Is Lotus Having Trouble Delivering DW12 Engines?

Lotus Dragon Racing teammates Sebastien Bourdais and Katherine Legge compare notes during the spring session for IZOD IndyCar Series teams held at Sebring, Florida. Image Credit: Dave Lewandowski via IZOD IndyCar Series

Is Lotus Having Trouble Delivering DW12 Engines?

Is the first race of the season through the streets of Saint Petersburg in jeopardy for teams that use the newest of engines developed for use in the IZOD IndyCar Series for 2012?

These are the kind of questions that arise when one sees a Tweet communication on Twitter like the one that follows:

brant james@brantjames - Says SebastIen Bourdais: he expects to race in @GPSTPETE #indycar but his Dragon Racing car currently no Lotus engine. Disconcerting? yes.

Lotus Dragon Racing driver, Katherine Legge during the Sebring spring test session. Image Credit: LAT via IZOD IndyCar Series

Is this just an issue with Seabass's DW12 or is this portend a wider problem with Lotus Dragon Racing and will this effect the second car on the team, the TrueCar sponsored DW12 driven by Kathrine Legge?

Lotus Bryan Herta Autosport's Alex Tagliani in his Barracuda Networks sponsored DW12 during the Sebring spring test session. Image Credit: LAT via IZOD IndyCar Series

Will this situation effect the rest of the teams (Bryan Herta Autosport, Lotus Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, Lotus HVM Racing) that are using the Lotus/Judd 2.2 litre turbo-charged power plant?

If Lotus engines are in short supply, how will this potential situation play out for the "Lotus Legion" for the balance of the 2012 season?

Just askin'!

UPDATE: This excerpted and edited from Autoweek -

Bourdais, a four-time Champ Car champion embarking on a full-time IndyCar season, told Autoweek that as of Wednesday morning, Lotus had not provided an engine for his car. He is entered for the Sunday race. He said he expects to participate. But he also expected to have an engine by now.

Teammate Katherine Legge's engine is scheduled, he said, to arrive on Wednesday (it is assumed this engine arrived).

“The only question mark is mine,” Bourdais said. “We don't know. They haven't given us a date yet. That is the big question mark. The team is ready. The car is ready. It's just a matter of putting something in it that will get the car moving forward.”

Bourdais said team owner Jay Penske is “a victim in all this.” “[Lotus] told us they would have seven or eight engines by the first race. But since my engine is coming . . . I don't know when, either there are spare engines they don't want to give to us or they don't have any engines at all,” Bourdais added. “And that I don't know.” Dragon received just one engine during spring testing at Sebring International Raceway--and not until Wednesday night of the four-day session--severely limiting both Bourdais and Legge's test time.

“It definitely doesn't get us anywhere near where we want to be,” Bourdais said, adding that he and Dragon “expect nothing” results-wise from the opening weeks of the season. Bourdais said his team is funded for a full campaign, but he will not race at Milwaukee on June 16 because of a commitment to race in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
[Reference Here]

UPDATE #2 - Thursday night, approximately 8:00PM PT

Edmund Jenks @TheEDJE
RT @JennaFryer: Word on the street is Bourdais got his Lotus tonight #indycar #lotus #ccws #gpstpete #dragonracing

... notes from The EDJE

The Lotus Legion Grows Its Reach Into The ALMS

The 2012 Lotus Evora GTE will make its public on track debut on April 14 at the Toyota Long Beach Grand Prix. Image Credit: Group Lotus via AutoWeek

The Lotus Legion Grows Its Reach Into The ALMS

Alex Job Racing and Group Lotus will be joining forces in a partnership to compete the Lotus Evora GTE in the 2012 American Le Mans Series (ALMS) GT Class. Due the the lateness of the announcement, the agreement will have the effort miss the first race of the season at the 12 Hours of Sebring (March 17), but the good news for "Angelinos" is that they will debut at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach!

Group Lotus CEO Dany Bahar said, “We are focused on winning. Alex Job has one of the best records in sports-car racing. We look forward to working together and developing a top-tier team over the coming years. Racing is a core component of the Lotus brand, and we are thrilled to have this new partnership to further enhance our winning racing heritage.”

The team will be officially addressed as Lotus Alex Job Racing (or Lotus AJR) and this partnership marks the first time Lotus has participated in factory form in the ALMS. Team captain Alex Job confirmed that part-time Izod IndyCar Series racer Townsend Bell will drive the team's one-car effort, teaming up with AJR driver Bill Sweedler.

“I am excited to announce the racing partnership between Lotus and Alex Job Racing in North America,” team leader and namesake, Alex Job said. “Our efforts and ability to attract Lotus is a testament to the hard work that AJR has put in over the past several years. This partnership, along with our key sponsors William Rast, Battery Tender, and Yokohama represent a new chapter for our seasoned organization and for the ALMS."

“Bill Sweedler, Townsend Bell, and William Rast CEO - Colin Dyne played the key role in forging this long-term relationship with Lotus," Job continued. "We collectively look forward to representing this iconic sports-car brand for years to come in GT racing.”

The Evora GTE will be powered by a 4.0-liter V6 Toyota engine featuring Cosworth electronic controls, with redline set at 7,000 rpm. The engine produces 470 hp and 328-lb.-ft. of torque. The racing version of the car weighs 2,740 lbs, and it features a six-speed sequential Xtrac gearbox with a paddle-shift option.

Townsend Bell added, “Having the chance to represent such a great brand like Lotus is simply awesome. The fact that I get to work with one of the best teams in sports-car racing is icing on the cake. I'm really fired-up to work with Lotus AJR and Bill in what will undoubtedly be a great adventure. Time to buckle up!”
(ht: AutoWeek)

This spring, Long Beach will feature the largest gathering of factory teams sponsored by Group Lotus anywhere in the world ... ever - certainly in the modern era. We will see the first year IZOD IndyCar Series teams announced to date of Lotus HVM, Lotus Bryan Herta Autosport, Lotus Dragon Racing (IZOD IndyCar's only West coast located team), and Lotus Dreyer and Reinbold Racing (running the turbo-charged Lotus/Judd Indy Car engine) join ALMS's Lotus Alex Job Racing competing on the streets and Shoreline Drive straightaway at Long Beach, California, April 13-15, 2012. Welcome the era of the Lotus Legion in American motorsports racing.

... notes from The EDJE


** Article first published as The Lotus Legion Grows Its Reach Into The ALMS on Technorati **