Lotus Indy engine turns first laps

UPDATE Related article on IndyCar.com. Shows another photo of the Lotus Black and Gold livery.

01/13/12

Famous Black and Gold John Player Lotus livery

At the Palm Beach International Raceway complex, the Lotus IndyCar engine turned its first laps on Thursday.

With the first design work beginning last year in mid-February by John Judd’s Engine Developments Limited on behalf of Lotus, the 2.2-liter, twin-turbo V6 engine completed almost a dozen laps in the hands of HVM Racing’s Simona de Silvestro.

With members of Lotus and the EDL team looking on, the Lotus-powered Dallara DW12 met all of its objectives during the shakedown.

“I’d say, overall, things have gone very well," Judd told SPEED.com. “The car fires up, goes round and round, changes gear…it brakes. In terms of all the major boxes we had to tick, we accomplished it today. For our first shakedown day, it has all gone very well, so far."