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Lotus E20

Mario Andretti Takes First Lap at COTA Opening Ceremony

Media and invited guests assemble on Circuit of The Americas' starting grid

An electrifying day at Circuit of The Americas on Sunday as invited guests and media endured the Texas heat, albeit mid-October, to christen the circuit with a "First Lap" opening ceremony.

Official Formula 1 tire supplier Pirelli was on hand and did an excellent job of giving members of local media their first taste of a world class motorsports venue. Pirelli signage was evident on the track, branded baseball caps were given away to guests, four Pirelli Grid Girls shuffled around with F1 celebrities, and a large Pirelli branded hospitality tent, a staple at motorsports facilities, informally greeted guests when they stepped off the shuttle in the parking lot.

The Pirelli tent was our first stop. Inside, a Lotus F1 Team R30 sat on display for everyone to Facebook/Tweet/Instagram their photos. A small group of about 30 gathered inside the tent and were snapping photos non-stop. I stood behind four younger gentleman adorning black-embroidered Pirelli polos. As they watched two men battle it out on a racing simulator, I took a closer look and realized it was Jérôme d'Ambrosio taking on Patrick Dempsey.

Thankfully I contained my shreik of excitement and reached for my camera. As I tried to overtake the group (see what I did there?), one of them turned to me and said, "Okay, we know who McDreamy is, but who is the other one?" I informed them of Jérôme's position as Lotus F1 Team Third Driver and explained that he was the only current F1 driver in attendance that day. They asked why Dempsey was here, assumingly as an actor, and I shared that he is a professional racing driver and team owner, currently competing in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series and drove in the Petit Le Mans race in Atlanta over the weekend. They stood up straight and may have reached for their camera phones behind my back.

We wandered about the northern quarter of the Pit/Paddock and wove in and out of a few touring cars on display. We came across the Lotus F1 Team tent showcasing the black and gold cars du jour: a 2010 R30 and a 1978 Lotus 79. The Lotus F1 Team was welcoming and warm; most guests carefully walking around the parameter of the Lotus tent for the first half of the afternoon, afraid they were stepping into restricted, canopied space. However, as the day wore on and guests realized they could slip off their shoes and climb into the R30 (photo op!), the tent quickly became a favored hotspot. 

All of the cars lined up on the grid as drivers were interviewed for the ceremonial day. The majority of media surrounded America's last Formula 1 World Champion, Mario Andretti, as he stood at the nose of his 1978 John Player Special Lotus 79 Cosworth. Although he was scheduled to run the R30, the Lotus F1 Team fired up the Lotus 79 for Mario after the "Ribbon Cutting" ceremony, as the former had engine problems. In this video, Mario describes what it is like to get behind the wheel on a new track before we watch him take off from the starting grid.

Mario Andretti Completes The First Laps of COTA from The Austin Grand Prix on Vimeo.

After the flying laps, Mario piloted his Lotus back to the team's staging area. He had a few minutes to chat and I wanted to hear his opinion of the circuit from a driver's perspective.

Mario Andretti at the COTA First Lap Ceremony from The Austin Grand Prix on Vimeo.

It was such an honor to speak with Mario after this momentous occasion. In tomorrow's post, we'll share interviews with the opening ceremony's Host, Bob Varsha of SPEED, and Jérôme d'Ambrosio of Lotus F1 Team. F1 drivers in the New Delhi paddock this weekend will gain valuable insight from their colleague's perspective.

// Click HERE to view a gallery of our images from the First Lap Opening Ceremony.

 

Mario Andretti To Drive First Laps of COTA

Tomorrow afternoon, Mario Andretti, Patrick Dempsey, and Jerome D'Ambrosio will pilot the 2010 Lotus R30 around Circuit of The Americas as the first Formula 1 car to test the completed track. With just under one month to go until the inaugural F1 USGP in Austin, the first hot laps of the track will mark the official ribbon cutting ceremony of COTA and kick off the countdown to the November 18th race. 

Mario Andretti, 1978 Formula 1 World Champion and an Ambassador for Circuit of The Americas, will "cut" the ribbon by conducting the first laps of the circuit. This will be Mario's first time behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car in nearly 20 years since his departure from the sport. Beginning in June this year, Andretti has acted as an ambassador for the Circuit, working with COTA to promote the future home of Formula 1 in America.  Revered as an American motorsports legend, Andretti is the only driver in history to win a Formula 1 World Championship, NASCAR's Daytona 500, and IndyCar's premiere event, the Indianapolis 500.

Along with Andretti, actor Patrick Dempsey, known to most of the American audience for his part in the ABC TV series "Grey's Anatomy," will also take the Lotus R30 around COTA for a few laps. Dempsey, an avid motorsports enthusiast both operates a Grand-Am and American LeMans racing team, Dempsey Racing, and competes behind the wheel in races such as the 24 Hours of LeMans.

