Lotus Renault GP

ShadowChaser · Post time 20-1-2011 09:50 PM

Fauzy may get F1 race chance

Eric Boullier hints that Fairuz Fauzy could be given a race chance with the Lotus Renault GP team

Lotus Renault GP team boss Eric Boullier has hinted that Fairuz Fauzy could be given the chance to take part in an F1 race with the team having been named as test and reserve driver for the 2011 campaign.

The team named the Malaysian as the third driver on its team yesterday [Wednesday] after he left the Lotus Racing team over the winter, with the youngster set to work alongside race drivers Robert Kubica and Vitaly Petrov.

However, Boullier has now told The Star that Fauzy could get the chance to race for he team towards the end of the season if he proves himself in both his development role and in the 2011 GP2 campaign, with his role set to be evaluated on a yearly basis.

“He is being developed and trained for better things with us and is not going to be a passenger,” he said. “He has potential and we need to work on him to make him mentally and physically ready for such sport.”

Datuk Syed Zainal Abidin, group managing director of Proton Holdings, was also quick to point out that discussions with Fauzy had only started once his contract with the team now known as Team Lotus had come to an end.

“There was no pinching him before his contract expired or any other dealing prior to that,” he said. “We are all professionals.”

ShadowChaser · Post time 20-1-2011 09:51 PM

Boullier: Group Lotus doesn't own any of Renault F1

Lotus Renault GP team principal Eric Boullier has revealed that contrary to rumours, Group Lotus does not actually own any of the Enstone-based outfit - a fact that the High Court might be very interested to hear...

Amidst confusion as to the current ownership structure of Lotus Renault GP – the team formerly known as Renault F1 – team principal Eric Boullier has spoken out to affirm that Group Lotus does not in fact own any of the operation, and that it is wholly controlled by Gérard Lopez's Luxembourg-based Genii Capital investment company.

It had previously been rumoured – and ostensibly confirmed by ambitious CEO Dany Bahar – that Group Lotus owner Proton was set to purchase the remaining 25 per cent stake still owned by Renault from the French manufacturer, but Boullier has revealed that the shares in question were actually sold to Genii Capital, which consequently now owns the Enstone-based outfit outright.

“Renault decided to refocus its resources in F1 and sold its remaining 25 per cent to Genii Capital,” the Frenchman told Italian magazine Autosprint, adding that the long-term sponsorship agreement with Group Lotus may 'lead to Lotus Cars becoming a shareholder' at a later date.

As part of the new relationship, 25 Proton engineers will be posted to Lotus Renault GP on two-year work placements – not unlike the situation at Sauber when Petronas was the Swiss operation's title backer from 1997 to 2005 – whilst Group Lotus will conduct some development work on the car, with Boullier musing that 'it's a good way to get fresh ideas and a new way of thinking'.

How the fact that Group Lotus owns none of Lotus Renault GP will go down in the High Court next week remains to be seen, as Bahar endeavours to obtain a summary judgement in the embarrassing ongoing naming row with Tony Fernandes and Team Lotus.

Fernandes is seemingly under some pressure in Malaysia to back down, but the major issue for Bahar is that it is the 'other' Lotus that has established the loyal fan base off the back of a plucky maiden campaign of top flight competition in F1 2010 – and as things stand, there looks to be every possibility of there being four Renault-powered Lotus cars lining up on the starting grid for the curtain-raising Bahrain Grand Prix at Sakhir in mid-March.

satusembilan · Post time 21-1-2011 11:43 AM

Fauzy set for Friday practice role only

The Lotus Renault GP team has informed GPUpdate.net that new signing Fairuz Fauzy is a contender for Friday free practice drives this season, although it has also stressed that – contrary to current internet rumours – the 28-year-old will not be spending any races in the cockpit.

For 2011, Fauzy switches from the Tony Fernandes-owned Team Lotus to the Enstone-based Renault outfit, which has changed its name following a buy-in from the Group Lotus sports car manufacturer.

However, although internet gossip is suggesting that the Kuala Lumpur man could compete in Grands Prix this year, the team has stated otherwise.

