Something From The Weekend…Group Lotus Motorsport Review

Lotus Renault GP – F1 Spanish Grand Prix, Barcelona: Lotus-Renault GP blasted from the back of the grid into the points after a dramatic exhaust fire saw Nick Heidfeld running from his car in Saturday morning's practice and unable to take part in qualifying. Starting dead last he employed a three-stop strategy and tore through the field to finish eighth, less than half a second behind Nico Rosberg.

Lotus-Renault GP blasted from the back of the grid into the points after a dramatic exhaust fire saw Nick Heidfeld running from his car in Saturday morning's practice and unable to take part in qualifying. Starting dead last he employed a three-stop strategy and tore through the field to finish eighth, less than half a second behind Nico Rosberg.

Eric Boullier, LRGP team principal, commented: "I think frustrated is the right word to describe Vitaly's result, because yesterday he could have been even faster on his qualifying lap. And then today, even when he was in a promising position at sixth on the grid, he dropped down some places, which was not what we expected. On the other hand, we are happy for Nick who came from the back of the grid to finish in eighth. He was chasing both Mercedes in the final lap, and he almost finished ahead of Nico (Rosberg), so all in all he had a good race."

Lotus ART - GP2 Series – Barcelona: Trouble started for the Lotus-ART team before the racing had got underway, with Jules Bianchi being stripped of his pole position for ignoring yellow flags in qualifying. He was bumped down to 11th. Despite losing places at the first corner after making contact with Luiz Razia, he went on to finish seventh putting him on the front row for Sunday's sprint race. But his luck ran out before Turn 1 when he moved across on Guido van der Garde and put them both out in spectacular fashion. Jules was taken to the medical centre for checks but is confirmed as fit and well.

Esteban Gutierrez qualified 16th for Race 1 but fought his way through the field and caught up with his team-mate. He was gunning for a points position when he attempted to pass 11th placed Michael Herck at Turn 5. Misjudging Herck's braking, he t-boned the Romanian, finishing both their races. Esteban was penalized ten places for Race 2, starting from 25th, the penultimate grid slot. Once again he fought through the field and once again traded paint with Herck down at Turn 12, but this time the damage was minor and the Mexican finished the race 12th.

Lotus-ART team principal Frederic Vasseur commented: "The pole position of Julius was superb and it is regrettable a severe penalty has ruined his performance. Suddenly, a weekend that held so much promise turned into a nightmare. But I'm not worried, Lotus-ART and its pilots have the potential to aim for the top step of the podium will be our goal Monaco."

KVRT Lotus - IndyCar – Indianapolis 500 Qualifying, Indianapolis: KV Racing Technology-Lotus will have three cars in the field for the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500. In Saturday's qualifying session, Takuma Sato posted a four-lap average speed of 225.736mph around the legendary 2.5 mile Brickyard to line up tenth for next weekend's race. This will be his second 500. EJ Viso, on his fourth visit to Indiana's super speedway, enjoyed his best qualifying result yet with 18th. Nine-times Indy veteran Tony Kanaan, who is considered one of the greatest drivers to never win the race, lines up 23rd of the 33 cars. His best result in the 500 mile race was second in 2004.

KRTV-Lotus co-owner Jimmy Vasser commented: "I am really proud of the whole team and all the work that was done. You can see how difficult it is to get all your cars in the field solid and how important it is to get them all in on the first day."

Lotus Driving Academy - GT4 Blancpain Endurance Series 2011, Navarra: The Lotus Driving Academy GT4 Team achieved their first race win in Blancpain Endurance Series 2011 event in Navarra, Spain, this weekend. The all Swiss driver line-up of Lorenz Frey, Rolf Maritz and Fredy Barth celebrated the first race win for Lotus Driving Academy in Spain after Fredy Barth qualified the LDA Lotus Evora GT4 in Pole Position and a great combination of driver performance and team work saw Lorenz Frey crossing the line in P1 after an exciting three hour race.

After a successful championship opening race (P2) in Monza Lotus Driving Academy is now leading the team championship followed by Lotus Sport Italia.

Commenting on the weekend's results Claudio Berro, Group Lotus Director of Motorsport, said: "It's been another strong showing for Lotus, even though we don't have the podiums across the board to prove it – but that's motorsport. Vitaly Petrov proved once again in qualifying trim at the R31 F1 car is competitive, qualifying on the third row, and I was hugely impressed to see Nick Heidfeld finish where he did.In GP2, Jules Bianchi was unlucky to lose his pole position. And next weekend is going to be very exciting as Lotus returns to Indianapolis, where we have enjoyed much success in the past. A special mention needs to go to the Lotus Driving Academy GT4 Team who achieved their first race win at Navarra in the Blancpain Endurance race."