Lawson's excited to drive Rodin at Highlands this weekend
"It's a screamer!"
Kiwi single-seater star Liam Lawson is excited to be giving Rodin Cars FZED it’s debut run at Highlands Motorsport Park this weekend which he expects to lap faster than the current outright lap record he holds at the Cromwell race track.
The 19-year-old Red Bull Junior driver rates the Highlands track as his favourite race circuit in the world and says it’s going to be a special experience.
“I get to drive around my favourite track in a single-seater, it’s super awesome,” said Lawson ahead of the lunchtime demonstration runs when he’ll showcase the New Zealand-built F1-style car.
“It’s going to look and sound as close to what most people see as Formula 1. It’s very similar to a 2012 sort of Formula 1 car and sounds quite cool. It’s a V8 and it’s a screamer! I’m super excited to show everybody.”
Rodin Cars sponsored Lawson in Formula 2 last year and will back his return to the series this year, which starts in Jeddah in March.
“Without David [Dicker] and Rodin supporting my Red Bull programme it would not have been possible to keep racing. While I’m home for the summer break, to get to drive the FZED at three race tracks is a real highlight. What a way to start a New Year!”
The question is, how much faster with the FZED be than his outright track record?
“If I get to open it up it’ll definitely destroy the lap record. I don’t know by how many seconds, that’ll depend on how comfortable I’m fitted in the car and things like that, new tyres or not, but I think it’ll be a significant amount quicker than that record.”
Lawson set the track’s outright lap record in a Toyota Racing Series single-seater in January 2019 at 1minute 28.910-seconds. Ironically it was the day after that Red Bull’s Dr Helmut Marko offered the then 16-year-old a junior drivers’ contract.
The Rodin FZED is powered by a Cosworth GPV8, produces 675hp and weighs just 609kg. It can accelerate from 0-100kph in 2.9-seconds, and 0-160kph in 5-seconds.
The last time Lawson drove the FZED was at Donington in the UK last year. He will drive it at three New Zealand race circuits – Highlands this weekend, Ruapuna (Christchurch) next weekend and at the NZGP meeting at Hampton Downs in February.
Rodin Cars sponsor the inaugural Super GT Series which also has it’s opening round at Highlands this weekend.
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Liam Lawson last drove the FZED at Donington, UK.
