Formula One - Lotus to live up to his name
Mike Gascoyne, the chief technical officer of Lotus is one of the most prominent persons on the paddock with all his tattoos, giving him the nickname ‘Rottweiler.’
At the same time, he is one of the most skilful people around the sport having experience of various teams like Force India, McLaren, Jordan, Sauber, Tyrrell and Renault as well as Toyota over long periods of time, mastering his skills in the design department.
Formula One official website talked to him asking about his experience and expectations from the new team, Lotus.
Mike started off telling that he dreamt to be in the technical driving seat of a rookie Formula One team, and now after around a year he could see his dream coming true slowly and gradually. He proclaimed that the team started from absolute scratch and over the time had proved all the doubters wrong by surviving until the end, although they still have a long way to go.
While talking about the name of the team he said they had never claimed to be the old Team Lotus, rather everyone in the team pay homage to the legacy of Colin Chapman and everybody else who was part of the great old Team Lotus. He further stressed that at present he is not sure if they are able to do justice to the name of the successful team or not; they are living up to the goals that were set by them as they started off, earlier this year.
However, he was pleased to inform that it was a sheer pleasure for him when he heard Murray Walker say that, “the team is going about in a way that Colin would respect.”
He went on telling that everyone in the crew already knew that this year would be a tough one for them to score points, therefore they set their goals to secure tenth place in the championship, make both cars finish as many races as possible, and also to focus on tuning next year’s car . He declared that now he feels they have been able to achieve most of their set targets and he is happy with where they stand now.
When Mike was asked about the team’s plans for the driver line-up for next season, he replied that drivers play the most important part in the development of the team and he believes that both Jarno Trulli as well as Heikki Kovalainen have played a pivotal role in helping the team get where they stand today. Although, he stated that the final announcement about the drivers of next year would be made very soon.
While talking about the team car, T127, he proclaimed that the 2011car would have some major changes as the aerodynamic rules are changing for next year. Furthermore, he said that unlike last year, they have plenty of time and resources, which would help them take a big step forward next year.
While talking about the plans of the team for the upcoming season, he disclosed that currently the team’s headquarters are based in UK, which they plan to relocate to Malaysia. He added that now they are constructing a resource in Malaysia, which would house an R&D facility in addition to a museum and several other elements to help the team grow more competitive.
While concluding the interview, he said that for a new team to survive and grow, one needs to bring in more experienced people from around the sport, providing them the resources required to carry their jobs effectively, and above all, to have achievable goals.
Well, everyone at Lotus is working hard and is optimistic and that is required the most to be able to survive and progress.
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