Lotus HVM Racing Wraps Sebring Test

Sebring, FL (Saturday, February 25, 2012) - Pre-season testing resumed for Lotus HVM Racing and the Lotus test team in Sebring, FL this Thursday and Friday. Lotus HVM Racing had their first independent test alongside the Lotus manufacturer test team.

Team Manager Shane Seneviratne was pleased with the progress the team made during their two days on track. "The team was pretty successful in its first outing with the car", he said. "We learned a lot about the chassis and engine package. Our relationship with Lotus continues to grow and strengthen. Simona, as usual, was very good with feedback which has been instrumental in developing the car. I'd like to thank everyone on the team for their hard work. It's been a difficult month and I appreciate all their efforts."

Driver Simona De Silvestro was equally optimistic at the end of the day. "I think it was a good first test with the HVM car," she said. "Everybodywas in race mode and we made a lot of improvements. I think we still have a long way to go, but I think if we keep progressing like we did these two days we should be ready for St. Pete."

As good as the test was team owner Keith Wiggins knows there's still a lot of work to be done before the first race. "We were able to get two good days of running. Obviously there's still a lot to do in a small amount of time," he said. "Most of the time here was spent on engine mapping and testing, but we also made solid progress with our first opportunity to work with the HVM specific chassis. We're still in the early days with plenty of development to do, but we've had a very good start."

The team moves to Barber Motorsports Park next week and anticipates continuing the progress made at Sebring.

For photos from the test visit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/75530607@N07/sets/72157629078410846/

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.

About Lotus
For further details on Lotus Motorsport and Group Lotus please visit our dedicated media site www.lotusnewera.com using the following details:

User name: media
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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

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.