Rodin’s Kiwi-built FZED single-seater has completed a successful test day at Donington Park in the UK, steered by Red Bull Junior and former Toyota Racing Series champion Liam Lawson.
“I loved opening up the Rodin FZED around a bigger track. I’d tested [it] at Rodin Cars’ test track in New Zealand but I’d forgotten how fast it is. But I felt comfortable straight away and could push immediately,” said Lawson.
“I’d forgotten just how fast the car is but straight away I felt comfortable and realised how manageable the car is to drive close to the limit. I didn’t want to stop and nearly did more laps than I was allowed.”
Lawson’s Formula 2 squad, Hitech GP, were on hand at the test day to run the car — metres away from Rodin’s new Donington Park showroom.
While the amount of laps completed on the day was not disclosed by Rodin, the firm proudly boasts that the FZED would be able to complete 5000km of running (or 3175 laps of the Donington venue) before requiring a full tear-down inspection.
“After years of development and thousands of kilometres of testing on Rodin’s own circuits in New Zealand, we’ve established the Rodin FZED as one of the fastest open-wheel race cars in the world. More than that, we’ve also ensured that it’s easy to run, giving amateur drivers a true taste of top-level open-wheel motorsport,” said Rodin Cars CEO David Dicker.
“Having Liam Lawson demonstrate the Rodin FZED at Donington Park is an important milestone for the car and for Rodin Cars. Our main manufacturing headquarters is established in New Zealand but we have always intended to establish a presence in the UK and Europe, and these first laps have completed that goal with a great outcome.”
The test completed a busy schedule for Lawson. The 19-year-old spent a healthy chunk of last week at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, where he wielded Red Bull’s former 2011 Formula 1 championship-winning RB7. He also took on the iconic hill with his Ferrari 488 GT3 DTM car.
“It was a crazy experience,” he told Velocity News. “I’ve said before that I enjoyed this spec of car more than a modern car because this was around the era when I got into F1.
I remember watching Red Bull dominate when I was 10 or 11, and that was when I learnt what was going on with F1. I watched four years of Vettel dominate. So, to drive the car he and Mark [Webber] drove was crazy.”