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Lotus to unveil car at first test

ESPNF1 Staff
January 10, 2011 « HRT turns its back on FOTA | »
The new Lotus will take to the track at the first test in Valencia © Getty Images
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Team Lotus will have its 2011 car at the opening test in Valencia but is not planning a traditional "launch", a spokesperson said on Monday.

After a visit to the team's Hingham headquarters last week, owner and boss Tony Fernandes said the new car "is looking great" and "much slicker" than its predecessor, but warned that Lotus "won't do a conventional launch".

A spokesman clarified to Dutch website f1today.nl that Team Lotus will be giving the new car its debut at Valencia early next month, along with majority of the other teams.

"We will present the car there," he said.

The new Lotus comes with high hopes and will run a Renault engine and a Red Bull gearbox as the team aims for its first points this season. 2010 rivals HRT and Virgin will not bring their 2011 cars to the first test, electing to take more time to prepare them away from the track.

Meanwhile, after an HRT spokeswoman confirmed that the Spanish has left the Formula One Teams Association due to "politics", Fernandes said on his Twitter account on Monday that Team Lotus will not be following suit.

"We think FOTA is very good and very important," he said.

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