The Duke of York Visited Lotus F1's Norfolk HQ

With a few more days remaining until the last test of the season, the guys at Lotus F1 Team decided to hold some daily tours of their newly-launched Norfolk factory in the UK. After the former Malaysian PM Tun Dr. Mahathir officially opened the factory earlier this week, another highly-ranked official – this time of the UK – decided to pay a visit to the Lotus F1 headquarters.

According to a press release from the Malaysian-backed team, the very HRH The Duke of York was invited to Norfolk and given a short tour of the factory yesterday. And he didn't come to the event alone, but joined by Clive Chapman, son of the late Colin Chapman, the original founder of Lotus.

In addition to being offered a tour of the factory, The Duke of York was also presented a commemorative set of his own Lotus Racing overalls, handed by the very team principal Tony Fernandes and chief technical officer Mike Gascoyne.

“I have been privileged to work with His Royal Highness over a number of years in his role as the UK's Special Representative for International Trade and Investment. (...) What is perhaps less well recognized is that the Duke was one of the primary catalysts behind our substantial capital investment here in Norfolk,” said Fernandes.

“Indeed it was thanks to the Duke's advice in June of 2009 that we began another extraordinary partnership between Malaysia and the United Kingdom that has culminated in the successful entry and creation of the Lotus Racing T127 grand prix car. I am delighted that His Royal Highness was able to join us at Lotus Racing today,” added the Lotus principal.