1mrt To Prepare Two F1 Cars For Lotus F1 Racing

[Mark H]

NORFOLK, (UNITED KINGDOM), Nov 4 (Bernama) -- 1Malaysia Racing Team (1MRT) Sdn Bhd will assemble two Formula One (F1) cars for the Lotus F1 Racing Team before the 2010 World F1 Championship season opening in Bahrain in March next year.

 

The company's chief operating officer, Keith Saunt, said the chassis of the cars were being manufactured in Germany and the nose, side-impact structures, gearbox parts, front and rear suspension would be ready by end of this month.

 

He said his team needed eight weeks to assemble all the parts before the cars were ready for testing in February.

 

"By end of November, 14 of our experts will assemble all the parts here, at the Lotus F1 racing plant, and by February next year, the cars will be ready for pre-season testing at the Sepang circuit," he told Bernama here Tuesday.

 

A group of Malaysian reporters, together with Youth and Sports minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek visited the Lotus F1 racing facility at Hingham, here, Tuesday.

 

The team will be based here before moving to its new headquarters at the Sepang International Circuit, which is expected to be ready in two years.

 

Saunt said the new ruling of the Federation of International Automobile (FIA) required the F1 team for 2010 to prepare only two cars for any race.

 

Previously, an F1 team needed three cars -- for the first driver, second or test driver and a reserve car.

 

"All together, we need about 220 crew members at the plant here in Hingham before the car can be ready for the grid at the Bahrain circuit in March," he said.

 

Saunt said the team needed 30 to 35 pit crew members, including the publicity corps which would travel with the team for the whole 18 series of the F1 world championship around the globe.

 

He said that at the moment, the biggest challenge was to find the best aerodynamic parts surface, especially for the nose and wings of the machine.

 

"That's why we keep on testing the parts at the wind-tunnel in Italy, to get the best aerodynamics structure for the car."

 

The Lotus F1 racing plant, located at Racing Technology Norfolk (RTN) here is just 20km from the Lotus Group Hhadquarters.

 

The two-storey plant with a ground floor area of about 50 sq metres houses, among others, the offices for the management and office space for 70 designers involved in the project.

 

Saunt said that as the plant had been abandoned for 20 months without any project, it would take a minor adjustment to update the facilities with the latest technology.

 

On the ground floor, there were several machines including two modern autoclaves big enough for the largest of F1 carbon components, pattern shop, quality and inspection department, sub-assembly for gearbox, hydraulics and electronics.

 

Meanwhile one of the 1MRT directors, Datuk Kamaruddin Meranun, said the company would support whatever it takes to make the Malaysian F1 cars a reality.

 

"If the FIA's regulation needs us to prepare four cars, we will prepare four cars. All we want is the best machine that will make the country proud.

 

"That includes the daily testing at the wind-tunnel in Italy which cost us lots of cash. But we want the best aerodyamics parts for the cars, one of the aspects that will ensure that we'll be a winning team, not just a participating team," he said.

 

1Malaysia Racing Team is a privately-funded project jointly owned by Tune Group and Naza Group.

 

Tune Group is jointly owned by 1Malaysia Racing team principal Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes and Datuk Kamarudin Meranun as the team's director.

 

Other directors of the team are the Naza Group chief executive officer SM Nasarudin SM Nasimuddin and Zahri Ismail.

 

Lotus Cars is currently owned by Proton Holdings Berhad which took over the British sports and racing carmaker in 1994.

 

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