Lotus tested new upgrades at Duxford

Opublikowany przez 29 Apr 2013 | Komentarze: 1

Last Thursday, first time since tragic crash of Maria de Villota, sound of V8 engine could be heard in Duxford. Davide Valsecchi was behind the wheel of this year’s Lotus car, and made a testing program planned for some time.

There were a lot of talking that Lotus will check DRD (drag reduction device) before Spain but pictures collected by f1talks.pl do not seem to confirm that suggestions. During the two days of tests, the first of which was a rainy, new front wing and floor were checked.

New lements of E21 tested at Duxford (fot. Peter Woods)

New Vertical slots appered at the back of E21 front wing in front of the tyre. The shape of the floor at the height of the driver’s seat has been modified.

Sensors location suggests that the Lotus engineers have devoted much attention to examining the air flow around the rear tyres. Tightness of space between the edge and the diffuser is crucial for downforce at the rear axle.

Sensor is testing airflow around the rear tyre (fot. Peter Woods)

As I mentioned earlier closed air intakes and free space under the rear wing suggest that DRD wasn’t the main purpore of this aero test.

DRD wasn't in use at Duxford (fot. Peter Woods)

Interesting is that E21 was running with really agressive/high rake at Duxford. We have never seen Lotus car with this kind of setup. Car with this amount of rake can generate hell a lot of rear downforce. Only problem is to manage ride height thru race distance. Having good tuned FRIC onbard is not a problem anymore.

E21 with high rake (fot. Brian A Marshall)

No drastic changes, no DRD but only small changes. Safe path in this case is understandable and can bring good results.