Jerome D'Ambrosio, reserve driver for the Lotus F1 Team, will join Andretti and Dempsey to take the R30 around COTA as the first licensed F1 driver to officially pilot the track. Additional guests for the afternoon's event include Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell, Texas Comptroller Susan Combs, Commissioner Margaret Gomez, and Pirelli CEO Marco Tronchetti Povera, all of whom will help welcome the first official lap of COTA.

Also on the itinerary is a showing of various race cars who will be competing at COTA in 2013. With Grand-Am, V8 Supercars, and MotoGP already announced for early 2013, this should mean we'll see at least one of each of these taking a spin around COTA. Pirelli is also outfitting 25 vintage race cars with their P-Zero tires to do a special on-track demonstration. Hopefully this means they'll fill up the grid and show off some action on track in a short race, but we'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out for sure.

Join us tomorrow as we'll be live tweeting the event from on the ground via Twitter: @AustinGrandPrix.

Lotus E20 Emerges

Jérôme d’Ambrosio, Romain Grosjean, Eric Boullier and Kimi Räikkönen proudly present the Lotus E20

Lotus had a rough morning today as millions of fans around the world tuned in to see the live launch of the 2012 car, dubbed the E20. But the information now emerging makes the technical difficulties seem trivial given what looks to be a very promising design with great potential for the 2012 season.

Lotus is receiving well-deserved praise from the F1 community for developing a very good looking car, and we share the sentiment. The now common platypus nose was mitigated well by the Lotus team, and the overall shape of the car is quite pleasing. We'll see how the new design translates to performance on the track beginning with testing on Tuesday in Jerez, Spain.

Backed by two championship winning drivers for 2012 - former F1 champ Kimi Räikkönen and GP2 Champ Romain Grosjean - Lotus' new driver lineup could help propel the team into a top tier finish, elevating the Lotus brand into the spotlight.  Kimi's return to the sport has drawn attention to the team as many hope to see the 'Flying Finn' back on the podium this season. The hope is for both drivers' experience to translate team synergy into points, providing serious competition across the F1 grid.

Lotus published a video on their YouTube Channel, which includes a twenty minute presentation of the launch and interviews with many of the key players in the team: Kimi Räikkönen, Romain Grosjean, reserve driver Jérôme d’Ambrosio, and team principal Eric Boullier. It offers great insight into the team's operations and a rare glimpse at the magnitude of the operations of an F1 constructor; be sure to check it out.

The website refresh is also live, including more press releases, media and fan interaction. Many of the teams are implementing more web-based and social media efforts for real time fan interaction - which we LOVE. Since Americans rely largely on the internet for our live F1 news and entertainment, we hope F1 teams continue to pursue and develop this channel for fans.

Off-Season Optimism: Livery Launches

"Where are the cars, Dad?"F1 off-season runs from November to March, which is often a painstaking time for an F1 fan in the absence of their beloved sport. But petrol heads are coming out of hibernation as teams begin to launch their livery for the 2012 season.

When referring to F1 cars, “Livery” is the distinct color scheme or emblem(s) related to the team. For example (and I'm simplifying), Ferrari is red; Red Bull is blue, red and yellow; Force India is orange, white and green (mimicking the Indian flag), and so on. As with just about every aspect of F1, there are rules and regulations pertaining to the teams and their livery established by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile ("FIA," the governing body for world motor sport). Here are the highlights:

(Reminder: Each team has two drivers. And some have test drivers. More on this later.)

-Every car must clearly display its driver's race number on the front of the car. The driver's number is published by the FIA at the beginning of the F1 season.

-The team's name or emblem must appear on the front of the nose of the car and must be "at least 25mm in its largest dimension."

-The driver's name must appear on the external bodywork of the car and also be clearly legible.

-Each car has an onboard camera, located above the principal roll structure. In order to distinguish between a team's two cars, the camera on the first car must be predominantly fluorescent red and on the second car, predominantly fluorescent yellow.

-The livery must remain unchanged on both cars for the duration of the F1 season (however, it may be altered with approval from the F1 Commission).

Now on to the fun part: Caterham F1 Team revealed their 2012 car, the CT01, late last week. It was interesting because the official release date was published as Jan. 26, however recipients of F1 Racingmagazine received an early treat and images started circulating on Jan. 25. Here's the Caterham CT 01:

The 2012 Caterham CT01 Side note: we tip our hats to Caterham F1 Team's website - it's clean, well-organized and easy to navigate. Cheers.

Below is the most recent information we have found regarding the other 11 team's launches.

Bruno Senna, newest member of the Williams F1 Team, in 2012 team livery.I thought this was interseting and would get your gears turning (pun intended): The website F1 Colours took note of this picture of Bruno Senna, the newest member of the Williams F1 Team. Are there clues in this new team shirt that will have us seeing a hint of red in their 2012 livery? I guess we'll find out soon enough.

Want all these dates in a calendar? We've got you covered. Click here to access our shared Google calendar. It includes important F1 dates such as launches and testing, 2012 F1 and MotoGP races, driver birthdays, and Austin community events that may be of interest. Check back often as we continue to update it, or just subscribe and have it populate your personal Google calendar in one click.