Cosworth continues test with Williams and Virgin

Cosworth has continued pre-season preparations with two of its customer teams in action at the Circuito de Jerez in southern Spain this week. Unusually inclement weather conditions have prevented teams from carrying out much dry-weather running during the week so far with just one day of testing remaining on Saturday. Nonetheless, the AT&T Williams team took to the track for their second pre-season session with the all-new Cosworth CA2010-powered FW32, while the fledgling Virgin Racing team joined them to become the first of the new teams to join an official test. Nico Hulkenberg and Rubens Barrichello have shared testing duties for AT&T Williams this week while Timo Glock and Lucas di Grassi have been on hand to test the Virgin-Cosworth VR-01.

General Manager of Cosworth’s F1 Business Unit Mark Gallagher: “In spite of the weather, the test has been very useful for us in terms of putting more mileage on the engine and gathering data from these all-important first tests. With AT&T Williams we have built upon the good work of last week and made further progress. So far we have not encountered any significant issues in terms of the installation in the Virgin VR-01 and are working hard to ensure the team can make the most of its track time.”

Meanwhile, in London, a truly historic Formula 1 pairing was officially reunited with the launch of the Lotus-Cosworth T127 in front of a packed crowd of media and guests today. Anticipation has been high for the debut of the new Malaysian-backed Lotus Racing team with its Cosworth power and the return of the Lotus name to Formula 1 for the first time since 1994.

Lotus brought Cosworth its first F1 race win in the 1967 Dutch Grand Prix when Jim Clark took the Type 49 to victory, a remarkable debut for the Cosworth DFV engine. For Cosworth, the new technical partnership with Lotus Racing is another important part of its return to Formula 1 as an engine supplier this season. With AT&T Williams and Virgin Racing already out on track in Spain this week, the addition of Lotus to the testing roster for next week’s four day session at Jerez will provide another boost to Cosworth’s ongoing testing programme.

Mark Gallagher: “It is a pleasure to see the Lotus and Cosworth names together again in Formula 1. On behalf of Cosworth, I would like to congratulate Tony Fernandes, Mike Gascoyne and their team for producing the Lotus- Cosworth T127 in record time given that their entry was only confirmed in September. As with all our customers we aim to ensure Cosworth fulfils its key role in ensuring their overall package is as competitive as possible.”