Lotus confident it will be a midfield runner in 2012

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http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/93705

Gascoyne, however, believes that a major development on schedule for the Singapore Grand Prix will help close the gap, and that the momentum it - plus the arrival of former Red Bull designer Mark Smith as technical director that will help the team reach the midfield battle next year.

"We said we wanted to be racing in the midfield this year, but we're not," Gascoyne told AUTOSPORT. "We're in a sort of no-man's land.

"But we have made a lot of good progress this year and we're two seconds clear of the other new teams, but we're still a second to a second and a half behind the cars ahead of us.

"It would be nice to be actually racing against those guys by the end of the year and actually picking off the odd Williams and Toro Rosso and then start there [next year] and go on. We can do it, I believe.

"We're shifting the emphasis of development onto next year's car after the summer break, and that should really kick things off.

"Unlike this year's car, which was almost all-new [compared to] to 2010, next year's car will be a development of this year's; same gearbox, same design team, same engine. We'll be able to concentrate on the parts that make the thing quicker rather than having to do it all again."

They certainly have the right ingredients to make it into the midfield. Can't wait to see how they do at Singapore with the big update.
 
Yep, it'd be great to see how they fare in the midfield. Williams are starting to look very close in performance! I remember them saying that last year, but this time I think they really have a chance. Heikki is a great driver in my opinion and Trulli now has his power steering fixed, so should be good. Are they both confirmed for next year yet?
 
I like Lotus as a team, they have seemed to have come into F1 with the right attitude and mentality.

Hope they can close the gap to the midfield would be great to see, also hope Williams can get back to better times.
 
Thing is though, we dont know how long Williams have been working on next years car, so they could be a lot quicker than Lotus next year compared to this year.
 
Thing is though, we dont know how long Williams have been working on next years car, so they could be a lot quicker than Lotus next year compared to this year.

I've thought/hoped this for several years now and gave up :p Williams keep producing a dog.
 
Well in qualifying up till Nurburgring, Lotus were averaging about 1.5s off Toro Rosso who in turn were 2.3s off Red Bull, based on Q1 times. A lot closer than Marussia Virgin or HRT though.
 
Trouble is, this happened last year, they improved, looked increasingly good, were confident that their new car would be a midfielder and... they ended up at the back of the field again.

What will make this time different to last time?
 
Trouble is, this happened last year, they improved, looked increasingly good, were confident that their new car would be a midfielder and... they ended up at the back of the field again.

What will make this time different to last time?

The other teams improved by a greater amount, in large part thanks to their higher budgets. Fernandes put a lot of his own money into this project, he needs to attract a big sponsor. Of course it's a catch 22 as sponsors prefer points-scoring teams.
 
Didn't Lotus just do a big deal with one of their current sponsors or did I imagine that news? I'm sure there was something going on.
 
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