After being linked to Lotus for some time, HVM Racing has announced this morning that it will indeed run engines built by the famous British manufacturer in the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series championship.
In addition, the newly christened Lotus HVM Racing will continue to have Entergy Nuclear and its Nuclear Clean Air Energy program as its main backer for the next two seasons.
Here is the full press release from HVM:
November 17, 2011 – Indianapolis, IN – HVM Racing is proud to officially announce its partnership with Lotus, world-renowned sportscar manufacturer, for the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series.
The iconic, British-based company was the obvious choice for Keith Wiggins, HVM Racing team owner. He has known the companies involved for many years through his racing background in Europe, winning in all categories, including Formula 3000 and competing in Formula One. Wiggins attested that the HVM team aimed to execute this partnership from the start.
“Despite the choices, once it was apparent that Lotus would produce an engine, it was a clear decision for us to run with them,” said Wiggins. “I have great respect, confidence and enthusiasm in the product they will produce. I have good historical knowledge of the companies involved and their abilities. Being the first team to commit reflects this and being an integral part of the Lotus development process is important to the re-establishment of HVM as a leading team, this time in the IZOD IndyCar Series.”
Group Lotus Director of Motorsports Operations, Miodrag Kotur, echoes the same sentiment and looks forward to the emerging partnership of Lotus HVM Racing.
“We are delighted to be partnering with such a well-established and ambitious team as HVM,” Kotur said. “We’re pleased that HVM has shown such faith in Lotus at the start of a new chapter of our commitment to the IZOD IndyCar Series. We have been working tirelessly on our engine program since we announced our intention to produce a new engine in line with the new rules and direction of the Series. We believe that our efforts will pay dividends as the numbers that are coming from our dyno testing are extremely encouraging. We have also managed to produce a very light power-plant, in the true spirit of Lotus. However, we are keen to test the package on-track and look forward to our first test in early January, slightly later than originially planned but designed to give us more time to fine-tune our package before taking to the track.”
In addition, Lotus HVM Racing will continue its prominent partnership with Entergy Nuclear and the mission to spread the message of the Nuclear Clean Air Energy campaign. After a high-profile 2011 season, the partnership shall continue to increase awareness and expand its education program through the 2012 and 2013 seasons.
