Liam Lawson will dive the Rodin Cars FZED single-seater at Donington Park next week on the car’s European debut.
The Kiwi race car manufacturer, whose base is nestled away along the inland road to Kaikoura, expanded its operations this year with a new UK facility at the Donington circuit.
The new base is for buyers of Rodin’s growing fleet of awe-gazing track cars, namely the Formula 1-inspired FZED.
The V8-powered weapon can hit 160km/h in less than five seconds before maxing out at 300km/h.
It is nimble too, with the car weighing a mere 589kg and has a power-to-weight ratio of 854kW per tonne.
Lawson gave the FZED a handful of demonstration laps at Donington, but next week will be the first time the car is pushed through its paces in the Northern Hemisphere.
“I’m super excited to drive the FZED again and as a Kiwi driver, it doesn’t get much better than to show the world this amazing Kiwi-built car,” Lawson said.
“I first drove the FZED in New Zealand at the start of the year before coming back to Europe for F2. David and the Rodin team have built a fantastic car and I can’t wait to show how good it is.”
Lawson’s relationship with Rodin Cars goes back several years. This season, the brand’s name and logo are decked out on Lawson’s F2 livery.
Rodin Cars founder David Dicker says next week’s test will be a massive ‘milestone’ for the company as they begin to globalise the FZED.
“This is a milestone for us, and the Rodin FZED,” Dicker said.
“We are really happy that it will be a New Zealand race car driver taking the car out for the first time in the Northern Hemisphere.
“We want to showcase what we can achieve as a company from our UK base, and Liam is the best person to do that.”
Wow ,we really are blessed to have you base this operation in NZ and employ our talent to make a successful start to introducing FZED to the world
This is great for new zealand