- Lotus
Lotus won't run new car at Jerez
Lotus has announced that it won't run it's 2014 car - the E22 - at the first pre-season test at Jerez.
The first test takes place in three weeks' time, with engine manufacturers keen to run in January in order to get an early indication of how the new power units are performing. However, technical director Nick Chester says Lotus will be taking more time to develop its new car and only plans on running it at the two Bahrain tests in February.
"We're going to keep our car under wraps a little longer than some other teams," Chester said. "We've decided that attending the Jerez test isn't ideal for our build and development programme. We are likely to unveil the car before attending the Bahrain tests, and in Bahrain we should really be able to put the car through its paces in representative conditions."
However, Chester insisted the car was nearly homologated.
"We've made very good progress with the various homologation tests which took place before Christmas including chassis squeeze and side impact loading tests as well as the rear crash structure, meaning we just have the nose test to complete the car's homologation. We've undertaken chassis fits for Romain and Pastor. Certainly, our partners who have seen the car have reported themselves to be very impressed with the layout and various solutions to the new technical challenges."
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
