The new Lotus Racing team have today announced the appointment of two of the team's shareholders has Deputy Team Principals.
Team Principal Tony Fernandes confirmed that S M Nasarudin and Dato' Kamarudin Meranun will be joining his leadership team, as Lotus fight to be the best of the newcomers this season.
The Lotus Cosworth T127 was launched last Friday, and Tony Fernandes explained how this new management structure would help the team to be competitive in the coming season. “Our goals and objectives are clear but … 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.”
S M Nasarudin shares the owner's optimism, but is also not complacent. “We made this dream possible, turning it from a simple Malaysian dream to reality. 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.”
Dato' Kamarudin Meranun also shares the sentiments of his colleagues. “We still have a long road ahead and who knows what the future holds, but we are underway and we just have do the best we can. We have delivered a great product in such a short time period, in one of the most competitive motors-sports platform in the world, and I strongly believe we have the drive, determination and most importantly the passion to see it through – God willing.”
The team will be under the engineering guidance of Mike Gascoyne from their headquarters in Hingham, Norfolk. The new car's first test will be at the FIA session in Jerez, with starts on Wednesday.
