Feffman

Lotus Meets Renault Amid Cosworth Switch Rumours Date 2010-07-12 By Motorsport.com/GMM Lotus' potential switch to Renault power for 2011 might still be on, according to a media report. Last week, we reported that the new Malaysian backed team will continue to use Cosworth engines next year, with boss Tony Fernandes saying the British supplier's product has been "competitive enough" in 2010. But owner Fernandes also said Lotus "received offers from several (other) companies". According to the BBC, Fernandes and technical boss Mike Gascoyne met with Renault before Sunday's British Grand Prix. A reunion with Renault would return the familiar 'Lotus-Renault' moniker to Formula One, and it is also believed Lotus is in talks to use the fabled 'Team Lotus' name for its team in the future. Asked to comment about Renault, Gascoyne said: "We have a contract with Cosworth and we're discussing with them ways to work together in the future." It had also been rumoured that Williams was in talks for a Renault switch, but the British team confirmed at Silverstone that the FW33 will be powered by a Cosworth engine next year. Asked about the Renault rumours, Cosworth's F1 boss Mark Gallagher said: "Nonsense. We are in partnership with Williams to provide a car up with the best."

Trulli Says Lighter Lotus a Huge Boost By Simon Strang and Pablo Elizalde Thursday, July 8th 2010, 15:28 GMT Jarno Trulli is looking forward to driving a much lighter Lotus car at this weekend's British Grand Prix. The Italian believes the weight reduction will be a huge help for the team, even if it is not introducting significant aerodynamic updates for the race. "Aerodynamically I wouldn't say it is a big improvement, it's still good but I wouldn't expect to go much quicker just from aero-wise," said Trulli on Thursday at Silverstone. "But in terms of weight-loss, it is going to be a huge help. We are going to get a much lighter car which will help us to move the weight distribution forward and in terms of handling it is going to be much better. "So the combination of the aero package a light-weight package I believe it will have a big impact." He added: "We are not finished yet because we are missing the suspension which will lose us a further four kilos. That will not be ready for this weekend and will probably better for the next one." Trulli is optimistic the changes will help the team take a step forward that close the gap to its rivals. "We expect to make a step and we expect obviously to be closer but as everybody moves forward, we try to move as well. So we don't know how much closer we can be."

Lotus Aims High For 500th GP By Jonathan Noble Tuesday, June 22nd 2010 16:18 GMT Lotus drivers Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli are looking for another step forward from their team at this weekend's European Grand Prix - when their cars will carry special logos to celebrate the marque's 500th event. With Lotus founder Colin Chapman's son Clive and his family flying to Valencia to help mark the special occasion, the team is positive that it can deliver something on track to cheer about too. Heikki Kovalainen said that, after the form showed by the team in recent weeks, there were high hopes that Lotus would soon become a big threat to the established teams. "The last few races have been very positive for our team, we've been making progress every weekend and the plan is to carry on pushing," he said. "For Valencia, and for the rest of the season, we're not looking back at the other new teams - we lapped them in Canada so we're looking to keep taking the fight to the guys ahead, and I think we can do that. "This is obviously an historic weekend for Lotus, and for Lotus Racing, and I think we're starting to do justice to what's gone before us – it's fantastic that we can celebrate such a great milestone in Valencia, and it'll be an honour to be part of that." Mike Gascoyne, the team's technical chief, hoped that a number of updates planned for the T127 for this weekend's race will help lift its performance in Spain. "I'm really looking forward to this weekend, and am excited about both celebrating the 500th race Lotus has competed in, and helping add another chapter to one of motorsport’s greatest stories," he said. "We've already come a long way this season, and have much further to go until we can add more glory to the Lotus legend, but I and the whole team are very proud to be in a position to help the Lotus name reach this landmark moment, and it'll be great to celebrate that with Clive, Tony [Fernandes] and the whole team. "For the race, we have a few more updates to the car to help us keep pushing forward, so we’re not letting up on the challenge to take the race to the cars in front. "I'm confident we'll put on a good performance in Valencia – we've got the right drivers to cope with the demands of the circuit itself, and the car keeps improving with every new step we take, so I think this will be another chance to pressure the midfield, and make good on the promise we showed in Canada." Trulli is hoping that a new chassis he has for this weekend's race will help him deliver on the back of some encouraging pace in recent events. "I'm really looking forward to Valencia," he said. "It's a circuit I like, and I enjoy the race there - It's always warm, and it's a beautiful city. I'm in the new chassis (T127-04) from this race, and hopefully that will bring me some better luck over the race weekend – in Canada I was really flying until the retirement, so I hope I can carry that through to this weekend and see the chequered flag. "That's obviously important, but this weekend is also all about the 500th race for Lotus. It'll be very special to help take that famous name to such a milestone, and I'm very honoured to be part of it." To help mark the occasion, a Lotus Type 12 will appear in the Valencia pit lane on Thursday evening alongside the current car.

