Tauranga's rising star racing driver Richie Stanaway will race in the famous black-and-gold Lotus livery in 2012.
Stanaway's programme in the 2012 World Series by Renault will see him teamed with Marco Sorensen, the young Danish driver who finished runner-up to Stanaway in last year's German Formula 3 Championship.
Stanaway, 20, is driving for the Gravity-Charouz team based in Prague, which will race under the Lotus name.
Lotus already backs teams in Formula One, IndyCar, GP2, GP3, German F3 as well as GT racing and rallying as part of its commitment to supporting up-and-coming young talent.
The World Series by Renault features a new generation Formula Renault 3.5 car which is lighter and more powerful than before with a new Zytek V8 developing 530-horsepower.
The new car has added down force and features a F1-inspired Drag Reduction System rear wing design.
The championship begins at the Motorland Aragon circuit in Spain on May 15-16 and Stanaway was set to gain his first experience in the new car last night when a two-day official test began at Paul Ricard in France.
Stanaway has already impressed in the previous V6-engine generation FR 3.5 car, topping an official post-season test session in late 2011.
"I met the team for the first time during the post-season tests at the end of last year," said Stanaway.
"I was very impressed with the operation and the many changes that have taken place within the team and felt very comfortable with them. In 2012, we will be happy to represent Lotus, which also competes in Formula One.
"There will be a big battle in Formula Renault 3.5, as it's shaping up to be a very competitive series and I am really looking forward to it."
Drivers who have graduated from World Series by Renault into Formula 1 include the likes of double world champion Sebastian Vettel, Robert Kubica, Kamui Kobayashi, Pastor Maldonado, Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne.
"In every series we enter, we have strong drivers, a good background, and we aim to achieve the highest positions" said Claudio Berro, director of Lotus Racing.
"Here we have a great driver line-up and are looking forward to an interesting and thrilling season.
"I think both Richie and Marco have a good chance of getting into F1 in the near future. The team was encouraged by their performance and reliability over the course of the post-season tests, which they managed without much experience of the car. We have plenty of confidence in them."
The World Series by Renault calendar includes races at Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium), Nurburgring (Germany), Moscow, Silverstone (GB), Hungaroring, Paul Ricard (France) and Barcelona. However the undoubted jewel-in-the-crown will be the second round on May 24-27 around the streets on Monaco as part of the Formula 1 support programme.
Drag racing
Three Australian dragsters are heading across the Tasman to compete at the Nostalgia Drags race day organised by the Bay Rodders next month.
The highly popular annual event for old school drag racing machines, hot rods and pre-72 American muscle cars is Easter Sunday at Fram Autolite Dragway, Meremere.
Australian visitors include Jim Flemming with his Rattler II, returning to defend his crown in the Front Engine Dragster challenge which has a $5000 purse.
Marcus Page returns with his '23 T Altered and the third Australian car is the "Doorslammer" style Willys Coupe of Wade Wagstaff.
"Wade's car is powered by a supercharged big block Chev and it runs very low sevens in Australia," said Bay Rodders Inc president Dean Anderson.
Page's altered and the Willys will race in a Competition class for which Tauranga enthusiast Graham Somerville has posted a $5000 winner-takes-all purse.
There is strong contingent chasing the cash including Tauranga's Ian Metz in his supercharged big block Topolino altered, Karen Hay with her six-second supercharged'23 T Roadster and it's hoped the Christchurch-based Alsop Racing Team will bring their small block supercharged Willys Coupe to the event.
Other titles to be decided include the Flat-head challenge, four-banger challenge, Classic Gasser and pre-48 Hot Rod categories.
Although it sounds ironic there will be several brand new cars in action at the Nostalgia Drags.
The eagerly awaited Ford flat-head V8 nitro-burning front-engine dragster of Hamilton's Martin & Rea team is expected to hit the strip for the first time and Te Puke's Dave Gauld debuted his new supercharged'34 Ford Coupe altered at the NZ Nationals earlier this month.
Rallysprint
Tauranga rally driver Phil Campbell enjoyed some winning preparation ahead of his NZ Rally Championship campaign which begins later this month by taking a clear win in Sunday's Otanewainuku Rallysprint.
The dual stage rallysprint organised by Motorsport BOP used a 4.5km forest road in the TECT All Terrain Park and 7.8km stretch of nearby Mangatoi Rd and saw 23 drivers in action.
Campbell was quickest on all six stages in his Ford Fiesta ST to win the event by nearly 40secs from Tauranga's Brett Fisher (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo3). Tauranga's Andy Martin (Subaru Impreza STI) was third overall less than 3secs clear of Shane Wright (Nissan Skyline).
Otanewainuku Rallysprint - results:
1 Phil Campbell (Ford Fiesta ST) 26m 25.78s; 2 Brett Fisher (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo3) 27m 04.62s; 3 Andy Martin (Subaru Impreza STI) 27m 27.91s; 4 Shane Wright (Nissan Skyline) 27m 30.22s; 5 Phil Bugden (Mitsubishi Galant VR4) 27m 51.57s; 6 Mitch James (Toyota Starlet) 27, 51.80s.
Motocross
Five Bay of Plenty riders are sitting in podium positions heading into this Sunday's final round of the New Zealand Motocross Championship at Taupo.
Tauranga's Ben Townley (Honda) heads back to the track in his former hometown holding a 21-point lead over Motueka's Josh Coppins (Yamaha) in the MX1 (450cc) class while Papamoa's Cody Cooper (Suzuki) is third in the title race. Rotorua's Michael Phillips is ranked fifth, only eight points behind fellow Honda rider Justin McDonald (Christchurch).
The MX2 (250cc) class sees Tauranga's Peter Broxholme (Honda) in third place behind the duelling Darryll King (Hamilton) and Scott Columb (Queenstown). The closest challenger to Broxholme is Papamoa's Rhys Carter (Suzuki) who is 15 points back in fourth.
In the 125cc 2-stroke class teenage BOP Yamaha riders Cameron Vaughan (Rotorua) and Logan Blackburn (Te Puke) are second and third in the title race behind clear leader Micah McGoldrick of Amberley.
The final round of the MX Nationals is at the Taupo Motorcycle Club's Digger McEwen MX Park in Miro St Taupo with practice from 8.15am and racing expected to start about 10.30am.