31/01/2012
Lotus has announced that it will back the German Kodewa team's LMP2 assault on the new FIA World Endurance Championship, as revealed by last week's AUTOSPORT magazine.
Kodewa, which ran the HRT Formula 1 operation in 2010-11, will campaign a pair of Lola B12/80 coupes under the Lotus banner. The cars will be powered by Lotus-badged BMW V8s developed by Engine Developments, which is also building the sportscar maker's IndyCar engine.
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Lotus's motorsport director Claudio Berro said the partnership with Kodewa was an ideal way for the group to take a step up the endurance racing ladder after returning to international sportscar racing in the GTE class with the Evora last year.
"This is a very exciting step for us," said Berro. "We made no secret of our intention to tackle LMP2 this year, but it had to be done in the right way. We're very happy with the set-up with our partners."
No drivers have been announced for the programme, which will begin with one car at the WEC opener at Sebring on March 17. A second car is due to come on stream at round two of the championship at Spa in May.
The team principal will be Romulus Kolles, father of team founder Colin. Kodewa ran Audi R10 TDIs at Le Mans in 2009-10.
Bron : autosport.com
