Photo : DOMINIQUE BREUGNOT/ACO

 

It has been a difficult time so far this season for the new Lotus Praga team and they have had little chance to shine. In four races, only at Spa-Frncorchamps have they crossed the finishing line. The last race at Sao Paolo again resulted in an abandonment. But the team was satisfied with qualifying fifth less than half a second from the fastest Oreca.

Christophe Bouchut said the 6 Hours of Sao Paolo had been very interesting and challenging but also disappointing. "We knew on this circuit that it would be difficult to make a strong showing. Our car is brand new and the WEC programme is so concentrated that it does not allow us to carry out all the necessary development. Therefore we only have the race meetings to gather reliable information. This work will allow us to finish races. Clearly we wanted to finish the race and learn as much as possible but unfortunately the result was very different. The Lotus No. 32 was involved in an incident with the Toyota and our N.o 31 encountered gearbox problems. So two premature withdrawals robbed us of seeing the chequered flag."

Now the team hope there will be an opportunity to show off the real potential of the new Lotus. "Austin is an important event for us where everything is possible. But until then we must fix both cars. As for mine the mechanics have worked very hard. The big difference here will be that all LM P2 competitors will start on the same footing. The circuit is completely new and no team has any real data. So the set up sheet is blank. But Lotus has cards to play and Kevin Weeda who will drive this time will give his best. I will not be at Austin but I should make my return in Shanghai."

On the eve of the fifth round at the Austin circuit the Lotus Praga team will no doubt try to demonstrate their ability and the potential of their new cars.

Thierry Arman/ACO

PHOTO: CIRCUIT OF THE 24 HOURS (LE MANS, SARTHE) 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, QUALIFYING SESSION, 20th June 2013.                                                                 Among the Lotus drivers in 2013, Christophe Bouchut is a former winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1993 for Peugeot.