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Caterham Launches CT03 Challenger In Spain

JEREZ, Spain- Launching just before the first test of the pre-season on Tuesday, Team Caterham launched their CT03 with some new sponsors, lighter car color and a new team manager.

The reason for the car to be “lightened” with its color was by the words of Cyril Abiteboul, who was working at Renaultsportf1 last season before taking the team manager position, that it was done “To enhance their visibility on track and given them what will be, we believe, one of the best looking liveries in the pit lane.”

But owner Tony Fernandes keeps his position as owner and the Malaysian stressed that with a new location for the team factory, it could make a difference now that everything is in place.

“This is the first car we have produced from our factory in Leafield and the last we will build under the current regulations,” Fernandes said. “The team has produced a car that is an evolution of the 2012 car, building on that platform to give us a chance of continuing to make progress towards the teams ahead, whilst also dedicating enough resource to start work as early as possible on the 2014 car.

“For me this is going to be the story of the 2013 season. Every team wants to be as competitive as possible this year, but with such fundamental rule changes next year resources and budgets dictate that there will have to be a cut-off point in the development of the current season cars so focus can be switched to 2014.

“We will bring updates to the car after several races and I am happy that the plan we have for 2013 will give us the chance to fight this year, but, importantly, will allow us to take full advantage of the new rules in 2014.”

Technical director Mark Smith also stated that there were a few differences from last year’s model that he changed for this upcoming season.

“This is the first car we have produced since I joined the team so this is a proud day for me,” Abiteboul said. “I’m very pleased that we’ve been able to allocate our resources and budgets as efficiently as possible to produce a car that will allow us to consolidate our position in Formula One while also starting work on the 2014 car as early as possible.

“Driving the cars this year are Charles Pic and Giedo van der Garde, two drivers who give us a good mix of youth and experience inside and outside Formula One. They provide clear proof of our dedication to developing young driver talent.

“Off track our team is in a healthy position. We are still a small team but our stated objective is to be the most efficient of all F1 teams.”

Frenchman Charles Pic comes in from Marussia, while Dutchman and former GP2 driver Guido Van De Garde takes the second seat in his rookie year.

Quite a change has evolved for this team, who seem to be the favorite for any of the rookie teams that have been around for three years to finally score a point in a Grand Prix event.

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