Reluctant Trulli to Get New Chassis By Jonathan Noble Friday, June 18th 2010, 13:09 GMT Jarno Trulli will get a new chassis for the European Grand Prix - but only after he initially turned the car change down because he did not want team-mate Heikki Kovalainen to feel he was being favoured. Lotus' latest chassis was always scheduled for arrival at the Valencia race, and Kovalainen had been pencilled down as the man to get it. However, with Trulli having complained of balance problems with his usual car, technical chief Mike Gascoyne reckoned it would be in the team's interests that the Italian gets it instead this time. When Trulli was told what has happening, however, he said he did not want the new chassis because it was not fair on Kovalainen. "Jarno has been pretty unhappy with the balance of his car and has been struggling," Gascoyne told AUTOSPORT. "We have a new chassis scheduled to come for Valencia, and that was due to go to Heikki. "But, because of Jarno's troubles, I made the call to change it to him. But Jarno, when he was told, said, 'No, I don't want Heikki to feel that I am being favoured, please feel free to give it to Heikki.' "So I went up to Heikki and told him. Then he said, 'No, Jarno is struggling, give it to him!' "It's a situation that sums up the great feeling within the team - that they are both trying to help each other. In the end we are going to give it to Jarno, but the two drivers are open to swapping it around afterwards." On the back of an encouraging performance at the Canadian Grand Prix, and with a major upgrade on the car scheduled for the British GP, Gascoyne thinks the team's focus has shifted from being best of the new outfits, to actually threatening the establishment. "From the whole of the Canada weekend, the message is that it is time we stopped looking at being the best of the new teams and looking behind us," he said. "This is now about trying to outqualify a Sauber - trying to race the Williams and the Renault cars. It is about being a midfield team not just the best of the new boys. I think that is the statement we have made this weekend." Gascoyne thinks it too much to expect Lotus becoming a regular in hauling itself among the established teams, but reckons it can on occasion punch above its weight. "I would say in reality we are probably seven or eight tenths away from them, and the Silverstone upgrade might bring us half a second closer. Will we nick places off people consistently? Probably not, but with the two drivers we have got, with their experience - if anyone drops the ball or doesn't get the right lap then I think we can start nicking some odd places. "What we said at the start of the year was that we wanted to end up challenging the back end of the midfield group and I think that is exactly where we will be. You would like to be beating them, but in reality that was always going to be too much of a step, especially as we are concentrating on next year's car now. "But I think we will still end up exactly where we said we would be. We had one employee this time a year ago, so for the performance we did in Canada everyone in the team can hold their head up. It is a statement from the new teams - you can come in and do a hell of a good job and be racing, and I think that is very good news for F1."

Lotus Signings a 'Statement of Intent' By Matt Beer Wednesday, June 2nd 2010, 17:52 GMT Lotus' chief technical officer Mike Gascoyne has described the signing of leading design personnel Mark Smith, Marianne Hinson and Lewis Butler from Force India as a 'statement of intent'. He says drivers Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen knew when they joined up that moves to recruit the trio were underway, and that this was key to convincing the two experienced racers to take a chance on the start-up team. "Certainly starting next year and targeting where we're going to be next year and beyond, this is a significant statement of intent," Gascoyne told AUTOSPORT. "A little bit like signing Jarno and Heikki. You had two experienced drivers and people saying 'well what are they going to be driving at the back of the grid? Why are they doing it?' "Well now you start to see why maybe, because they would've know that these sort of people were on board a long time before everyone else did. That's what they're signing up for, the fact that next year's car is going to be designed by people of this calibre. That's why they're on board." He described Smith and his colleagues' decision to join Lotus as a major complement to the young team. "They have faith in the team, they have faith in the finance of the team, they have faith in me, they have faith in Tony [Fernandes]," Gascoyne said. "Norfolk isn't the easiest place in the country to persuade people to come to, and the fact that they're moving their families, it shows the belief that there is in Lotus. I don't think they want to move to Norfolk because they're loyal to me, they've got to believe in what they're doing." Gascoyne added that the new personnel would help Lotus move its focus onto its 2011 car. "There will be updates all year, but it was always the intention to switch early," he said. "You saw in Turkey that we've come from five seconds off the pace to three seconds off the pace. But we're still a second off the cars in front - the Toro Rossos, the Williams, the Saubers. "Now we think we'll close that done to not very much by the end of the year, but it still puts you 19th and 20th on the grid. So there's an element of saying 'why bother?', let's switch that resource onto 2011 and start 2011 in the midfield pack. "I think that's a very sound argument and that's very much what we're focused on, and again these guys are very much part of that." While Hinson and Butler have already started work at Lotus, Gascoyne said Smith's arrival date depended on him negotiating a notice period with Force India. "That's entirely in his hands and Force India's," he said. "He'll come to us when he's able to." Lotus announced its new signings on the same day that Force India issued a statement insisting it was still pursuing legal action against the team, but Gascoyne played down the situation between the two squads. "It's unfortunate. We regard the legal action as old news really," he said. "We feel that situation will become eminently clear to everyone as that develops."

Lotus Set To Shift Focus To 2011 Car By Jonathan Noble Thursday, May 20th 2010, 10:33 GMT Lotus has elected to shift design focus onto next year's car in the hope that the head-start on its 2011 challenger will help it surprise the opposition. The Hingham-based outfit has made good progress with its T127 this season, with a major aerodynamic upgrade introduced at the Spanish Grand Prix helping the outfit close down the gap on the established outfits. And although the team plans to introduce another update for the British Grand Prix, Lotus' technical chief has confirmed that the priority now is to get on with ensuring it does as good a job as possible for 2011. "We still have stuff coming through and there will probably be a package for Silverstone, but now we are very much concentrating on 2011," Gascoyne told AUTOSPORT. "The 2011 model is going in the wind tunnel soon. "This year we were always going to play catch up. Next year, with the big rule changes, it levels the playing field and we need to put our resources into that. So we want to keep pushing, but we want to look at next year as well." With the limited time frame that the team had to create its 2010 car, having only been given the green light for its entry six months before the start of the season, Gascoyne admits that the team had to focus on simply getting its challenger ready for this year rather than pushing it to the design limit. And although he thinks further improvements can be made to the T127, he reckons that resources will actually be better spent focusing on 2011 because there is little hope of overhauling the current teams in the points' table. "We want to get 10th [in the Constructors' Championship] and realistically, even if we made the car better, would we get ninth or eighth? Probably not. "Therefore is it worth putting resources into that, or switching them to next year? There is also the commercial aspect you want to be seen moving forward this year, but we want to take some people by surprise next year." He added: "We are still testing in the wind tunnel and there are bits in production that are coming through, so we are not stopping now. "We are also taking weight out of the car. We don't have carbon suspension on the car, that will be coming through for Silverstone, and that will obviously carry over to next year. We are pretty happy with where we are."

Lotus Now Eyeing Established Teams - Kovalainen By Motorsport.com/GMM Date 2010-05-19 Lotus is almost ready to begin fighting with F1's established teams, according to Heikki Kovalainen. The Malaysian backed outfit has been the most impressive of the sport's three new entrants this year, particularly in the wake of a recent upgrade for the T127 car. And despite Kovalainen retiring in Monaco with a steering problem, the Finn thinks Lotus is getting ready to make its next step. "For a time I was able to drive at the same pace as the Renault of Petrov," he is quoted by France's Auto Hebdo after the famous street race. "We showed in Monaco that we are clearly the best of the new teams and that we will soon be able to fight with the teams in front of us." 28-year-old Kovalainen's was the fourteenth fastest race lap in Monaco, ahead of the Saubers and even Rubens Barrichello's Williams.

Trulli says season starts now for Lotus By Jonathan Noble and Pablo Elizalde Thursday, May 6th 2010, 14:27 GMT Jarno Trulli says this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix will mark his Lotus's team proper debut in Formula 1. The team faced a race against time after gaining a late entry to compete this season, something that meant the time to design and prepare its car was very limited. However, after four races, Lotus will introduce a major upgrade package in Barcelona this weekend, hoping to gain over a full second per lap. Trulli reckons it is not when the teams will start competing properly. "It's more realistic to say now Lotus officially enters Formula 1," Trulli told AUTOSPORT. "We hope not to be five seconds off now, but to be three, three and a half seconds off probably. It depends on the circuit conditions, and the layout, but we are aiming to close the gap more and more this year." He also reckons the team has changed completely since the start of work to be ready to make its debut in Bahrain. "You cannot imagine," he said of the change to the team. "At the moment the factory is starting to look like a normal Formula 1 factory, with all the departments working flat out, with all the engineers and the designers, which we didn't have at the beginning. We really were a bit desperate, but it was mainly given by the limited time. "I think Mike is now really organising everything inside in order to start designing and building everything in-house. We are really looking like a very professional team now." Trulli insisted this is a transition year for his team, and admitted he has been happy to see his feedback has been listened to in order to improve the car. "We've got some aero parts, and we've also got some mechanical parts," he said. "The direction I've been giving and the problems I've been pointing out they are exactly what I was saying, which means that we understood and we have confirmed what are the key points that we really need to attack in order to turn this car around, which probably will be hard for this season, but at least we have a clear idea and direction for next year. "I'm very happy about this. This is a preparation season for me, a transition season where I really need to give all my knowledge and all my experience in order to prepare next year, when we'll have all the time to prepare the car and make it competitive." And the Italian suggested his team should not focus a lot more in improving this year, but rather on preparing for next season. "Even though it will be hard I think we can still work and gain speed, like we did here. But to turn the season around won't be so easy. I think also we don't necessarily have to do that. I think our aim is to beat the newcomers, but make sure we also start thinking soon about the next year. "Because we start to have the power to prepare for next year better and better and I don't want to miss that opportunity. This year is like this, we knew it, but I'm already thinking of where I want to be for next year."

PSSSST Seven Fans: Registration is now open for MVP Track Time’s (http://www.MVPTrackTime.com) 2nd annual “Flyin Turkey Trot” Road Atlanta track weekend November 20-21, 2010. Visit our registration page for the downloadable entry form or on-line entry at: http://www.MVPTrackTime.com/id47.html We schedule six, 20-minute session for each of the three (Novice, Intermediate and Advanced) run groups each day. Don’t hesitate to call me at (314) 249-3770 or e-mail Feffman@MVPTrackTime.com if you have any questions. Happy Motoring and I’ll see you at the track. Feff

Lotus Aims To Be In Top Five By 2013 By Dieter Rencken and Pablo Elizalde Tuesday, March 30th 2010, 15:34 GMT Tony Fernandes is aiming for his Lotus team to be fighting among the top five Formula 1 outfits in the next three seasons. Malaysian businessman Fernandes has brought the legendary Lotus name back to grand prix racing, and his team has so far being the strongest of the newcomers. Heikki Kovalainen has been the only driver in one of the new teams to finish both in Bahrain and Australia, having also qualified in front of his direct rivals in Melbourne. Fernandes now reckons Lotus can be fighting to be in the top ten in the championship next year, before taking another step forward over the next two seasons. "After Bahrain I've got the idea that within three seasons we can be up there up in the top five teams," Fernandes told AUTOSPORT. "Top ten I would hope this time next year we could be up there. "I think it's harder for them [established teams] to find two seconds, but easier for us, because we've had five months. We built a car that was heavier, we got the wrong radiators, etcetera, etcetera. So I think we can catch them up. "Race pace we are not that far away. Heikki was giving Hulkenberg a bit of a race, so I'm confident we can get to the Saubers and Williams and the Renaults and Toro Rossos. It does seem, even when I say it, it seems tough. "I hope [to be in the top five over the next three years]. Lots of things are going to happen over those three years which I think will make it easier for us." The Lotus boss, who is bringing a big majority of the financial backing, also believes his team will not need a huge budget to succeed in Formula 1. "I don't necessarily think it does, to be honest," he added. "Toyota spent hundreds of millions of dollars and they never got there. I think it's people more than anything. "If someone does an analysis on what's spent in Formula 1, there's a f***-load of waste. The hundred million doesn't equal 300 million of pace, necessarily." And Fernandes made it clear he is in Formula 1 for the long term, not only to succeed, but also because he believes it makes sense financially. "Yes. You don't do it unless you are in for the long haul. We are here for passion but also for the business as well. We think it's a good business."

