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Lotus' F1 inspired customer race car gets tested in Italy

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Khatir Soltani
The Lotus Type 125 car, a Formula 1-inspired customer race car has been tested for the first time by professional drivers Jean Alesi and James Rossiter at the Autodromo di Vallelunga (Italy) earlier this week.

Photo: Lotus Cars

The Lotus T125 is an ultra high performance F1-inspired race car with a Cosworth 3.5-litre GP V8 engine (640bhp) linked to a six-speed semi-automatic gearbox with a paddle shift system. Like customer cars, the start button is all it takes to get it going.

The two drivers seemed impressed by the performance of the machine, even qualifying it as “the closest a normal person can get to driving an F1 car,” said Rossiter, a factory driver for Lotus.

The test, which lasted two days, will be followed by another one on January 25-26 at Yas Marina Circuit, in Abu Dhabi.

The next step will then be to introduce the car to 15 potential (rich) buyers.

Khatir Soltani
Khatir Soltani
Automotive expert
  • Over 6 years experience as a car reviewer
  • Over 50 test drives in the last year
  • Involved in discussions with virtually every auto manufacturer in Canada