When Lotus F1 Team driver paid a visit to Hethel ahead of the British Grand Prix this year, testing out the Exige V6 Cup R, Exige S coupe and Roadsters and the Evora S Sports Racer around the companies test track and taking a number of lucky Lotus employees out for a spin – including Group Lotus Chief Engineer of Test & Development, Matt Becker.
“Kimi very quickly found a rapport with the car and the circuit – we were not even half way round the first lap before he was optimising grip and coming out of each corner with remarkable speed. Kimi is a world champion so I was not surprised how relaxed and quick he was, or even to see him take a different line around the track, but what was significant was the sensitivity he showed the tyres; normally we would expect to replace tyres after such a heavy track session, but the skill in which Kimi preserved the tyres was astonishing — they looked like they had barely been driven on!”