12.02.2010
Lotus Racing unveiled its 2010 challenger, the Lotus Cosworth T127, today at a glittering 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 a 500 strong live audience.
As the lights came up the car’s stunning green and yellow livery was seen for the first time, striking an emotional chord with both young and old alike and evoking memories of some of motor racing’s most iconic moments in an entirely contemporary fashion.
Tony Fernandes gave his thoughts on the astonishing achievement the Lotus Racing team has accomplished in launching the car just five short 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, Kamarudin Meranun and SM Nasarudin 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 and the challenges ahead and capable of producing such a beautiful machine in such a short time.
“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 and 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 ’09.”
Mike Gascoyne added his thoughts, saying “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.”
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.
About Steve Davies
Steve is a media, venture, and technology advisor and a former Partner at KPMG Consulting, PriceWaterhouse Coopers and Managing Partner at EIM - his clients range from global web and media companies to small start-ups. He formed Drivers Republic (DR) in 2007, the UK's first digital automotive magazine, with a team of EVO and Autocar writers before creating SkiddMark, and also writes as a guest contributor on Unruly Media’s Meme Machine blog and for Econsultancy’s digital marketing blog.
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8 Comments
Rick Osborn
February 12, 2010Pretty enough paint scheme but the design is certainly less aggressive than the Mclarens and Red Bulls of this world. Huge credit to them though for simply getting a car together in a ridiculously short space of time.
Rick Osborn
February 12, 2010Pretty enough paint scheme but the design is certainly less aggressive than the Mclarens and Red Bulls of this world. Huge credit to them though for simply getting a car together in a ridiculously short space of time.
Steve Davies
February 13, 2010I don’t expect them to be a contender during 2010, but it’s great to see that green and yellow livery back on the F1 grid.
I decided to feature the rear-view picture because it reminds me an F1 car from several decades ago – it actually looks scary which is something that has been missing from F1 for many years. It will be a very different looking grid in 2010, which can only be described as a good thing.
Steve Davies
February 13, 2010I don’t expect them to be a contender during 2010, but it’s great to see that green and yellow livery back on the F1 grid.
I decided to feature the rear-view picture because it reminds me an F1 car from several decades ago – it actually looks scary which is something that has been missing from F1 for many years. It will be a very different looking grid in 2010, which can only be described as a good thing.
Mike GT
February 13, 2010The Proton logos ruin it.
Mike GT
February 13, 2010The Proton logos ruin it.
Steve Davies
February 13, 2010Lol! That was the first thing I thought when I saw the studio pics, but then decided to focus on the postitives…
Steve Davies
February 13, 2010Lol! That was the first thing I thought when I saw the studio pics, but then decided to focus on the postitives…