Lotus delighted after early fire-up

By Jonathan Noble

Monday, February 8th 2010, 16:39 GMT

Lotus technical chief Mike Gascoyne says his team is on course to prove its credentials as a serious Formula 1 outfit this year, ahead of a return to the track for the famous marque on Tuesday.

With Lotus scheduled to shakedown its 2010 car tomorrow, ahead of its official launch on Friday, the team fired up the Cosworth engine on its new chassis at its Hingham base on Saturday - six days ahead of when originally planned.

And with Gascoyne delighted at the progress made in the short time since Lotus was granted a 2010 entry, he is happy with the shape the team is in right now.

"It was obviously a big step forward to get the car fired up," Gascoyne told AUTOSPORT.

"The most pleasing aspect of the engine fire-up was that when we got the entry, in our production schedule we had it pencilled in as February 12. So to do it on the 6th - six days ahead of schedule, was a great effort by everyone.

"What makes this so satisfying is that this is a project where everything has been built up from new. Everyone has contributed to the effort."

Gascoyne has openly set ambitions of Lotus ending the season as not only the best of the new teams, but as a serious threat against some of the current outfits.

And although he admits there is still plenty of work to do before the team can achieve that, he is bullish about the performance potential.

"We are looking in really good shape," he said. "We have to improve the pace of our car and the results from wind tunnel, but that will come with time.

"Our first aim was to be on the grid - to be a professional team where everything is to be F1 standard. We definitely will do that. The team will look good and step one has been achieved."

Force India unfazed about missed test

By Edd Straw and Pablo Elizalde

Monday, February 8th 2010, 16:03 GMT

Force India's design director Mark Smith is confident the team will not be at a disadvantage despite having missed the first test of 2010.

The Silverstone-based squad decided to skip the Valencia test last week in order to have extra days of development before it kicks off its testing programme on Wednesday at Jerez.

"I don't think we've missed a great deal in that respect," Smith told AUTOSPORT about the Valencia test. "We always took the view that we'd rather keep going for another week with aero development.

"It's always difficult with limited testing but as long as we are ready to go the Jerez test with a car that will run then it's better for us tog go that little bit later.

"When you think about it, it is a bit different for us because someone else has already been running around with the same engine, gearbox and electronics and these are the things that traditionally are more likely to give you problems."

Smith also claimed that Force India has not seen anything in rival cars to make the team worried about is own prospects.

"There's a little bit of variety out there but predominantly we are happy," he said. "You will always see something on each car that makes you think 'that's interesting' but understanding how they work on your car is the key thing.

"We haven't looked at photos and thought ‘we've missed something significant' and we're excited to get down to Jerez."

The team will unveil its 2010 challenger tomorrow.

AUTOSPORT will provide in-depth coverage of the Force India event from tomorrow morning.

Piquet set for Trucks debut

By Diego Mejia

Monday, February 8th 2010, 15:06 GMT

Nelson Piquet Jr will make his NASCAR Racing debut next Friday in the Camping World Truck Series, Red Horse Racing announced on Monday.

As reported last month by AUTOSPORT, Piquet had been working on a deal to compete in the Truck series' season-opener for a while, having tested already twice, first at the Motor Mile last October and then almost a month ago at New Smyrna.

RHR officials have now confirmed the deal, but only for the first race of the season, where Piquet will drive the #1 Toyota Tundra, on his second race experience at Daytona.

The Brazilian completed his stock car debut last Saturday in the ARCA RE/MAX Series, running strongly in the early going of the event, having qualified seventh for series champion Eddie Sharp Racing.

After dropping back in the second half of the race when his car didn't fire up following a red flag period, he was able to charge back to contend for a top-ten finish, until further contact with a rival hampered his progress. He was still credited with a 27th place.

"It was great racing and I had a lot of fun and learned a tonne," said Piquet about his first stock car outing. "It was unfortunate that my car didn't restart after the red flag, but I still managed to have a good fight.

"ARCA is good racing, I look forward to doing more of it and now I can't wait for next Friday's Camping World Truck race at Daytona."

Red Horse Racing has not announced any further races with Piquet as it is still trying to sell sponsorship for his car, even for its maiden outing this week.

Button to kick off McLaren's Jerez test

By Jonathan Noble

Monday, February 8th 2010, 14:41 GMT

Jenson Button will kick off McLaren's testing programme at Jerez in Spain this week, his team has confirmed.

Button had his first try out of the new MP4-25 on the final day of the Valencia test last week, and will get two days running from this Wednesday to get himself better acquainted with his new surroundings.

