Best Finish of the Season for Lotus HVM Racing
Detroit, MI (Sunday, June 03, 2012) - Starting at the back of the field, due to an engine change penalty, the Lotus HVM #78 Nuclear Clean Air Energy car and driver Simona De Silvestro had their work cut out for them at today's Detroit Chevrolet Belle Isle Grand Prix. After struggling with engine issues for the first five races of the season, today's finish of 13th was a welcome outcome for the team. De Silvestro drove a strong consistent race, finishing 12 spots higher than her starting position.
"I think we can be pretty happy because we finished the race," De Silvestro said, "and the guys worked really hard the whole weekend to get the car turned around. We had a really strong race car; we just have to work on the engine side. It's still not where we want it to be. I hope we'll get some updates for the next couple of races. I think if we were where the other engines are we'd be running in the top 10 easily and maybe even going for top fives. That's the frustrating part of it, but we're going to keep working hard at it."
Strategy and good driving were the keys to the team's great finish. The team engineers called for an early pit stop on lap 11 setting the stage for De Silvestro's race forward. De Silvestro ran as high as 11th and was running 13th when the team completed their second pit stop of the day on lap 37.
De Silvestro was running 16th when the race was red flagged on lap 45 due to issues with the track. After a lengthy delay, the race resumed around 6:45 p.m. On-track incidents brought out a couple of yellow flags in the final 15 laps giving De Silvestro the opportunity to move back up to 13th before the race was called on lap 60.
Team owner, Keith Wiggins was pleased with the team's performance. "It was hard work for a 13th place finish," he said, "but on the good side, the crew did a really good job on the strategy even though we had less fuel consumption than the other guys. Simona drove a really great intelligent race. The reliability was better so that's a step forward and if we can get a bit more horsepower then we'll be looking good."
Shane Seneviratne, team manager was excited about the final result. "Finally we got a good race under our belt," he said. "Simona did a great job, the crew did a great job and we had a really good car. Lotus has stepped up a little bit, so thanks to everyone involved. We're looking forward to moving this program forward."
Lotus HVM Racing heads to Texas next weekend to tackle the second oval and first night race of the season. The race will air on NBC Sports Network Saturday, June 9 at 8:00 p.m. ET.
About HVM Racing
HVM Racing was founded by Keith Wiggins and is based in Indianapolis, Indiana. HVM enters 2011 as its tenth year of competition since forming in 2001 and has earned six victories, two pole positions, and an additional 16 podiums. They earned "Indianapolis Rookie of the Year" honors with driver Simona De Silvestro at the 2010 event and since joining the IZOD INDYCAR Series in 2008, the team has earned nine top-10 finishes. HVM finished fourth and third, respectively, in the Champ Car World Series in 2006 and 2007, and earned drivers Mario Dominguez and Robert Doornbos Rookie of the Year honors in 2002 and 2007, respectively. Follow HVM Racing at www.hvmracing.com, on twitter at www.twitter.com/HVMracing, and on facebook at www.facebook.com/HVMRacing.
HVM Racing was founded by Keith Wiggins and is based in Indianapolis, Indiana. HVM enters 2011 as its tenth year of competition since forming in 2001 and has earned six victories, two pole positions, and an additional 16 podiums. They earned "Indianapolis Rookie of the Year" honors with driver Simona De Silvestro at the 2010 event and since joining the IZOD INDYCAR Series in 2008, the team has earned nine top-10 finishes. HVM finished fourth and third, respectively, in the Champ Car World Series in 2006 and 2007, and earned drivers Mario Dominguez and Robert Doornbos Rookie of the Year honors in 2002 and 2007, respectively. Follow HVM Racing at www.hvmracing.com, on twitter at www.twitter.com/HVMracing, and on facebook at www.facebook.com/HVMRacing.
About Lotus
Group Lotus plc, is based in Norfolk, UK, and has three operating divisions: Lotus Cars, Lotus Engineering and Lotus Motorsport.
Group Lotus plc, is based in Norfolk, UK, and has three operating divisions: Lotus Cars, Lotus Engineering and Lotus Motorsport.
Lotus Cars builds world class, high performance sports cars including the award-winning Evora, the iconic Elise and the stunning Exige and the road / track orientated 2-Eleven. Lotus New Era, the future product line-up, was unveiled in Paris on 30th September 2010 featuring the new Esprit, Elan, Elite, Elise and Eterne.
Lotus Engineering provides comprehensive and versatile consultancy services to many of the world's OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers and is an internationally recognised automotive engineering consultancy. Global facilities include those in the US, Malaysia, China and offices in Germany and Japan. Lotus is a global high-tech company, committed to driving forward technology for both Lotus Cars and its Engineering clients, spearheading research into such areas as hybrids, electric vehicles and renewable fuels.
Lotus Motorsport operates the motorsports activities of Lotus and includes the strategy to return the Lotus name to a great number of series including endurance racing with GT2, GT4 and LMP2, single seater racing with GP2, GP3 and IndyCar. Lotus has also returned to F1 with Lotus Renault GP from the start of the 2011 F1 racing season onwards.
For more information about Group Lotus please contact:
PR Department, Group Lotus plc, Potash Lane, Hethel, Norfolk, UK, NR14 8EZ
Tel: +44 (0)1953 608264 Email: pr@lotuscars.com
PR Department, Group Lotus plc, Potash Lane, Hethel, Norfolk, UK, NR14 8EZ
Tel: +44 (0)1953 608264 Email: pr@lotuscars.com
About Entergy
Entergy is the second largest owner and operator of U.S. nuclear energy plants. They operate or provide management services to 12 reactors at 10 sites. Entergy Corporation is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity and delivers electricity to 2.7 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy has annual revenues of more than $11 billion and more than 15,000 employees. Follow at www.NuclearCleanAirEnergy.com and www.entergy-nuclear.com; on Twitter at www.twitter.com/EntergyNuclear and www.twitter/NuclearCleanAir, and on facebook at www.facebook.com/Nuclear Clean Air Energy.
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Entergy is the second largest owner and operator of U.S. nuclear energy plants. They operate or provide management services to 12 reactors at 10 sites. Entergy Corporation is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity and delivers electricity to 2.7 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy has annual revenues of more than $11 billion and more than 15,000 employees. Follow at www.NuclearCleanAirEnergy.com and www.entergy-nuclear.com; on Twitter at www.twitter.com/EntergyNuclear and www.twitter/NuclearCleanAir, and on facebook at www.facebook.com/Nuclear Clean Air Energy.