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Lotus Unveil First F1 Car In 16 Years
12/02/10
Lotus Racing unveiled its 2010 challenger – the Lotus Cosworth T127 – at a relatively modest event in London’s Royal Horticultural Hall.
Team Principal Tony Fernandes was joined on stage by Chief Technical Officer, Mike Gascoyne, and drivers Jarno Trulli, Heikki Kovalainen and Fairuz Fauzy, to take the wraps off the car in front of us, and approximately 500 other onlookers.
As the lights came up the car’s stunning green and yellow livery could be seen for the first time, striking an emotional chord with both young and old alike, evoking memories of some of motor racing’s most iconic moments.
Mike Gascoyne said, “The last few months have been some of the most challenging of my career, but it’s been a challenge the whole team and I have thrived on since we first started work on the car up in Norfolk. I’m delighted that we’ve reached this point, and now we have a beautiful car that gives us a great base to work from for the season ahead, and a fighting chance of going racing in the right way, with a winning mentality. The hard part starts now, and I know everyone in the team and I are up for whatever lies ahead.”
Tony Fernandes commented on the astonishing achievement the Lotus Racing team has accomplished in launching the car just five months since the team was granted its entry to the FIA Formula One World Championships, saying: “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. It’s humbling for me and my fellow shareholders, 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; the challenges ahead, and capable of producing such a beautiful machine in such a short time."
He continued, “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. 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 2009.”
The Lotus Racing T127 is powered by Cosworth and will use an Xtrac gearbox, and in line with all 2010 teams, will be running on Bridgestone tyres.