Team-mate Lewis Hamilton will drive on the final two days of the test, taking over the car from Friday onwards.

Current weather forecasts suggest that Thursday may well be the only fully dry day of the test, with the week set to be hit by poor weather.

Patrick enters Daytona Nationwide

By Diego Mejia

Monday, February 8th 2010, 14:05 GMT

Danica Patrick will anticipate her NASCAR Nationwide debut, entering the series' season-opener at Daytona next Saturday.

The IndyCar star had initially set her first outing in the second-tier series for California in two weeks' time, but following a successful stock car debut last weekend in the ARCA RE/MAX Series at Daytona, JR Motorsports has now confirmed that she will enter the Nationwide event at the same venue.

"Racing in the Nationwide Series race was my goal during this entire two-month preparation process, but we wanted to make sure it was the right thing to do," said Patrick.

"The ARCA race was a blast, and I'm not ready for my first Daytona Speedweeks to end just yet. I want more racing."

The female racer impressed while driving her squad's #7 Chevrolet to sixth place in the ARCA event last Saturday, making a great recovery in the late stages of the 200-mile event, after contact while battling for position with rookie rival Nelson Piquet almost brought her highly-publicized stock car debut to an early end.

Next Saturday, Patrick will face a much tougher challenge than her ARCA debut though, as several Sprint Cup drivers will be in the field for what her boss Kelley Earnhardt described earlier this year as the toughest race of the Nationwide Series' calendar.

While Patrick drives the #7 car, which has the start guaranteed in the event, Dale Earnhardt Jr will be behind the wheel of JR Motorsports' #88 entry.

Prema signs Marroc for Euro Series

By Pablo Elizalde

Monday, February 8th 2010, 13:29 GMT

Prema Powerteam has announced Frenchman Nicolas Marroc will join the team for the Formula 3 Euro Series this year.

Twenty-three year-old Marroc joins Spaniard Daniel Juncadella, who also confirmed at the team earlier today.

Marroc competed in the German F3 Cup last season, finishing in 12th position.

"We're honoured Nicolas decided to join forces with us and we'll be doing our best to put him in the best possible conditions to prove his potential," said team boss Angelo Rosin.

"In 2009, he entered the German F3 Championship, a tough series where he made his way to the points zone several times. I'm persuaded that results will come naturally by working hard and with harmony, as we always do."

Hulkenberg expects no grace period

By Jonathan Noble

Monday, February 8th 2010, 12:47 GMT

Nico Hulkenberg is under no illusions that he must deliver from the very start of 2010, after claiming he is not expecting a grace period to get up to speed.

The German is fired up ahead of his debut F1 campaign and, although there is only a limited period of pre-season testing, he admits the target is to be on the pace from the very first race.

"That is the target, for sure," he explained. "There is nobody who says that you have five races to get up to speed, and to deliver. It is straightaway you have to be good.

"Williams expect me to deliver a good job, to drive quickly and do well for them. They would not appoint me as a driver if they didn't expect something from me. They have not said what that is in terms of numbers or results, but expectations are always there."

The GP2 champion completed his first run in the new FW32 at Valencia in Spain last week - as part of around seven days of testing that he will get before the season opener in Bahrain next month.

And although F1's testing restrictions are not ideal for preparing for a rookie season, Hulkenberg thinks he will be as well prepared as possible – especially after his strong title-winning GP2 campaign last year.

"I feel a lot more self confident and ready for F1," said Hulkenberg, about his feelings for 2010. "Doing a year in GP2 helped me quite significantly and made me better in all aspects. I enjoyed that year and I definitely feel ready now for this big task.

"I had a great year in 2009 and I didn't expect at all to be that competitive in GP2. I expected a very difficult year, but it turned out okay – and the second half of the season was mega.

"If I can adapt as quickly as I did in GP2, then it will be very good. The testing amount is not huge before the first race, but I will do my best to get there as quickly as possible."

Hulkenberg believes his chances of making a success of his debut campaign have also been boosted by the return of Michael Schumacher - who he thinks will keep the media off his own back.

"The main attention is on him for sure, but to be honest I feel quite comfortable like that at the moment. It means I can concentrate on my driving and working with the team. He gets all the big media attention and I am quite happy with that."

Hulkenberg enjoyed his first test working alongside team-mate Rubens Barrichello in Valencia, and he already feels that the Brazilian veteran's experience is a big boost to both him and Williams.

"For sure it will help me," he said. "We are very happy to have Rubens. Sitting with him in the debrief, with his input and his experience, you can really hear it when you talk to him. It is really good to have him."

