“Lately, just before Christmas and during Christmas time I have a lot of requests to supply engines,” he said. “I think the other manufacturers already reached their goal or their maximum number of engines.

"I'm talking to Sarah [Fisher], to Ed Carpenter and many others; we are open to provide them engines. We’re still at four or five cars, and six with the new one signed [last week].”

Picquenot kept the details to a minimum, but confirmed his bosses had inked a deal with a brand-new IndyCar entrant.

“Yeah, I know we signed one more team,” he said. “It has been signed between the UK and U.S., and it’s going to be a new team, not an existing team.”

Compared to Chevrolet and Honda, Lotus has maintained a rather low profile amongst the specialist media, but it has taken the lead in one category: Revealing its engine to open-wheel racing fans.

Lotus has embraced a more open approach to sharing its IndyCar technology with its fans and owners. (Lotus)

While its competitors have gone the familiar route of keeping their engines covered and hidden, Picquenot says Lotus doesn’t subscribe to that particular approach.

“As soon as all of the teams start running, it’s not going to be a secret any more,” he said. “Why keep it a secret? I don't really understand. We don't need to hide the state-of-the-art of the engine. As soon as we are going to test, everybody's going to see it, and even if you try, this you cannot control. So we understand this in the beginning and decide to show the video of the Lotus engine on the dyno and then in the car.

"We want people to be part of what we’re doing, so we bring them in and let them see the new engine we are very proud of.”

The legions of loyal Lotus fans and owners, according to Picquenot, helped the company to shape its policy for sharing the technical aspects of its IndyCar program.

“The Lotus fan to me very different than the other fan[s] I meet,” he said. “The Lotus fan, they know the history, they know the cars, they know so much of the technology. The Lotus owner I have a chance to meet and discuss, they are all mechanics in the end because they own the car but they want to do also their own work, they want to do their own service and not choose a dealership to do it.

"It's a different than just a racing fan base. They are racing also the car itself. If we can make them happy and show them things from our IndyCar program, then we win.”

Marshall Pruett is SPEED.com's Auto Racing Editor, covering IndyCar and sports cars. He also contributes to Road & Track and Racecar Engineering. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter.