Lotus has put the first 100km on its new car after completing a filming day at Jerez last Friday “without any major problems”.
The team opted to skip the first group test at Jerez, but got the new E22 on track on Friday ahead of its public debut at the second pre-season test in Bahrain next week. The car completed the maximum permitted distance for a filming day of 100km and had new-signing Pastor Maldonado at the wheel.
“Both the chassis and the new Renault power unit ran without any major problems,” Lotus said in a statement. “Pastor settled in very quickly and is already fitting into the team nicely.
“The car went together well and the design and build quality is another step up on the successful E21 of 2013, we are looking forward to a full testing program in Bahrain next week where we will start to see the potential of the new package.”
After Renault struggled with a number of reliability issues at the first test, it made some fixes to its power unit ahead of Lotus’ filming day to address the problems. The improved reliability will be a boost to all Renault-powered teams ahead of the next test in Bahrain.
“Basic objectives were to support the Lotus program with a power unit [PU] configuration and operation to allow systems’ checks and basic car operation,” Renault said in a statement. “The latest PU configuration was deployed without any reliability problems, allowing Lotus to complete the maximum amount of km permitted on a filming day.
“Updates developed in the dyno at Viry during and post-Jerez test were run. Updates included minor hardware changes, software bug fixes and calibration improvements.
“We should point out that no development was pursued during the filming day as stipulated in the sporting regs, rather upgrades trialled in the dyno in Viry were validated. As usual, everyone is committed to providing performance and reliability required for normal PU operation and a fully competitive 2014 season.”
Info: ESPN Sports Media Ltd, Image: Lotus