Hulkenberg will drive the first two days of this week's test at Jerez in Spain, before handing the car over to Rubens Barrichello for the final two days.

Mikkelsen gets seven-rally Fiesta deal

By David Evans

Monday, February 8th 2010, 12:18 GMT

Andreas Mikkelsen will tackle a seven-round Intercontinental Rally Challenge programme in a Ford Fiesta S2000 this season.

The Norwegian, who became the youngest driver ever to score a World Rally Championship point when he finished fifth on the 2008 Swedish Rally, will start his IRC campaign on Rally d'Italia Sardinia in June.

He will then tackle Ypres, Barum, Asturias, Sanremo Scotland and Cyprus before the end of the year.

Competing on seven rounds ensures Mikkelsen the best possible chance of challenging for this year's IRC title in the Fiesta.

Mikkelsen, who makes his Fiesta debut on this week's WRC-opening Rally Sweden, said: "This is just fantastic. After I saw Mikko Hirvonen and M-Sport team compete and win on the car's debut in Monte Carlo, I'm sure we have the best package available. My goal is to fight for the [S2000 WRC] win in Rally Sweden, and podium finishes in all the IRC rounds.

M-Sport managing director Malcolm Wilson added: "It will be a pleasure to work with Andreas Mikkelsen. Although he's not more than 20 years old he has shown his qualities as a driver on top level.

"With Andreas behind the wheel of the new Ford Fiesta S2000 we are confident he will be challenging for podium finishes both in Rally Sweden and in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge this year."

Kaffer to race CRS's GT2 Ferrari

By Matt Beer

Monday, February 8th 2010, 11:43 GMT

Pierre Kaffer will contest the first two rounds of the Le Mans Series in the CRS team's GT2 Ferrari.

Former Audi LMP1 driver Kaffer - who won the Sebring 12 Hours during his stint in Champion's R8 in 2004 - raced for Ferrari's leading American Le Mans Series squad Risi Competizione last season and took a class win at Le Mans.

The 33-year-old German will join his former 2008 Farnbacher team-mate Pierre Ehret and Phil Quaife in the second CRS car for the Paul Ricard and Spa races. Team boss Andrew Kirkaldy and Tim Mullen will race the other CRS entry as the team moves across to the LMS from the FIA GT Championship.

"I have heard lots of positive things about CRS and I have known Andrew for a long time," said Kaffer. "It will be good to drive with Pierre again as we fit well together and I know we will have a lot of fun.

"From the outside the package looks good. Even though the entry list is very strong in GT2 this year I am confident we can have some good results."

Lola makes Indycar proposal

By Matt Beer

Monday, February 8th 2010, 11:26 GMT

Former Champ Car constructor Lola says it has made its pitch for the new generation Indycar to the Indy Racing League board and reckons it satisfies the board's list of requirements for the IndyCar Series' future.

Lola is up against existing IndyCar supplier Dallara, fellow ex-Champ Car builder Swift, and the new Delta Wing group in the race to produce the 2012 Indycar chassis.

A statement from the Huntingdon company said its car would offer a choice of two body styles.

"At the heart of Lola's presentation to the IRL Board was a carefully considered modern dual body style approach," said the Lola statement.

"This concept will provide two ready to race aero performance balanced Indycars that could compete even safer side by side and very close behind one another on all circuits. This would provide a unique focus for drivers, teams and fans alike without technical compromise or advantage and in addition would accommodate a dual engine supply situation if required.

"The proposed Lola Indycar for 2012 focuses on several key areas. These are safety, efficiency, engine adaptability, weight reduction (proposed 1380lbs v current 1540lbs), pleasing aesthetics with good sponsor exposure and a concentrated evaluation on significantly improving overtaking."

Lola added that it had decided against a radical approach for its final Indycar proposal.

"As part of the rigorous technical studies by Lola engineers, an entire range of futuristic concept cars were explored," it said.

"While these proved technically interesting and on the wish list of the special projects team, some of these options will be deferred, but retained, as a next iteration option."

Lola boss Martin Birrane hopes the company's strong US racing heritage will work in its favour.

"Lola's history in US racing stretches back to 1965 and includes three Indy 500 wins, Can Am, Sports Car and Champ Car title successes," he said.

"It is upon this framework of heritage combined today with Lola's state of the art technical capabilities that ensures the company continues to be perfectly positioned to enter a new era and add another chapter to this already fascinating and inspiring partnership."

Dallara issued the first images of its new concept proposal last Friday, while Delta Wing's design - which is backed by a group of leading IndyCar team owners - is due to be unveiled later this week.