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Team boss Eric Boullier on Thursday played down Lotus' decision to sit out the opening test of the 2014 pre-season. The Enstone based team finished last season a competitive fourth, but also grappling publicly with financial matters.
So the admission this week that Lotus will not be at Jerez, where most other teams will run their all-new V6-powered 2014 cars for the first time, raised renewed alarm bells about Lotus' financial health and competitiveness going forwards. But Frenchman Boullier said other teams will also be joining Lotus on the sidelines. "You will see, we will not be the only team not being in Jerez," he told the BBC. "I know this for a fact already."
In the team announcement earlier this week, technical boss Nick Chester said Lotus' decision was because Jerez in late January "isn't ideal for our build and development programme". But Boullier admitted the E22 will simply "not be ready on time". "We will be ready shortly after that," he insisted, "and in some ways, it is not bad because we will have time to watch what the others are doing and nobody will be able to watch what we are doing."
However, he also said he has "concerns" about missing the initial four-day test, which will only be followed by eight days of running in Bahrain prior to Melbourne. "So we have to focus on doing things a little bit differently to make sure we do not lose too much," added Boullier. (GMM)
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