Lopez tips new Lotus to 'go like hell'

Feb.20 (GMM) Acting team boss Gerard Lopez expects Lotus to be fully competitive in 2014.

Amid rumours of financial strife, the Enstone team sat out the opening Jerez test, and when the E22 finally made its public debut in Bahrain on Wednesday, it clocked the slowest time and a mere 8 laps.

Team owner Lopez, however - acting as team boss while the McLaren-departed Eric Boullier's successor is found - said Lotus was right to have voluntarily skipped Jerez.

"I predicted there would not be much to learn because of (technical) problems, so we saved a lot of money by staying home," he told Germany's Auto Motor und Sport.

The E22 then seemed to have a promising rollout at Jerez in the week after the official test, but in Bahrain on Wednesday Lotus struck Renault-powered trouble.

Nonetheless, Lopez is confident, dishing out high praise for the E22's designers, who have penned a car not only with a two-pronged nose, but an unusual asymmetrical solution for the exhaust and rear wing support.

"We have a super car," he said.

"The boys cannot believe the wind tunnel numbers. If we get those numbers on the track as well, the thing will go like hell.

"I can only hope we don't end up with three championships based on (engine suppliers) Mercedes and Ferrari and Renault," said Lopez.