T127 to appear at Classic Team Lotus Festival

The latest car to bear the Lotus name in F1 has been invited to join its predecessors for a celebration of the marque at Snetterton next month.
Thursday Practice1, Heikki Kovalainen (FIN), Lotus Racing, T127
Thursday Practice1, Heikki Kovalainen (FIN), Lotus Racing, T127
© PHOTO 4

Lotus Racing has confirmed that its 2010 challenger, the T127, will be running at the Classic Team Lotus Festival at Snetterton next month, with Jarno Trulli, Heikki Kovalainen and Fairuz Fauzy all appearing.

The announcement adds to an already packed bill for the 20 June event, which will see an example of every single car Lotus raced in F1 between 1957-94 on track together.

"I want to say what a fantastic job Clive Chapman and everyone at Classic Team Lotus have done, not just with the upcoming event but also to keep so many dreams alive on tracks around the world," current Lotus Racing boss Tony Fernandes said, "The Festival is going to be a great event - very emotional for many of those attending, and a great way to celebrate the Lotus motorsport heritage.

"We are very honoured to have been invited and I know the whole team is looking forward to seeing the UK fans, and spending a bit of time with the cars and people that helped create the Lotus legend. We're running one of our cars as well, so people can see how the story has come full circle - in the meantime, I'd urge every Lotus fan, and anyone who loves motorsport, to make sure they're at Snetterton on the 20 June."

The Festival falls between the Montreal and Valencia races, and is especially well timed for Lotus Racing, as the team will be celebrating the 500th F1 race the famous marque has competed in when the series returns to Europe.

"I was very lucky when I joined Lotus Racing because Clive Chapman gave me a tour around the Classic Team Lotus workshops and the cars they had in there at the time," Kovalainen admitted, "It's impossible to go around there and not be very touched by the history and the stories, and now we're doing our bit to keep that legend alive, so it'll be a great privilege to see all the cars and the fans who've supported our predecessors since day one at the Festival, and a great way to warm up for Valencia."

Jarno Trulli is also excited about the opportunity to see so much history at one track, saying 'anyone who loves motorsport would want to go to the Festival'.

"There's going to be so many famous cars there, legendary cars that shaped the way F1 works now, and it's very rare to have the chance to see so much history in one place," the Italian veteran noted, "We're obviously very focused on our first season, but this is exactly the sort of event we look forward to as it's all about celebrating where Lotus Racing comes from - frankly, it's an honour to have been invited."

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