Lotus Racing's T127 is a reality as preparations intensify

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 live audience.

As the lights came up the car's special 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.

The team recently performed a shakedown at Silverstone where the T127, powered by a Cosworth engine and fitted with an Xtrac gearbox, was already a reality, and subsequently, underwent system checks and engineering procedures with Malaysia's very own F1 driver and Lotus F1 Racing's third driver Fairuz Fauzy at the wheel. The test run of the T127 became a sense of accomplishment for everyone in the team after five intensive months of hard work and pressure, and the loud Cosworth V8 screaming around the Northamptonshire track made it a parade show of sort.

Lotus F1 Racing was announced as one of the official new entries, along with USF1, Campos Meta and Virgin Racing, into the 2010 F1 World Championship on 12 September 2009. The master mind behind the formation of the team is Tony Fernandes who along with fellow shareholders Kamarudin Meranun and SM Nasarudin led a consortium of Malaysian business interests to join forces to provide initial funding for the team under the parent company 1Malaysia Racing Team banner.

The Air Asia chief immediately began appointing key senior management positions, including Riad Asmat joining as Chief Executive Officer and Lee Chung Han as Chief Financial Officer, while already appointed Chief Technical Director Mike Gascoyne began work on the technical program in the UK and across Europe. Lotus F1 Racing has its team base located in Hingham, Norfolk, U.K. and operation base at the Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia.

As the team moved into its new Hingham home towards the final quarter of '09, work began immediately on building the 2010 cars, with Gascoyne directing the technical efforts across centres of excellence in design, wind tunnel, composite manufacturing and a host of ancillary support services throughout Europe in an intensive effort to be ready for the rapidly approaching season ahead. With the car build process under way, a similar effort was also being undertaken in creating the team itself, with new staff being taken on every day, and the fabric of the team's identity being created from scratch.

A proud Fernandes commented at the T127's unveiling ceremony, "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. 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," he added.

* Article taken from www.motorsportchannel.com