Gascoyne proud of Lotus effort

The Lotus T127 was officially launched on Friday, culminating just a few months of very hard work from the team which gained an entry to race in Formula 1 later than the rest of the new squads.

Gascoyne admitted it was a very special moment for him and thanked team owner Tony Fernandes for his trust.

"The launch of the car is a very proud moment for the design team and the whole team," said Gascoyne. "This one is very special for me personally for two reasons - firstly the Lotus name coming back into F1 is something very special.

"I grew up in Norfolk and went to school five miles down the road from the original factory. I grew up in era when Lotus was winning races and championships, so the opportunity to work with this team is very special. But also it is the challenge of bringing a new team and a new car into F1 in such a short space of time.

"What this is about for me, and it is the first launch I have been to where the whole team is here, there is a fantastic buzz about this place, the whole team has given their heart and soul to this project. I want to thank Tony on behalf of the whole team to have the courage to back us and trust us.

"We have a fantastic driver line-up who have put faith in the whole design team. I am proud to be up here on stage as a representative of that team, they have done a fantastic job."

Italian Jarno Trulli, who was the first driver to be confirmed at Lotus, said he was fired up to tackle the challenge of making the team successful.

"It is a very emotional moment for me - it will be great to take Lotus back on track where Lotus belongs and I think we have a big challenge, but it is what we are aiming for. I am really fired up for it," he said.

Trulli will be partnered by Heikki Kovalainen, who has joined Lotus after two years at McLaren.

Kovalainen said: "It has been a fantastic effort from the whole team and when I went to see Mike and Tony for the first time, there were four people at the reception, I said to them 'Are you sure it will happen before Bahrain?' And they said fine. I cannot wait until next week when we start driving it and get down to business."