The Lotus E22 will take to the track at Jerez
Before making its big debut in Bahrain, the Lotus E22 will have its first run at the end of the week in Jerez, where the British team has decided to hold its two mandatory promotional days.
If its official launch is expected during the second winter testing session in Bahrain from February 19 to 22 (which you can follow live and in full on MotorsInside), the Lotus E22 will not be completely new when arriving in the Middle East. Indeed, the Italian publication Autosprint reports that the Lotus team will run the new car for two days, on February 7 and 8, during so-called promotional filming days.
The sporting regulations of the season /f1/actualite/16916-rob-white-revient-sur-les-problemes-rencontres-par-renault.html (article 22.1 paragraph 2) specifies the regime applied to this type of tests: « Each competitor will be permitted to take part in two Promotional Events with [cars from the 2013, /f1/actualite/16916-rob-white-revient-sur-les-problemes-rencontres-par-renault.html and 2015 seasons] which will not be considered as current car tests. A Promotional Event can be defined as an event in which a competitor takes part solely for promotional or commercial considerations. None of these tests may exceed 100km and only tires specially designed for these considerations by the manufacturer can be used. »
Thus, if the Lotus E22 cannot cover more than 200 km (or a maximum of 46 laps of the Andalusian track) over these two days without using the tires from the season, these days will undoubtedly be crucial for Enstone and Renault. The French manufacturer will indeed face its first running following the disastrous session from January 28 to 31 during which several problems prevented the cars equipped with a hybrid block from the diamond brand from doing much running.
The opportunity perhaps for Lotus to debut the two-pronged aerodynamic solution presented on January 24th on two 3D images, which Charlie Whiting recently explained had been deemed legal. Romain Grosjean (#8) and Pastor Maldonado (#13) should be at the wheel of the E22 during these two days.
On the organizational chart side of the Enstone structure, after [Eric Boullier’s departure to McLaren](#) the favorite to succeed the Frenchman seems to be Martin Whitmarsh, [although several candidates have been approached](#). Currently, [Gérard Lopez holds the position of team director](#).
