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INDYCAR: Lotus-Powered Teams Solid At St. Pete
Next to the Chevrolets and Hondas, the 5 Lotus teams aren't that fast, but after two days of running, the underdogs have been surprisingly problem-free.
Marshall Pruett  |  Posted March 24, 2012  
Lotus-powered teams have been reliable and fast at times at St. Pete--two things that seemed impossible just weeks ago. (Photo: Marshall Pruett)
Compared to the Chevrolets and Hondas, the five Lotus-powered teams aren't that fast, but after two days of problem-free running, the underdogs have been performing far above expectation.

With a slightly panicked round of engine modifications conducted in the paddock at St. Petersburg this week, the chances of the five Lotus teams getting through the first practice, much less all of Friday and Saturday without any engine-related dramas has been a pleasant surprise.

Although the parent Group Lotus company has continued to spend far less than is necessary to earn outright success in the IZOD IndyCar Series, its partner teams and its engine partner, England's Engine Developments Limited (EDL), have flattered the legendary marque through a lot of hard work and perseverance.

Team Barracude BHA driver Alex Tagliani was the top Lotus qualifier on Saturday, placing 17th with a lap of 1:02.65, which wasn't as far off Will Power's 1:01.37-second pole as was expected.

"It felt good," said Tagliani. "The one thing I said coming into the weekend that we needed to get everything out of the car. We did get almost everything; it had a little bit of understeer, but with limited testing time, we still found some good things and learned a lot. There's a lot more coming from the engine and I'm sure we'll do even better very soon."

While the other four Lotus runners (who qualified 21st, 23rd, 25th and 26th) couldn't get close to Tagliani, EDL principal John Judd, who also leads the technical support team at the track, was incredibly satisfied with how the weekend has gone so far for his 2.2-liter, twin-turbo V6 engines.

"We're very pleased to have five cars running and in the race," he said. "Overall, it has gone very well so far. It has taken a monumental effort on behalf of ourselves and Lotus, all our suppliers and all of our teams to get to this point. We take some satisfaction from that, but it's a very small step on a very long road."

The only concern for Lotus will come in the morning warm-up.

It's rivals at Chevrolet are known to have at least five spare engines at the track, and Honda confirmed to SPEED.com it brought 10. Lotus, as of Thursday, had just one spare engine to offer, leaving everyone involved with the program hoping no issues arise before the race.

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 @MarshallPruett on Twitter.
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