[F1] Lotus F1 Racing

BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX - FP3 & QUALIFYING
Sao Paulo, Brazil - 6th November 2010

Traffic played a big part in Lotus Racing’s Brazilian Grand Prix qualifying session with both Jarno Trulli and, in particular, Heikki Kovalainen being unable to extract the maximum times out of their cars in the damp conditions. Jarno Trulli starts tomorrow’s race in 20th place with Heikki Kovalainen just behind in 21st.

Jarno Trulli (Chassis T127-02) FP3: 18 laps, best time 1.22.326, 19th / QUALIFYING: 20th, 1.22.250, 14 laps “There was a lot of traffic out there because of the weather which meant I couldn’t really put together my best lap. At the end I managed to get a decent time in but it felt like it was wetter than at the start of the session and obviously that meant I couldn’t get ahead of Timo. Despite that the car has felt good all weekend in the wet and the dry conditions, and I think tomorrow we’ll be strong. We kept a dry setup on the car today and that should put us in a good position for the race.”

Heikki Kovalainen (Chassis T127-03) FP3: 20 laps, best time 1.22.874, 21st / QUALIFYING: 21st, 1.22.378, 14 laps “That was a disappointing session for me. I was held up by traffic each time I went for a quick run and definitely didn’t get the most out of the car, but I think we’ll be ok tomorrow. It’s a short track here and it’s pretty normal that traffic plays its part in qualifying but yesterday we worked hard on making sure we have a good setup for the race and it will be good to get back in the car tomorrow and show what we can do.”

Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: “A fascinating qualifying session but slightly disappointing for us. Both drivers lost their quickest laps to traffic and Heikki in particular was held up by Heidfeld on a couple of occasions. However, with the dry forecast for tomorrow and the performance of our car in dry conditions we will look to have a strong race and get both cars home across the finish line.”

Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: “Firstly I want to say congratulations to Nico for such an outstanding performance today. That is the first Williams pole since 2005 and the very first time AirAsia can celebrate a pole position - the whole team deserves every plaudit coming their way today and I am very proud to be part of the Williams dream. For Lotus Racing it was a decent job today from both Jarno and Heikki who were obviously held up by the traffic. It is still very pleasing that we keep taking the fight to our direct competitors even though we have been focusing on next year's car since back in July.

“It is also satisfying to see that all of the off-track attention that is being paid to the team has not distracted any of us from what is important. I will be making an official statement about the off-track situation in due course but for now we are focusing on being a professional race team that is gaining more experience with every lap and turning that into long-term success.”

Take a look at Heikki's thoughts on Brazil: Heikki on Brazil

Ends

BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX
Sao Paulo, Brazil - 7th November 2010

An excellent end to the Brazilian Grand Prix saw Lotus Racing take one more step closer to tenth place in the 2010 Championship after Heikki Kovalainen finished 18th, just ahead of Jarno Trulli in 19th.

Heikki Kovalainen (Chassis T127-03) 18th, fastest lap 1.17.161 - lap 69, 1 stop: “It was a good race, probably the best we could have hoped for in the conditions today. I made a good start and passed Timo straight away which put me in a good position for the rest of the afternoon. I enjoyed it out there – I had a good battle with Jarno and Timo for quite a lot of the race, and as we neared the end Jarno was very close so I had to make sure I didn’t make any mistakes and we could get both cars home. The important thing today is that we are now one race away from tenth and that will be the goal next weekend in Abu Dhabi.”

Jarno Trulli (Chassis T127-02) 19th, fastest lap 1.17.316 - lap 69, 1 stop: “Another very positive result for the team and I’m really happy I got to the end of the race! I had yet another small hydraulic issue, but good work from the guys in the garage managed that, and towards the end of the race I was able to push Heikki and end up just behind him. I didn’t have a great start, I had a lot of wheelspin but pretty soon I was able to attack Timo and just as I was shaping up to pass him he pitted and I came out ahead of him after the stops. After that I caught up with Heikki and we then had a pretty comfortable run to the end of the race.”

Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: “An excellent race for us after what has been a very good weekend. Congratulations to Red Bull for winning their first constructors’ championship today, and for us it was a textbook race today. Heikki made a great start and went straight past Timo, and Jarno followed him past a few laps later. After that we were able to open a gap to our nearest rivals and maintain track position right to the end. It was a very professional race from the whole team and pushes us another step closer to tenth so we will be aiming to take that performance to Abu Dhabi and repeat it at the final race.”

Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: “Firstly my sincere congratulations to Red Bull Racing on securing the constructors’ title today. They are a superb team, full of honest, professional people and we are very excited about working with them next year. They have set the standards Mike and his aero team must reach and that is an excellent challenge for him and our whole team. From our point of view I am very happy with the performance today. We looked a class team out there and the two car finish is just reward for the hard work this weekend and all year. Two flawless pitstops from the team in the garage showed that we have talent everywhere, and for a team that is still only a year old that is very impressive. What pleased me most is the fact that we kept pace with most of the cars in the middle of the pack, right up to the fifth place car who we were only just over a second away from in race pace. With all the steps we have taken to build such a solid foundation for our team next year we will be right in the mix with the established teams in 2011, but for today I want to say congratulations to the whole team. Now we focus on Abu Dhabi, the last race of the season and the one where I hope we secure tenth place.”

Take a look at Heikki's thoughts on Brazil: Heikki on Brazil

Ends

Venom a écrit:Interview très intéressante entre David Hunt et Peter Windsor:

http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2010/11/09/david-hunt-talks-about-team-lotus/

Lotus Racing passera à une livrée noire et parements or en 2011
La guerre continue ?
jeudi 11 novembre 2010 - 10h21, par Franck Drui

L’équipe Lotus Racing de Tony Fernandes a annoncé ce matin un changement de couleurs pour la saison 2011 qui risque de faire parler dans les paddocks : les couleurs verte et jaune seront abandonnées pour renouer avec d’autres couleurs du passé, la livrée noire à parements or du cigarettier JPS qui ornait les Lotus dans les années 70 et 80.

La livrée sera dessinée en association avec les fans de l’équipe, a annoncé la directrice du marketing Silvi Schaumloeffel. "Nous avons travaillé toute l’année pour que nos fans aient un accès sans précédent à notre équipe. Nous sommes très excités par ce retour à cette livrée mythique. Nous allons annoncer très bientôt sur notre site internet comment les fans pourront participer au processus de design. La personne dont le dessin sera retenu viendra participer à notre premier essai privé en 2011 pour voir sa création en vrai."

L’équipe de Tony Fernandes semble vouloir couper l’herbe sous le pied à Proton (Group Lotus) et Renault, qui sont en discussions pour faire revivre eux aussi des Lotus Renault en 2011. Les indiscrétions d’Interlagos prêtaient en effet l’intention à Group Lotus de faire revivre cette livrée de leur côté ! La guerre semble donc bel et bien continuer et on peut voir dans cette annonce de Lotus Racing une envie de mettre les fans de son côté, avant la probable bataille judiciaire de cet hiver.

Riad Asmat, un des actionnaires et directeurs de Lotus Racing, confirme. "Je sais que le retour à cette livrée aura encore plus de soutien (que la verte et jaune). Cette livrée frappe à la corde émotionnelle des fans autour du monde. Et leur donner la chance de participer à la création de cette livrée montre notre volonté de les intégrer au cœur de Lotus Racing."

Big one a écrit:Apparemment Proton chercherait à se débarasser de Dany Bahar mais ils sont obligés de le soutenir en attendant une opportunité de le virer:
They are obviously not keen on admitting that they have made a mistake and so will support Bahar until he gives them a reason not to, so the Group Lotus boss must be careful not to make too many mistakes in case they decided that they can justify dumping him.
The loss of the Team Lotus case in the High Court might provide such an opportunity.
http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2010/11/11/the-latest-in-lotus/

Venom a écrit:
Cette dernière, évidemment dépourvue de DDD, produirait déjà autant d'appuis que la T127 selon l’équipe.

J’arrête de rêver. Rien n'est encore gagné...

Venom a écrit:Par contre, je ne comprends pas pourquoi ils ont remis l'ancien capot moteur (au moins depuis le Brésil)
https://i.servimg.com/u/f39/14/79/55/26/l2_bmp10.jpg

Narm a écrit:Aie : http://www.lefigaro.fr/sport-business/2010/11/12/04014-20101112ARTFIG00652-renault-cede-son-ecurie-de-f1.php

Narm a écrit:http://www.f1network.net/boards/read/s695.htm?1399,11768180
Bon j'avais vu d'autres articles à l'époque, mais là j'ai pas trop le temps de chercher...

vino_93 a écrit:Gascoyne dans un auto hebdo aussi

Narm a écrit:Aie : http://www.lefigaro.fr/sport-business/2010/11/12/04014-20101112ARTFIG00652-renault-cede-son-ecurie-de-f1.php