Our Radical has a Busa engine and we do have a swinging oil pick up arm, but it's not dry sumped. Feff http://www.MVPTrackTime.com

Hi All: Just popped by the book store this evening and noticed thsi months issue of "Motorsport" has Mario's Lotus 79 on the cover with a very nice in-dept look at Lotus F1 racing including some unsung heroes like Bob Dance and Bob Sparshot (Sparshot was kind enough to get my Graham Hill print "Mr. Monaco" signed by both Bette and Damon Hill for me). Should be a good read. Feff

Gascoyne: Reliability Key to Early Points By Jonathan Noble Monday, March 8th 2010, 12:31 GMT Lotus technical chief Mike Gascoyne thinks reliability will be key in giving his team a chance of scoring points in the early races of the season - even though the car is lacking pace. Formula 1's new teams have so far not delivered the kind of speed on track that will be needed to challenge the established outfits – but that has not left Gascoyne downbeat about the situation. In fact, Gascoyne believes that Lotus' form has been hit by the fact his outfit has been chasing reliability from the outset – as he is well aware that just getting to the finish of grands prix early in the year could deliver some early points. "With the best will in the world, none of the new teams are going to score points on merit in the first four races," Gascoyne told AUTOSPORT ahead of the season opener in Bahrain. "The only way you are ever going to score points is to finish. "Everyone knows that in the first four races, there is always going to be a good opportunity if you finish - so that has to be the number one aim. "That's how we approached it because if you put new aero bits on it, you can make it quicker. If you're not finishing you're not going to get anything. The aim was always to do the first four races and have a car that has a chance of finishing." Although the Lotus T127 suffered a few reliability problems in the last test in Barcelona, Gascoyne thinks the team is in good shape considering how little time it has had to get ready for the move in F1. "[it was] nothing major, just normal stuff, to be honest," he said about the stoppages in Barcelona. "Nothing that we are worried about. We have far exceeded the mileage that we thought we would do and, starting the project five months ago, the aim was to have a neat simple car that would be reliable for the first four races. It was a pretty tall order, and we've achieved it probably better than we expected we could." Lotus is planning a major aerodynamic upgrade in time for the start of the European season in Bahrain – with Gascoyne expecting big leaps forward in pace. "Normally you are chipping away and finding tenths, but now we are looking at updates that will bring us a second," he said. "You have to bear in mind that when we were finalising the design of this car, doing the crash structure and radiator inlets, it was still a month away from going in a wind tunnel. The basic radiator configuration had to be designed with no cooling figures, and no data. "People have said the bodywork at the rear is a bit chunky, and it is – because when we were deciding on cooling figures we didn't have any engine data. And when we took the route that we want to finish the first few races - we had to make sure that it cools, and does all the right things, so we had to do it like that."

Lotus Racing Joins Forces With CNN By Pablo Elizalde Tuesday, March 2nd 2010, 09:32 GMT The Lotus Racing team has signed a partnership deal with leading news network CNN, it was announced on Tuesday. The team, which is bringing the Lotus name back to Formula 1 for the first time since 1993, said CNN's logos will on the T127 cars during the 2010 season. "We are very proud to welcome CNN into the Lotus Racing family," said team principal Tony Fernandes. "It is a sign of the positive impact we have already made in the global business market that such a prestigious brand, familiar to millions around the world as the definitive source of news and current affairs, has made the decision to partner with us. "The whole team and I are looking forward to working with CNN in the months and years to come on some very exciting campaigns." The deal will be managed by CNN's commercial 'Partner Solutions Group', led by Rani Raad, senior vice president CNN International Advertising Sales.

