Lotus F1 Racing Facilities

[Mark H]

Lotus F1 Racing's initial production and race team base will be at the established Racing Technology Norfolk (RTN) facility in the UK. The factory is conveniently located just 10 miles from the Group Lotus headquarters and will employ over 200 people by the start of 2010.

 

The team will also concurrently build a 1Malaysia F1 technical, R+D and manufacturing centre on an 8-hectare site to be purpose built at the Sepang International Circuit, home of the Malaysian Grand Prix.

 

In the initial stages of car development, the team has established technical partnerships with aerodynamics specialists Aerolab and Fondtech as well as gearbox specialists Xtrac. The team also collaborates with two Malaysian universities - Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP) for engineering and composites support.

 

As the team prepares for its debut season in Formula 1 in 2010, Lotus F1 Racing will operate from the 50,000 square foot facility in Hingham, UK, a fully equipped factory that will enable the team to face the challenges of an aggressive 'car build' programme.

 

An open plan design office with the capability of housing up to 70 designers exists on the first floor with conference facilities adjacent. This floor also houses the offices for management and the support functions of Information Technology and Health and Safety as well as other administration functions.

 

On the ground floor further offices for operational departments lie next to the machine shop which comprises Computer Numerical Control (CNC) mills and lathes as well as manual machining centres and support equipment. A composites function boasts two modern autoclaves one big enough for the largest of F1 carbon components and both a large pattern shop (including 5-axis router) and an impressive clean room for laminating key car parts. A fully equipped quality and inspection department is also on site which opens onto the race shop where the cars will be built, re-built and prepared for racing. The other race team support functions of sub-assembly, gearbox, hydraulics and electronics are all nearby.

 

A full program of servicing and calibration had been undertaken on all plant and machinery to ensure the highest of standards for the forthcoming challenges.

 

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