty of carbon fiber throughout.

The GTE weighs in slightly over 230-lbs lighter than the standard Evora model and features Lotus’s Automated Manual Transmission (AMT) racing gearbox. Forged center-lock wheels adorn each corner of the street-legal racer, while the inside packs lightweight carbon fiber Recaro seats.

Now we’ll just anxiously await to hear its price tag.

GALLERY: Lotus Evora GTE

The Evora GTE is the most powerful Lotus to date, making 444 horsepower with a 3.5-liter v6, but track-bred performance isn’t quite enough to make it pop.

Instead Lotus signed a deal with rapper/producer Swizz Beatz to collaborate on a special line of cars that have hiphop swag. This isn’t the first time an automaker resorted to the rap community for extra buzz, as Funkmaster Flex and Ford had a tie-up earlier in the decade.

Lotus chose the Alvin Ailey’s Opening Night Gala to show off their chrome-adorned special edition Evora GTE. Aside from serous horsepower, the car gets an automated manual transmission and carbon fiber throughout the body, good for shaving off anther 231 pounds.