“I think this may have been a misunderstanding,” a spokesperson clarified to GPUpdate.net on Thursday afternoon, with the driver having already driven in a selection of Friday sessions for his previous team.

“There is a chance that Fairuz Fauzy may be considered for running on a Friday practice session later in the year, depending on his performances in GP2, etcetera.”

weta_studio · Post time 22-1-2011 12:28 PM

Reply 43# satusembilan

lenjan enjin renault sampai meletup lepas tu campak steering kat pit Team Lotus

satusembilan · Post time 31-1-2011 08:22 PM

satusembilan · Post time 31-1-2011 08:22 PM

satusembilan · Post time 31-1-2011 08:27 PM

satusembilan · Post time 31-1-2011 08:27 PM

satusembilan · Post time 31-1-2011 08:28 PM

weta_studio · Post time 1-2-2011 08:09 AM

greattt

come on lotus renault

best week permulaan tahun baru...new car model

weta_studio · Post time 1-2-2011 08:15 AM

Interview with Eric Boullier

Lotus Renault GP Team Principal and Managing Director Eric Boullier looks ahead to the challenge facing the Enstone-based outfit this season following the launch of the squad’s new car, the R31, today in Valencia, Spain.

Eric, the start of the 2011 season is just over a month away. How excited are you about the year ahead?

I think there is a great deal to be excited about this year, especially as we begin an important new era for this team. 2010 was a useful year; a time to rebuild and prepare for the future, but at the same time everybody in the team put in an amazing amount of effort and we saw the results of that on the racetrack. Now, with the arrival of a long-term partner in Group Lotus, we have the financial stability to build on these strong foundations and ensure a very competitive future. That is incredibly motivating for everybody in the team and gives us all the belief that we can continue to compete at the sharp end of the grid with the strongest teams in the sport. Over the last twelve months, we have all worked so hard to prepare for 2011 and I’m incredibly proud of what we have achieved and looking forward to getting the season underway.

The winter months building the new car are always some of the busiest of the year – how has the factory handled the creation of the R31?

In fact, Formula 1 never stops. With the R31, work started before the R30 had even done a single race. In 2010 we achieved a very high rate of development and the car that finished the season was two seconds per lap quicker than the car we had at the first race. During the winter, that same determined approach to the workload has continued, which is a testament to the spirit and commitment of the people we have in this team. Yes, the workload is huge at this time of year, but if we keep our heads down and maximise the winter test sessions, I’m pretty sure we will have a strong start to 2011.

Can the team repeat last year’s high development pace in 2011?

The plan is to take exactly the same approach to development this year, although our expectation is to start the season in a much stronger position. That means we will have to be even more creative and will look to investigate some new technical areas that we have not examined before. But technical innovation isn’t the only key to performance and over the last 12 months we have reviewed all our internal processes and left no stone unturned. Today we can say that our overall efficiency has improved by 15%.

The team is fielding an unchanged driver line-up. How important is that stability for taking the team forward?

Stability is important in any industry and especially in the very fast-moving Formula 1 environment, which is intensively competitive on every level. Having stability in our drivers is one of the key elements in bringing this team back to full competitiveness. It will allow us to capitalise on what we learned last year. The new management, the drivers, the engineers and mechanics have all been working together for a year now and have spent that time understanding each other. Now is the time when we can capitalise on that bond and team spirit, which will only make us stronger.

What do you think Robert [Kubica] and Vitaly [Petrov] are capable of achieving in 2011?

Our driver line-up is still a mixture of talent, experience and youth. Robert is clearly one of our strongest assets and we know we can rely on his speed, commitment and dedication for the long term. As for Vitaly, he showed us at the end of last year that he understands what we expect of him in 2011 and he was ready to commit to this. With a year’s experience behind him, he will be able to approach the new season with more confidence and is ready to help the team raise its game. We took the risk of investing in him last year and I’m sure we will see the benefit of that this year.

Are you confident the team can take a significant step forward and challenge for wins in 2011?

We live to race and our goal is to win. It’s the core of our philosophy. All the hard work over the last twelve months has been focussed on delivering a big improvement for 2011, and that means we should be more competitive than last year. Will we be stronger than our competitors? Hard to say, but based on the efforts of everybody here, I feel we deserve it.