Lotus F1 Racing

**the83man** Mon Dec 14, 2009 12:24 pm

Lotus F1 Racing has today confirmed that Italy's Jarno Trulli, Finland's Heikki Kovalainen and Malaysia's Fairuz Fauzy have joined the team to spearhead driving duties for its debut Formula 1 season in 2010.
There has been much speculation surrounding the identity of Lotus F1 Racing's driver signings in recent weeks, but the appointment of Jarno, Heikki and Fairuz was made formal in an official announcement by Malaysian Prime Minister Dato' Sri Najib Tun Razak in Kuala Lumpur this afternoon, at which Jarno, Heikki and Fairuz were also present.

35-year-old Trulli is one of the most experienced, consistent racers in Formula 1 and unquestionably still one of the fastest men over a single lap. He is one of just a select few drivers to have tasted victory in Formula 1, and that at the jewel in the crown of Formula 1 racing, the Monaco Grand Prix. He has also finished in the top ten of the drivers' Championship table on seven occasions.

Heikki's F1 career began in 2006 when he made his debut as a test driver. His appointment to the Lotus F1 Racing team will see the 28 year old Finn starting his fourth season in the Formula 1 World Championship and he brings with him a race winning reputation, confirmed by his first victory in Hungary in 2008, and a wealth of experience that will make a potent combination with fellow race driver Jarno Trulli and Fairuz Fauzy.

27-year-old Fauzy joins the team having previously held a Formula 1 testing role for the Spyker squad back in 2007. Since then he has driven in the F1 feeder series GP2, the World Series by Renault, as well as being named as lead driver for Malaysia's involvement in the A1GP Championship.
It is a reflection of the determination and status of Lotus F1 Racing to return to Formula 1 that they have hired two race winning drivers for the debut season.

**TimS** Mon Dec 14, 2009 12:39 pm

Thanks for the up-date LDC Press Man ! Sounds like they have secured two really good drivers, lets hope they manage to get them off to a good start, their experience will pay dividends I'm sure.
What about the colour scheme and livery of the new car, has it been announced yet?
Tim.

**Trigger** Mon Dec 14, 2009 12:39 pm

As good a line up as I could have wished for, very happy! I foresee Trulli and Kovalainen making it a good first year for the team.

**the83man** Mon Dec 14, 2009 2:04 pm

TimS wrote:Thanks for the up-date LDC Press Man ! Sounds like they have secured two really good drivers, lets hope they manage to get them off to a good start, their experience will pay dividends I'm sure.
What about the colour scheme and livery of the new car, has it been announced yet?
Tim.

No, but a new logo has appeared that might give a clue. You can see it on the home page now at http://www.lotusf1racing.my/

They had this to say about the logo......

THE LOGO
The new Lotus F1 Racing logo has been developed to represent the teams future and heritage. We have designed a typeface which is progressive and bold, yet instantly fitting with the teams long and successful history. Taking clues from the iconic Jim Clarke Type 49 the new 'DNA' device uses the Lotus colours in a recognizable form which is extremely flexible and will become a key element of the new team brand.

The only listed partners are currently Bridgestone although Proton are obviously in there as well

**Trigger** Thu Jan 14, 2010 10:46 pm

Less than a month to look forward to this Very Happy

PRESS RELEASE wrote:Team Principal Tony Fernandes today confirmed that the Lotus F1 Racing car will be officially launched on 12th February 2010. The location of the launch will be revealed soon, but for the time being F1 fans around the world will be pencilling in 12th February as the first time they will see the team's 2010 challenger, the first Lotus F1 car unveiled since 1994.

**Trigger** Fri Jan 29, 2010 4:17 pm

F1 driver Heikki Kovalainen visits the home of Lotus Cars to meet the Lotus family and choose the scheme for his personalised Lotus Evora.

Lotus F1 Racing Clip_image001

It was a real thrill for the Lotus workforce to see Lotus F1 Racing Driver Heikki as he was given a personal tour of the production facilities yesterday, and even more exciting for those few employees who got a rare chance to be driven by the F1 star as he tested the Lotus Evora on Lotus’ own test track for the first time.

