Lotus Racing Day 2 of Testing at Jerez

LotusJerez_17thFeb_031
Wet conditions in Jerez greeted Lotus Racing as the team arrived on track with Heikki Kovalainen taking over driving duties for Thursday and Friday. First out on track at exactly 9am, Heikki completed his installation lap and returned to the pits to give positive initial feedback to the team about his first drive in the Lotus Cosworth T127.

30 laps later and a small mistake saw the Finn leave the track, bringing the team’s day to an early close, but not before useful data had been accumulated and more insights into the car’s performance had given Chief Technical Officer Mike Gascoyne reasons to be positive. “Unfortunately a small off and a lack of spare parts curtailed the amount of laps we were able to do today, but fortunately we’ve got spare parts arriving this evening. Up to that point we had got on top of some reliability issues from the previous day and the car was running very smoothly. Although we have lost some track time, the changing conditions made it very difficult, so we haven’t lost too much and we’ll be ready to continue with Heikki in the morning.”

Heikki added his thoughts, saying: “My initial feeling from the car is good – it fundamentally feels right. I’m disappointed the day came to an early end, but feel good about the team and I’m looking forward to getting back in the car tomorrow.”

Team Principal Tony Fernandes made his first visit to the Jerez test to see the Lotus Racing team in action and left feeling very positive: “Still a great day in many ways. You get the highs and the lows and you get the reality but overall I’m happy. The team is very motivated, there’s a lot of good morale and, while it’s unfortunate Heikki went off, these things happen. Something else I’m very pleased with is the reaction from the public to Lotus Racing. We’re going out there to tell the world what we’re up to and, judging by the phenomenal Twitter response we have had, we have already made an impact on the fans.”

[press release from Lotus Racing]

Lotus Racing completes its First day of F1 testing

Fairuz Fauzy, Lotus T127_3

Lotus Racing has enjoyed a successful first day of testing at Jerez with driver Fairuz Fauzy completing 76 laps without problems, and completing the 300 kms needed to gain his Super Licence, subject to FIA approval.

The team was among the first cars on track in wet conditions, and, despite a lack of power steering, due to supplier issues, Fairuz successfully fulfilled all his and the team’s objectives for the day.

Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer, said “It’s been an excellent day for the whole team. Firstly I want to say a big thank you to Fairuz who did an excellent job today with the first proper day of running. With so much going on, such as doing systems checks, it can be a pretty disjointed day for the driver. When you add into that the changeable conditions, and also the fact we were running without power steering today, it could have been a tricky day for Fairuz but he didn’t put a foot wrong so well done to him and a big thank you.

“With the car we had no major reliability issues – a few niggles with overheating which were quickly solved and then the car ran pretty faultlessly. The power steering issue will be fixed for tomorrow so all in all a very successful first day and a busy evening ahead preparing the car for tomorrow.”

Fairuz Fauzy was also delighted with his first day behind the wheel of the Lotus Cosworth T127, saying “First of all I want to thank the team. To arrive here and complete 76 laps is fantastic. It was a big challenge, both to complete the 300kms I need for the Super Licence, and with no power steering it was difficult to drive in the dry, not so bad in the wet, so I was driving a bit conservatively but I am just very pleased.”

Finland’s Heikki Kovalainen takes over driving duties for the next two days (Thursday and Friday) before Jarno Trulli joins the action on Saturday.

[press release from Lotus racing]

Lotus launches 2010 F1 challenger

Lotus T127

Lotus F1 Racing became the latest Formula 1 team to launch its 2010 challenger, as the wraps officially came off the new car in London on Friday. The new car – named T127 – carries the same colours as the original Team Lotus cars from the 60’s and 70’s.

Lotus T127
“The launch of the car is a very proud moment for the design team and the whole team,” said Paul Gascoyne, the technical chief of Lotus F1. “This one is very special for me personally for two reasons – firstly the Lotus name coming back into F1 is something very special. I grew up in Norfolk, went to school five miles down the road from he original factory. I grew up in era when Lotus was winning races and championships, so the opportunity to work with this team is very special. But also it is the challenge of bringing a new team and a new car into F1 in such a short space of time.”