Lotus Strengthens Management Team By Pablo Elizalde Tuesday, February 16th 2010, 12:57 GMT Lotus Racing has announced a strengthening of its senior management team, with S M Nasarudin and Dato' Kamarudin Meranun joining Tony Fernandes as deputy team principals. The duo are shareholders of the Norfolk-based squad. Lotus, returning to Formula 1 after an absence of 16 years, said it hopes the changes will give the team a strong leadership to tackle the challenge of racing in Formula 1 again. "We made this dream possible, turning it from a simple Malaysian dream to reality," S M Nasarudin. "This was all made possible through passion, hard work and team spirit. As with all the challenges that we have had to face to get to where we are now, we embraced these challenges as a team and now are even more determined to finish what we have started. "We are realistic of our goals and by no means will it be easy from this point onwards, but the belief is there. We will consistently bring with us a professional and confident set up to each of the races for this season. "As team owners, and in our Deputy Principal's roles, it further reflects our continued belief and commitment to this team." Fernandes added: "Our goals and objectives are clear but, as mentioned earlier, there is still a huge task at hand. We have 19 races to go through and, with the three of us assisting each other in our roles, we believe that the management has all the necessary resources to bring the team to the forefront." Lotus is taking to the track at Jerez tomorrow for its first public outing with the new T127 car.

Good Day All: MVP Track Time (http://www.MVPTrackTime.com) is hosting our first annual "Cars of Northern Aggression" track weekend at Eagles Canyon (http://www.EaglesCanyon.com) raceway near Decatur, TX. September 18-19, 2010. Feel free to visit our web site for registration or contact me at Feffman@MVPTrackTime.com if you have any questions. Happy Motoring! Mark "Feff" Pfeffer http://www.MVPTrackTime.com

Good Seven Fans: I've received a number of e-mails and calls asking about entry fees for MVP Track Time's (http://www.MVPTrackTime.com) 2010 Midwest track events. They are on our web site as well, so no one is "surprised”. The 2010 dates and entry fees are listed below. April 10 - 11: Putnam Park - SOLD OUT! June 7: Autobahn Country Club (FULL 3.56 mile track) - SOLD OUT! August 9: Autobahn Country Club II (FULL 3.56 mile track) - SOLD OUT! October 16 - 17: Road America $375-Weekend $250-Single Day All info and registration is available on our "Track Day Registration" page of the web site at: http://www.MVPTrackTime.com/id47.html We schedule six, 20-minute run sessions for each of the three run groups daily. Please feel free to call (314) 249-3770 or e-mail Feffman@MVPTrackTime.com if you need more information. All are welcome. Happy Motoring! Feff

MVP Track Time 2010 Midwest Schedule Hello Fellow Flatlanders: MVP Track Time (http://www.MVPTrackTime.com) is very excited to announce our 2010 Midwest track schedule. MVP has once again kept pricing the same as the previous year. We aim to bring the best track value to you with more actual track time at each event for less money. Below you will find our 2010 Midwest schedule, subject to revision as the year progresses. Look for additional track events throughout 2010. April 10-11: Putnam Park (Greencastle, IN) - SOLD OUT! June 7: Autobahn Country Club (Joliet, IL) - SOLD OUT! August 9: Autobahn Country Club II (Joliet, IL) - SOLD OUT! October 16 - 17: Road America (Elkhart Lake, WI) – “Cheese Heads On Track” Registration (on line or mail in) for all our track events is available at: http://www.MVPTrackTime.com/id47.html I hope you’ll gear up for plenty of excitement with MVP Track Time in 2010. Feel free to contact me if you have questions about any of our track events. Happy Motoring! Mark Pfeffer - MVP Track Time http://www.MVPTrackTime.com (314) 249-3770 Feffman@MVPTrackTime.com

2010 MVP Track Time Schedule Good Day Seven Fans: MVP Track Time (http://www.MVPTrackTime.com) is very excited to announce our 2010 track event schedule coming soon to a road course near you. MVP has once again kept pricing the same as the previous year. With the continuing economic bad news, I hope this reaches you as good news. We aim to bring the best track value to you with more track time at each event for less money. Below you will find our 2010 schedule, subject to revision as the year progresses. Look for the addition of more track events throughout 2010. Gift certificates are available. April 10 - 11: Putnam Park (Greencastle, IN) - SOLD OUT! June 7: Autobahn Country Club (Joliet, IL) - SOLD OUT! August 9: Autobahn Country Club II (Joliet, IL) - SOLD OUT! October 16 - 17: Road America (Elkhart Lake, WI) – “Cheese Heads On Track” November 20 – 21: Road Atlanta (Braselton, GA) - “2nd Annual Flyin Turkey Trot” Registration (on line or mail in) for all our track events is available at: http://www.MVPTrackTime.com/id47.html I hope you’ll gear up for plenty of excitement with MVP Track Time in 2010. All are invited and welcome. Feel free to contact me if you have questions about any of our track events. Happy Motoring! Mark Pfeffer - MVP Track Time http://www.MVPTrackTime.com (314) 249-3770 Feffman@MVPTrackTime.com

