Lotus unveils car for F1 return
Date published : 12 Feb 2010 - 17:24:02
The new Lotus team revealed the car that it will run in 2010 in London on Friday afternoon, as the squad officially marked the return of the historic marque to Formula 1 after a 16-year absence.The revival of the Lotus name is being backed by airline boss Tony Fernandes and a consortium of Malaysian entrepreneurs and the launch of its new T127 car was made in front of a huge crowd of guests at the Royal Horticultural Hall, which included legendary British F1 figures such as Frank Williams, Stirling Moss and Nigel Mansell.Decked out in the legendary green and yellow livery that became synonymous with Lotus when the original Colin Chapman-founded team first enjoyed success in the 1960s, the T127 has been designed by Mike Gascoyne and his team of designers at the squad's new headquarters in Norfolk.Friday's unveiling was exactly five months on from when the Malaysian-backed entry had its position on the 2010 grid confirmed, with the new team having faced a race against time to both develop its first car and build up its workforce. Having started on that journey with just four employees on its books, team boss Fernandes admitted he was hugely proud of the team's efforts in getting its 2010 challenger ready so quickly and, while acknowledging it faces even more challenges in the weeks and months ahead, he believes it can continue to surpass expectations. I am extremely proud to be here today and to be able to show the world the fruits of the team's hard work over the last five months," he said of the team which now has a headcount of 120. "It's humbling for me and my fellow shareholders, Kamarudin Meranun and SM Nasarudin to see how a team that five months ago didn't even exist is now a thriving workforce, full of enthusiasm and passion for Lotus Racing and the challenges ahead and capable of producing such a beautiful machine in such a short time.¨Now we've achieved two major milestones; confirming our entry and unveiling our car, but now the real work starts. "Next we move on to testing and the season ahead and I'm confident that the team will exceed expectations wherever we go, and will do so on a wave of support around the world that has been growing daily since we first unleashed Lotus Racing back in September '09.Former Force India and Toyota technical chief Gascoyne has previously said that, given the limited timeframe in which the team has had to design and build the car, his main priority has been to develop a machine that was above all solid from an engineering perspective.Naturally the T127 therefore appears to be a relatively conventional design, with the now standard high nose not as swooping as some of those seen on some of the cars developed by F1's more established teams.F1 race winners Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen have signed to race for the team in 2010, with Gascoyne having already set his sights on quickly establishing Lotus as the best of the grid's four new entrants.Malaysian test driver Fairuz Fauzy conducted a behind-closed-doors shakedown on the Cosworth-powered T127 at Silverstone on Tuesday ahead of the team's expected group testing bow in Jerez next week.