Lotus T157
Added team owner Tony Fernandez: “We know we have a huge burden on our shoulers, standing on the shoulder of giants – Clark, Moss, Hill, and Mansell. We know we have a tremendous journey in front of us, we are honoured and cherished to be a part of history – we will leave no stone unturned in our efforts and we will do our best to return Lotus to its glory days.”

Lotus T127
Lotus T127
Lotus T157

[via Autosport, pictures from Lotus F1]

Lotus confirmed for 2010 F1 season

The Fia has confirmed that the Lotus name will officially be returning to Formula 1 for the 2010 season. While not currently affiliated with Group Lotus, the team will initially be based out of Norfolk and is backed by Malaysian Government and a consortium of Malaysian entrepreneurs. The team’s future design, R&D, manufacturing and technical centre will be purpose built at Malaysia’s Sepang International Circuit.

Press release from the FIA:

Following an intensive selection and due diligence process, the FIA has awarded the 13th entry in the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship to the Lotus F1 Team.

The FIA also received an impressive application from the BMW Sauber Team. However, given that BMW has announced it will withdraw its support in 2010, there are still uncertainties regarding the future ownership of the team.

Nevertheless, the FIA considers that BMW Sauber’s application is of high quality and would constitute a competitive participant in the Championship. As such, it has awarded BMW Sauber the ’14th place’ in the Championship meaning that it will be entitled to fill any vacancy that arises on the 2010 grid.

In addition, the FIA believes that a good case can be made for expanding the grid to 14 teams. The FIA will be consulting urgently with the existing teams regarding the introduction of an appropriate rule change to expand the grid to 28 cars in time for the first Grand Prix in 2010.

Detailed below is information about the new team that has been confirmed to compete in the Championship from next year.

Company Name: 1Malaysia F1 Team Sdn Bhd
Team Name: Lotus F1 Team
Country: Malaysia
Team Principal: Tony Fernandes

A partnership between the Malaysian Government and a consortium of Malaysian entrepreneurs, 1Malaysia F1 Team returns the Lotus name as a constructor to Formula One for the first time since 1994. The team will initially be based at the RTN facility in Norfolk, UK, some 10 miles from the Lotus Cars factory. A 50,000 square foot fully equipped facility, RTN was built by Toyota for its initial Formula One programme and then used by Bentley for its successful Le Mans programme.

The team’s future design, R&D, manufacturing and technical centre will be purpose built at Malaysia’s Sepang International Circuit.

Team Principal Tony Fernandes is the founder and CEO of the Malaysian-based Tune Group, owner of the Air Asia airline. The team’s Technical Director Mike Gascoyne has over 20 years of experience in Formula One having previously performed the same role for the Force India, Toyota, Renault and Jordan Formula One teams.

As part of its application to compete in the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship, the team has agreed an engine supply deal with Cosworth and a wide variety of technical partnerships including Xtrac and FondTech.

Clark Regains Motor Racing Championship (1965)

Clark Regains Motor Racing Championship

The Times Online archive has released some fantastic articles about historic F1 races in the original format that they appeared in the newspaper. Click through to read the original news report of how Jim Clark won his second Formula 1 world championship with a dominating victory in the 1965 German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring.

Head to the Times Online archive for more historic F1 reports including Fangio at the Nurburgring, Jackie Stewart at Monza and Fittipaldi at Watkins Glen.

Wins to decide F1 World Champion

The World Motor Sport Council met in Paris on 17 March 2009 and decided that the 2009 Formula 1 Drivers World Championship will be awarded to the driver with the maximum wins irrespective of the points. In the case of a tie the points accrued over the year will be used as the tie breakers. Positions 2 onwards will be decided by points only.