During his day with Lotus Cars Heikki was given a special tour of the Classic Team Lotus workshops by Clive Chapman, son of Lotus founder Colin Chapman during which he chatted to Clive and Engineer Bob Dance about their first hand experience of some of the most successful and iconic F1 racing cars of all time. The tour was steeped in Lotus history and included some of the F1 cars that helped Lotus to achieve 79 GP wins, seven constructor’s titles and 6 drivers’ championships, including Emerson Fittipaldi’s Type 72.

Dany Bahar, CEO of Group Lotus plc said, “Group Lotus is very proud of its racing pedigree and we are all very excited to share our story with Heikki. It was our honour to welcome Heikki to Group Lotus and we wish him and the Lotus F1 Racing team every success for the 2010 F1 season.”

Dany Bahar continued, “We take great pride in the sports cars that we produce at Hethel and Heikki’s visit provided a great opportunity to show off the multi-award winning cars that we produce and the advanced niche production facilities at Hethel.”

Heikki was not on Lotus soil long before he was behind the wheel of the Lotus Evora trying it on for size on Lotus’ own test track and commented “The Evora was everything I expected, Lotus is famous for fantastic sports cars and the Evora did not disappoint. The power to weight ratio gives the car a real racecar feel and allowed me to really push the car round the track. I enjoyed every lap and had fun sliding it sideways!”

He went on to say, “The day has been great, I was really excited to see so many happy, motivated people and the support of the Lotus workforce is very much appreciated, I really got a sense of the passion the people have for the Lotus brand.”

Heikki concluded, “I’d really like to thank every one at Lotus for a great day, it was an honour to meet Clive Chapman and learn more abut his legendary father and to see Lotus’ classic F1 cars. I’m really keen to drive one of the JPS cars and maybe will be at Lotus again sometime soon to drive the Type 72!”

**TimS** Fri Jan 29, 2010 5:19 pm

Well thats more like it..Heikki saying all the things we like about Lotus..very well said -great to hear someone so positive - and wouldn't it be good to see him in a JPS 72 -(I believe the 72 is one of Clive Chapman's favourite's) so a good chance it will happen.

**CAM** Fri Jan 29, 2010 10:32 pm

If he is busy, I would love to have a quick circuit or two in a type 72. Put my name down.....please.

Chris Mayhew

**the83man** Sun Jan 31, 2010 2:41 pm

Lotus Racing has confirmed that the long awaited launch of the 2010 Lotus Racing Formula 1 car will take place on the 12th of February in central London.
The Royal Horticultural Hall has been selected by the team as the perfect venue to unveil one of the sporting world's most eagerly anticipated new challengers, and an audience of 400 guests, including all staff of the newly formed team, will be the first to see the livery of the new Lotus Racing car.

**CAM** Mon Feb 01, 2010 10:44 pm

Hello Mike,
Glad to see you are up and around again!! Well at least your computer finger.
Regards
CAM

**Trigger** Tue Feb 09, 2010 9:01 pm

If you want to see a spy shot of the new Lotus F1 car then Autosport have been spying once again! Here is the link: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/81365 ...

**the83man** Tue Feb 09, 2010 11:49 pm

Well spotted. I came here to post the link and you beat me to it.

Friday id the oficial launch so it will be interesting to see if it's still green and yellow then......

**Trigger** Wed Feb 10, 2010 12:09 am

the83man wrote:Well spotted. I came here to post the link and you beat me to it.

Friday id the oficial launch so it will be interesting to see if it's still green and yellow then......

Been keeping a look out on the web all week but kinda feel bad spoiling their big launch ... but if only i was invited Laughing

I think the car will look good in green and yellow ... different from the rest of the pack and sure to gain many followers from the UK and Malay alike. I used to scream at the tv just following Ferrari ... this year I really can't wait!!!

**TimS** Wed Feb 10, 2010 12:12 am

Trigger wrote:
the83man wrote:Well spotted. I came here to post the link and you beat me to it.
Friday id the oficial launch so it will be interesting to see if it's still green and yellow then......
Been keeping a look out on the web all week but kinda feel bad spoiling their big launch ... but if only i was invited
I think the car will look good in green and yellow ... different from the rest of the pack and sure to gain many followers from the UK and Malay alike. I used to scream at the tv just following Ferrari ... this year I really can't wait!!!

I think it looks great in green & yellow - I hope it stays like this...I'm sure Colin would be pleased!

**Mattwatts** Wed Feb 10, 2010 8:40 pm

TimS wrote:I'm sure Colin would be pleased!

