Photo : Jeff CARTER - FIA WEC

 

Originially, the car was supposed to compete in the entire 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season, but delays caused by an engine change forced the team of Lotus LMP Director of Operations Boris Bermes - who will retain the same position in the ByKOLLES Racing team - to push the arrival of the CLM P1/01 to September in Austin. Though the car made it to the finish in Texas, the rest was more complicated with namely a stunning fire in the pit at Fuji.

For 2015, the CLM P1 was undergo major changes with a new gearbox, new suspension, aeordynamics modifications and a drastic weight reduction, as explained by Bermes: "We learnt a lot last year, we faced many challenges but we made very good progress against the odds however we were aware that significant improvements needed to be made for the 2015 season. The team has worked hard since the end of least season to produce, what I believe to be a highly competitive car. As always, I’m cautiously optimistic about this year but let’s see what testing brings."

New name, new sponsor and a new livery for the CLM P1 entered in the FIA WEC if the entry request is approved. The black and gold colours will be shed for yellow tones, gray and black on the car that will be presented before the Prologue, the official tests on March 27th and 28th at the Circuit Paul Ricard in Castellet.

Cécile Bonardel / ACO (quotation from team press release) - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO

PHOTO: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, LE MANS INNOVATION CENTER, THURSDAY JUNE 12 2014. The Lotus CLM P1 was presented during the 82nd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.