The following is the official press release:

FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

A number of measures were agreed to help reduce costs and increase interest in the FIA Formula One World Championship.

2009 Formula One Regulations

Points

The WMSC accepted the proposal from Formula One Management to award the drivers’ championship to the driver who has won the most races during the season. If two or more drivers finish the season with the same number of wins, the title will be awarded to the driver with the most points, the allocation of points being based on the current 10, 8, 6 etc. system.

The rest of the standings, from second to last place, will be decided by the current points system. There is no provision to award medals for first, second or third place. The Constructors’ Championship is unaffected.

The WMSC rejected the alternative proposal from the Formula One Teams’ Association to change the points awarded to drivers finishing in first, second and third place to 12, 9 and 7 points respectively.

Testing

Teams will be allowed to carry out three one day young driver training tests between the end of the last event of the Championship and 31 December of the same year. Drivers are eligible only if they have not competed in more than two F1 World Championship Events in the preceding 24 months or tested a Formula One car on more than four days in the same 24 month period.

Teams can also conduct eight one day aerodynamic tests carried out on FIA approved straight line or constant radius sites between 1 January 2009 and the end of the last Event of the 2009 Championship.

Media

The FIA will publish the weights of all cars after qualifying at each Event.

For greater clarity for spectators and media, wet tyres have been renamed “intermediate” and extreme-weather tyres renamed “wet”.

On the first day of practice all drivers must be available for autograph signing in their designated team space in the pit lane.

All drivers eliminated in qualifying must make themselves available for media interviews immediately after the end of each session.

Any driver retiring before the end of the race must make himself available for media interviews after his return to the paddock.

All drivers who finish the race outside the top three must make themselves available immediately after the end of the race for media interviews.

During the race every team must make at least one senior spokesperson available for interviews by officially accredited TV crews.

A number of further amendments were adopted for the 2009 Technical Regulations. Full details will be available shortly on www.fia.com.

2010 Formula One Regulations

Budgets

As an alternative to running under the existing rules, which are to remain stable until 2012, all teams will have the option to compete with cars built and operated within a stringent cost cap.

The cost cap is £30m (currently approximately €33 or $42m). This figure will cover all expenditure of any kind. Anything subsidised or supplied free will be deemed to have cost its full commercial value and rigorous auditing procedures will apply.

To enable these cars to compete with those from teams which are not subject to cost constraints, the cost-capped cars will be allowed greater technical freedom.

The principal technical freedoms allowed are as follows:

1. A more aerodynamically efficient (but standard) under body.
2. Movable wings.
3. An engine which is not subject to a rev limit or a development freeze.

The FIA has the right to adjust elements of these freedoms to ensure that the cost-capped cars have neither an advantage nor a disadvantage when compared to cars running to the existing rules.

The Honda Racing F1 Team requested to change its name to the Brawn GP Formula One Team. The WMSC accepted this request on the basis that the team is, in effect, a new entry in the FIA Formula One World Championship.

The contract the team had with the FIA was to run as ‘Honda’, which they are no longer in a position to do. However, the standard fee required for a new entry has been waived.

Commemorating Graham Hill

Graham Hill in the Lotus 49
Graham Hill in the Gold Leaf Team Lotus 49 at the 1968 German Grand Prix. Photo by ProRallyPix

Today is the 80th anniversary of the birth of Graham Hill (February 15, 1929 – November 29, 1975), a two time Formula 1 World Champion and the only man to win the Triple Crown of Motorsport. He drove for Team Lotus for three seasons including the 1968 season where he pulled the team around him to win the championship after the untimely death of Jim Clark. He was also the father of the 1996 F1 World Champion Damon Hill.

His notable victories include:
Formula 1 World Champion (1962, 1968)
Indianapolis 500 (1966)
24 Hours of Le Mans (1972)
5 wins at the Monaco Grand Prix (1963, 1964, 1965, 1968, 1969)
BRDC International Trophy (1962, 1971)

[thanks to ms355 on LotusTalk for the video pointer]