I think he would be spinning in his grave !

They have as much to do with the Old Team Lotus as my neigbours dog and they are not even staying in the UK Sad

The silly thing is I will still be routing for them ... that's brand loyalty err ?

**Trigger** Thu Feb 11, 2010 1:53 am

Mattwatts wrote:
TimS wrote:I'm sure Colin would be pleased!
I think he would be spinning in his grave !
They have as much to do with the Old Team Lotus as my neigbours dog and they are not even staying in the UK
The silly thing is I will still be routing for them ... that's brand loyalty err ?

It certainly is loyalty but at the end of the day the company never could survive to be run by a small business in England alone and I'm sure it is a proud time to see Lotus themselves doing well and the Lotus F1 name all be it back in the top motorsport game. It is credit to Proton and Lotus that they are in fact still producing the cars from its home Country. Having the Lotus name on an F1 car in 2010 is just as rewarding as it could ever have been ...

**the83man** Thu Feb 11, 2010 2:06 pm

Matt, Im not sure that your are right. Clearly this is NOT Team Lotus, and it never could be, but with Malaysia and Proton now behind the team the factory is now supporing them; up to a point.

As it happens I was able to chat with Clive Chapman at a do in London last evening and we dicussed whether the Team Lotus F1 results should be tacked onto the existing Team Lotus records. He's not sure but he didn't say it shouldn't happen. I don't think it had been discussed before and it came up because one of the journos said that was what was currently happening on their web site (ESPN), i.e they had listed 'Lotus' for 2010 entries and their database had automatically made the connection.......

I suspect that everyone will be pragmatic about the decision and it will probably be results led, don't you think?

Anyway, one thing is for sure, all us Lotus fans have a clear focus for the 2010 season. Let's just enjoy and stop picking holes.

**Mattwatts** Thu Feb 11, 2010 2:59 pm

the83man wrote:I suspect that everyone will be pragmatic about the decision and it will probably be results led, don't you think?

I agree, but the "spinning in his grave" quote came directly from friends of mine who new Colin well and for the reasons I stated . Clive Chapman has said "I would rather my father's achievements stand alone" but that he would still be "cheering them on".

I would like a british driver in a british team to win and neither is true in Lotus

I will be routing for both Lotus and Mclaren this year

Matt

**GrumpyBodger** Mon Feb 15, 2010 6:28 pm

Well for what it's worth I think ol' Chunky will be enjoying every bit of this; all of this free publicity for Lotus with very little involvement.
If I remember correctly it was yet another 1st for Lotus when they discarded the National Racing colour (Green) in favour of the Players Gold Leaf colours who paid him a nice lump of Money for doing so.
No I don't think he would worry much about what colour the cars are, so long that the money keeps coming in.
I hope they have a Bucket of "Glee" where he is, so that he can rub his hands in it Lotus F1 Racing Icon_lol

Yours, as always, cynically Grumpy Lotus F1 Racing Icon_lol

**Trigger** Wed Feb 17, 2010 1:33 pm

Fairuz has just finished his first run ...

Lotus F1 Racing X2_b1f192

**bebee** Wed Feb 17, 2010 3:28 pm

Hi, I'm new to the site and have just joined the club.

I'm very much looking foward to the start of the F1 season, and seeing what Lotus F1 can do.
I know Lotus F1 has nothing to do with past Team Lotus but I wonder how much 'association' will be placed on the 'new Lotus F1' if they start winning, or indeed how much distance placed if they fail?

Season points or no points, for me it's great to see the name on the grid again!

**Trigger** Wed Feb 17, 2010 3:36 pm

bebee wrote:Hi, I'm new to the site and have just joined the club.

I'm very much looking foward to the start of the F1 season, and seeing what Lotus F1 can do.
I know Lotus F1 has nothing to do with past Team Lotus but I wonder how much 'association' will be placed on the 'new Lotus F1' if they start winning, or indeed how much distance placed if they fail?

Season points or no points, for me it's great to see the name on the grid again!

Hello and welcome to the Lotus Drivers Club and Forum Very Happy

I am also counting down the days until im glued to the tv at weekends again.

CJ

**the83man** Wed Feb 17, 2010 6:52 pm

Lotus Racing have now finished their first day of testing at Jerez. They had an excellent first day with Fairuz Fauzy in the car for its shakedown outing. Please see below, courtesy of Autosport a distillation of this very successful first day.