Lotus: Malaysian driver not essential By Edd Straw Saturday, November 14th 2009, 10:47 GMT Lotus F1 Racing does not need to place a Malaysian driver in one of its race seats in 2010, according to team principal Tony Fernandes, but the team is keen to run a driver from that part of the world in the future. Fernandes, a successful Malaysian entrepreneur who launched Air Asia, is keen for the team to create a platform for driver development in South East Asia. But he insists that the team will only be willing to run a Malaysian driver if they are ready for Formula 1. Fairuz Fauzy, who finished second in this year's Formula Renault 3.5 championship, is likely to be involved with the team, possibly as a third driver. "That's not relevant for me at the moment because it's not a one-year project," he told AUTOSPORT when asked whether Lotus needs a Malaysian race driver next year. "The important thing is the Malaysian team, not the Malaysian driver. "The fact is, people can support the team. If you look at Ferrari, they are an Italian team and every Italian supports them whether you have Kimi Raikkonen in the car, who's a Finn, or Fernando Alonso, who is Spanish. Ferrari hasn't had an Italian world champion for a very long time, but it is still the Italian team." Fernandes is also keen not to repeat the negative publicity Alex Yoong received in Malaysia when he raced for Minardi in 2001-2002. Despite going on to become a race-winning A1GP driver, Yoong did not have the experience required for F1 and received some unfair press coverage during his time as the Malaysian media grew impatient with his battle to get up to speed as a grand prix driver. "He was thrown in at the deep end and we won't make that mistake," said Fernandes. "Everyone feels that they are ready, but when you have a grid that is separated by 1.5 seconds it's highly competitive. The idea of Fairuz Fauzy is not just to shove a Malaysian driver in there to say that you are doing it. "The success of this programme is whether you have 20 Malaysian drivers that have the ability and that one day maybe a team like McLaren or Ferrari has a Malaysian driver. But it is not critical for me. If Fauzy makes it, great - that's a bonus – but we are not going to throw him in at the deep end." Lotus technical director Mike Gascoyne has said he is keen to have two experienced drivers, with ex-Toyota racer Jarno Trulli in contention for a drive, but Fernandes is keen to have a blend of youth and experience. "If we can get a guy who has been doing it for a long time, that's fantastic because you can't buy experience and he can help us develop the car and the team," said Fernandes. "And he can help us after the race, adding value to driver development. "On the second driver, I think that it's good to have someone young because sometimes if you have been doing it for 15 years there is a little bit of cynicism and it gets repetitious. If you've got an energetic young guy that rubs off on you. "Ultimately, I will leave it to Mike and the team to decide."

Good Day All: A quick update on our Road Atlanta track weekend November 21-22. It’s over 3/4 full and filling fast. Last Call - Hope you'll join us at Road Atlanta for the on-track fun. Feff http://www.MVPTrackTime.com

A sad day indeed! Feff

We (http://www.MVPTrackTime.com) are fast approaching 1/2 full for our October 31 - November 1 Watkins Glen weekend. I hope to see you at The Glen. Feff

I'm sure we've all seen our share of great bumper stickers, but this one sticks out in my mind. Not PC at all, the way I like it. On the back of an H1 Hummer: "Earth First - We'll Strip Mine The Rest Of The Planets Later" I was laughing so hard I almost drove off the road. Feff

Good Morning All: Our September 7-8 Virginia International Raceway (VIR – near Danville, VA) “Labor Day Speed Fix” is just past 1/2 full and filling fastl. Visit us at http://www.MVPTrackTime.com for details and registration for all our track days. Feel free to contact me at (314) 249-3770 if you have any questions. Happy Motoring and I hope to see you at the track! Feff