“It is an honour for Lotus to host Martin Brundle, one of the most respected and popular names in motor sport. It was an incredible opportunity to demonstrate our exciting array of vehicles and the work of our talented employees to one of the most esteemed analysts in the automotive arena and I am delighted with his positive responses,” said Dany Bahar, CEO of Group Lotus.

Whilst he was at Hethel, Brundle also took a look around Lotus’ state of the art manufacturing facilities and sampled the Lotus Evora for the first time around the famous Lotus test track.

Brundle comments, “I remember first visiting Hethel in the 1960s, when my Father drove a Lotus Cortina. I am equally impressed now as I was then and as a Norfolk man, I am delighted Lotus is performing so well. I was pleased to see my old friend Gino Rosato and after hearing more about the future plans from Dany Bahar and his team, I am looking forward to the forthcoming products to come out of Hethel.”

Martin Brundle and his son Alex (Photo courtesy of: alexbrundle.com)

After returning from a stint around the track in the Lotus Evora, Brundle said, “I was especially keen to drive the Evora after reading so many positive magazine reports. On a wet track, the cornering grip and particularly the braking performance deeply impressed me. It’s a quality sports car.”

Alex Brundle is one of the rising stars of British Motorsport, having competed initially in T-cars, then progressing into Formula Palmer Audi in 2007. He finished sixth in the championship in 2008 before moving up to Formula Two in 2009.

He used his visit to catch-up with old friends and the 1997 Formula 1 World Champion was presented with a chronicle of Lotus’ rich history, from its founding years with a tour of Colin Chapman’s first workshops, to a session in the firm’s latest offering, the award winning Evora, on Lotus’ own test track.

It was a rare chance for Clive Chapman (son of Lotus’ founder Colin Chapman) to share with Villeneuve some of his father’s much loved projects and the two exchanged stories of the days they respectively shared with their fathers when they were competing in Formula 1.

It was a great moment for the Lotus workforce to see Villeneuve passing through the manufacturing facility often stopping to take in the detail of the process and to pose for photos and autographs. Recently appointed CEO of Group Lotus, Dany Bahar, was keen to stress the importance of this exciting visit to boost morale saying, “Jacques’ visit is an honour for Lotus and Lotus is a team. Our people are a blend of talent and expertise combined with passion for our brand. Our highlights are theirs, so this is a special day for us all.”

Villeneuve was delighted to have spent the day at the home of Lotus, “It has been a great day for me to catch-up with my friend Gino Rosato in his new role at Lotus and to see where the magic of Lotus comes from. My first toy car as a child was a replica model of Emerson Fittipaldi’s Lotus 72, I could say his name before I could say my dad’s! I really enjoyed watching them racing when I was a boy. It has been a really fun trip for me, and to see the people working to build the Evora was particularly nice.”

Following Villeneuve’s drive of the Evora he shared his impressions with the engineering team responsible for developing the car. Villeneuve, impressed with the performance of the car, concluded “It’s a really nice car, fun and comfortable to drive”.