08:04	First lap completed
08:22	Second run, 1:46.652
08:55	“Fairuz just did a couple of laps on a wet track with no problems, he's in now for some adjustments.” Lotus are happy. 4 Laps now completed
	Stoppage (Hamilton’s car stopped on circuit)
09:36	Back on track
09:48	Fairuz posts a 1:39.8
10:02	The Lotus has now completed 16 Laps
11:12	The Lotus has now completed 35 Laps
11:21	Fairuz posts a 1:34.4
11:58	46 laps completed
12:42	Longest single run of the day so far by Fairuz Fauzy, 8 laps;
	Lunch break, session stopped
13:13	Fairuz improves his best time by some three seconds (1:31. and puts the Lotus nearly another three ahead of the Virgin car
13:17	Fairuz brings the Lotus back into the pits
13:32	Laps so far: Vettel 80, Barrichello 78, di Resta 64, Schumacher 66, Buemi 55, de la Rosa 53, Fauzy 52, Massa 50, Hamilton 45, Petrov 34, Glock 4
13:33	Tony Fernandes is delighted with his car's first outing so far: “50 laps done. Without power steering FAUZY has done an awesome job. 1.31, two seconds behind Williams and three ahead of virgin.”
13:52	The Lotus jumps onto the track again, joining Schumacher and de la Rosa
13:57	Fauzy comes back in after two timed laps. No improvement for the Lotus driver, who is still nearly ten seconds off Vettel's pace (1:22.593)
14:05	Not surprisingly, as the rain hits the track, the action comes to a stop
14:07	Heikki Kovalainen on the weather: “It’s been dry for a while but just got hit with massive rain! Things going well Fairuz driving without power steering but no problems...”
14:08	Lotus's tech chief Mike Gascoyne says “Fauzy is driving without power steering because of a supplier issue.” An encouraging start for Lotus despite the power steering issue, especially when compared with rival Virgin, who has managed just five laps so far
14:11	Fairuz Fauzy takes to the track
14:23	Fairuz has done six consecutive laps now, in the wet, between 1:39s and 1:40s
14:30	Fairuz is on his longest run of the day so far, with ten laps completed and still running
14:34	The Malaysian and Barrichello are running similar times at the moment, with Fauzy slightly faster on the last lap
14:37	1:39.6 for Fauzy, 1:40.0 for Barrichello. They are still the only two men on track
14:39	Barrichello stops in the pits as Fauzy completes the 15th laps of his run. A total of 72 for Lotus thus far. Good effort for the first day
14:47	Fairuz pits
14:48	Fairuz's last run was 18 laps with a best time of 1:37.494 (mostly very wet)
15:01	Lotus reports that it's done for the day. Back in action tomorrow with Kovalainen
15:31	Lotus boss Fernandes elated with today's progress: “76 laps. Great day, well done Fairuz. Great day for lotus. Great day to see a British brand back in action. Great day for Malaysia.”

Heikki Kovalainen is in the car tomorrow.

By the way, it is wrong to say that this is nothing to do with the old Team Lotus. The DNA loop has been closed by three significant things:

1. The Chapman family are behind the venture

2. Group Lotus are behind the venture (albeit with a 'push' from Proton)

3. The car is designated T127, the next available number in the Lotus type number sequence thus guaranteeing the historical link to the 109, the last F1 car in 1994.

See quote4s from a whole host of Lotus people in the latest edition of Motor Sport for some real 'in the house' thoughts on where the venture stands against Team Lotus.

**Mattwatts** Wed Feb 17, 2010 11:30 pm

I am very proud to be British so the first thing that bugs me about all of this is if the "Lotus" T127 wins a race in 2010, it will not be God Save The Queen that is played on the podium, but instead 'Negaraku', the Malaysian national anthem

I'm thinking ol' Chunky would not enjoy that very much either

Secondly I'm glad the car doesn't wear the ACBC Lotus badge. The whole name thing to me is a confusing mess and a poor performance track side stands the chance of messing up the reputation of lotus cars and the historic team...

Sorry to be so negative

Matt

**the83man** Thu Feb 18, 2010 3:12 pm

Matt,

No problem. The points you make are all very valid. Let's hope they do well enough to turn some minds.

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