Two years before Team Lotus can use its own wind tunnel: Mike Gascoyne
Team Lotus has been in cold waters since the end of the 2010 Formula 1 season as they lost their main partners, Group Lotus.
The team lost the rights to the name Lotus as well but Tony Fernandes, team boss of Team Lotus, claims that he bought the naming rights from Group Lotus. According to Group Lotus, Tony did not buy the rights from anyone and as a result, both of the companies
have literally been fighting against each other over this matter.
Team Lotus recently announced that they would keep both Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen for another season but it is obvious that the team has not been as stable as it used to be. Team Lotus’s team director Mike Gascoyne recently admitted that the team
is not ready to bring any major upgrades and use its own products.
However, Mike believes that the team will hopefully be able to use its own wind tunnel after two years.
“‘Soon’ is 18 months to two years time and we're in the planning stages. Planners are very keen for us to develop the site and working with us and that's fantastic. But, realistically it's 18 months to two years away,” he said.
Mike stated that every new team needs some time to grow and understand the mechanics of the sport before coming up with a promising package. He gave the examples of Red Bull and Renault. Both of them won their first titles after a couple of years of experimentation
and learning.
“So even with an established team that won the world championship, it took five years to turn it around into a winning team … We've made a good start, but it's very much the first step along the road,” he added.
The team recently secured a deal with Renault as their engine suppliers while Red Bull Technology will provide them gearboxes. The team is expecting for the lower midfield, possibly in competition with Toro Rosso. However, Gascoyne believes that the team
did a good job in 2010.
“We were probably, best a second off that group, and we're very confident of closing that up and we want to be racing in that group. We've targeted seventh or eighth in the championship; I think that would be a fantastic step,” said Mike.
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