Having already revealed its car's livery for the upcoming campaign at Birmingham midway though January – which resembles the one sported by Team Lotus' T128 single-seater – the Enstone based team have now unveiled the car with which they hope to become a contender for the top spots in the 2011 manufacturers' race.
With Mercedes GP showing only a computerized image of their 2011-spec car via their media website, the R31 has now become only the 4th challenger to have been unveiled before the Valencia test kicks off tomorrow.
If the other 4 2011-spec cars – Ferrari F150, Mercedes W02, Sauber C30 and Lotus T128 – all sport a high-nose design as a main characteristic as compared to their predecessors, the new R31's strength comes from its aggressive design under the tea tray area, underneath the car. Additionally, the Enstone technicians have gone for a pull-rod suspension for the rear end, as did their rivals from Ferrari.
Another important piece of information regarding the structure of the Lotus Renault GP team in 2011 is that Bruno Senna has joined the pack of drivers who will perform Friday driving duties for the squad this year. As announced by Renault, Senna will join Romain Grosjean, Jan Charouz, Ho-Ping Tung and Fairuz Fauzy as reserve driver for the 2011 campaign.
Vitaly Petrov will be the first driver to test the car in Valencia tomorrow, after which his teammate Robert Kubica will take over for the remaining 2 days of action on the Ricardo Tormo circuit.
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