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IndyCar
INDYCAR: Busy Times For Lotus
From possibly being sold to the signing of a brand-new IndyCar team to the pressing need to start testing, life has been plenty busy for Lotus.
With Lotus CEO Dany Bahar recently signed to a new contract, the Malaysian-owned British road car and racing constructor appears to be on stable ground, despite rumors of an impending sale. (IndyCar Series)
Life has gone from running behind to running at a frantic pace for IndyCar’s smallest engine manufacturer.
From headlines suggesting a sale is imminent, the signing of a brand-new team to use its IndyCar engines and the pressing need to start its on-track testing program, Lotus has had plenty to deal with lately.
Despite the possible change in ownership, Olivier Picquenot, Lotus’ Indy Project Manager, says there’s been no talk of the IndyCar program being affected if Lotus is sold.
“I hear some rumors also for sure,” the Frenchman told SPEED.com. “We are owned by the [Malaysian state-controlled] Proton company for the last 12 years, 13 years. It's nice now to be an investor for Lotus when you see how Lotus moves and has been reborn. We are interested in an investor to come and be a partner. But has it compromised IndyCar? No.
“[Lotus CEO] Dany Bahar, he wants absolutely the perfect mix with IndyCar. He wants to show the world that Lotus is capable to do an engine. Lotus is capable to do aero kit in the future next year. [Bahar] is a very competitive man. He wants the best and he has been re-signed for four years by the Lotus board. Everything is in very good shape and we are looking very, very good.”
Senior members of the British marque and its partners at Engine Developments Limited watched as their 2.2-liter, twin-turbo V6 came to life at Dallara in the back of the manufacturer’s DW12 test car just before Christmas, and with that chassis recently making the trip across the Atlantic, everyone’s focus has shifted towards getting the car ready to turn its first laps in anger.
“We received the car in Chicago just before New Year's Day,” Picquenot continued. “It was impossible to actually pick up on Saturday but we cleared customs with the chassis on Tuesday and by Wednesday, the mechanics were working on it. Then we just needed the new engine to come to us and to fire it up. It's going very, very well. The car is pretty, it’s beautiful, it’s going to be black and gold. That's our new color.
"Worldwide Lotus will be black and gold like the Formula One car last year. Every team with Lotus as a partner team will be black and gold except HVM Racing, which will be green and yellow.”
Once the Lotus test team arrives in Florida later this week, Picquenot says he expects the manufacturer’s car to be amongst the busiest in the series. With two months of testing already completed by its rivals at Chevrolet and Honda, Lotus is prepared to test non-stop until the season begins in late March.
“Yeah, I think the test truck [won’t] have enough time to come back to the shop,” he said. “I would say we will test every two to three days, then two days of preparation and then test again… It will go like this until we race. We do Palm Beach this week (starting on the 13th). We are going to Sebring just after, obviously then Sebring again and doing some shaker rig tests between…
"It’s going to be an aggressive. We have to try to be competitive and as close as the other teams as we are capable. Everybody is very hungry.”
With five teams still without a confirmed engine contract, Picquenot has spent a lot of time lately taking calls and meetings with a significant portion of the paddock.
From headlines suggesting a sale is imminent, the signing of a brand-new team to use its IndyCar engines and the pressing need to start its on-track testing program, Lotus has had plenty to deal with lately.
Despite the possible change in ownership, Olivier Picquenot, Lotus’ Indy Project Manager, says there’s been no talk of the IndyCar program being affected if Lotus is sold.
“I hear some rumors also for sure,” the Frenchman told SPEED.com. “We are owned by the [Malaysian state-controlled] Proton company for the last 12 years, 13 years. It's nice now to be an investor for Lotus when you see how Lotus moves and has been reborn. We are interested in an investor to come and be a partner. But has it compromised IndyCar? No.
“[Lotus CEO] Dany Bahar, he wants absolutely the perfect mix with IndyCar. He wants to show the world that Lotus is capable to do an engine. Lotus is capable to do aero kit in the future next year. [Bahar] is a very competitive man. He wants the best and he has been re-signed for four years by the Lotus board. Everything is in very good shape and we are looking very, very good.”
Senior members of the British marque and its partners at Engine Developments Limited watched as their 2.2-liter, twin-turbo V6 came to life at Dallara in the back of the manufacturer’s DW12 test car just before Christmas, and with that chassis recently making the trip across the Atlantic, everyone’s focus has shifted towards getting the car ready to turn its first laps in anger.
“We received the car in Chicago just before New Year's Day,” Picquenot continued. “It was impossible to actually pick up on Saturday but we cleared customs with the chassis on Tuesday and by Wednesday, the mechanics were working on it. Then we just needed the new engine to come to us and to fire it up. It's going very, very well. The car is pretty, it’s beautiful, it’s going to be black and gold. That's our new color.
"Worldwide Lotus will be black and gold like the Formula One car last year. Every team with Lotus as a partner team will be black and gold except HVM Racing, which will be green and yellow.”
Once the Lotus test team arrives in Florida later this week, Picquenot says he expects the manufacturer’s car to be amongst the busiest in the series. With two months of testing already completed by its rivals at Chevrolet and Honda, Lotus is prepared to test non-stop until the season begins in late March.
“Yeah, I think the test truck [won’t] have enough time to come back to the shop,” he said. “I would say we will test every two to three days, then two days of preparation and then test again… It will go like this until we race. We do Palm Beach this week (starting on the 13th). We are going to Sebring just after, obviously then Sebring again and doing some shaker rig tests between…
"It’s going to be an aggressive. We have to try to be competitive and as close as the other teams as we are capable. Everybody is very hungry.”
With five teams still without a confirmed engine contract, Picquenot has spent a lot of time lately taking calls and meetings with a significant portion of the paddock.
INDYCAR BRAZIL
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