Kiwi car makes its UK track debut

Wednesday, 14 July 2021

The Rodin FZED has been developed and built in New Zealand and offers owners an F1-style experience for much less money. It still costs $1 million though.

New Zealand-based track car maker Rodin Cars has debuted its FZED single-seater in the UK with a series of demonstration laps at Donington Park at the hands of young Kiwi racer and former Toyota Racing Series champion Liam Lawson.

“Having Liam Lawson demonstrate the Rodin FZED at Donington Park is an important milestone for the car and for Rodin Cars,” said David Dicker, founder and CEO of 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.”

New Zealand-based Rodin Cars has debuted its FZED open wheeler in the UK.

Rodin invited a selection of the UK’s top automotive and motorsport journalists to witness the FZED’s first laps in the Northern Hemisphere and Hitech GP, the racing team Lawson drives for in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, was on hand to support the running of the car at Donington Park.

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Kiwi racer Liam Lawson was behind the FZED’s wheel at the Donnington launch.

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The Rodin FZED packs a 3.8-litre Cosworth V8 that is good for 5000km between teardowns.

Weighing just 609kg, the Rodin FZED is powered by a 3.8-litre Cosworth V8 engine that produces 503kW of power at 9600rpm and 490Nm of torque at 7600rpm. Its 826kW-per-tonne power-to-weight ratio is better than that of a Bugatti Chiron (553kW/tonne) or even a big sports bike such as a Yamaha R1 (735kW/tonne), and the company says that to find a more impressive power-to-weight ratio, one needs to look at a current LMP1 racer or Formula 1 car.

“After years of development and thousands of kilometres of testing on Rodin’s own circuits in New Zealand, we’ve established the FZED as one of the fastest open-wheel race cars in the world,” said Dicker.

“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.”

Dicker says the team at Rodin Cars also sought to ensure that the Rodin FZED is enjoyable and exploitable at more moderate speeds, allowing its customers to “build confidence and remove the fear factor in driving the ultimate track car.”

“I loved opening up the FZED around a bigger track”, said Lawson, “I’d tested it at Rodin Cars’ test track in New Zealand, but I’d forgotten how fast it is. I felt comfortable straight away and could push immediately.

“You could see the journalists hanging their phones over the pit wall. I think they were enjoying the car nearly as much as I was.”

Lawson, currently competing in the Formula 2 series and part of the Red Bull Junior team, is also backed by Rodin Cars in a deal announced at the start of this year.

”Liam is an extraordinary young talent and I am delighted to partner with him as he continues to rise through the ranks of global motorsports,” said Dicker at the time of the deal’s announcement.

“Liam is a perfect partner as he is a driver with focus and a strategic mind, he has excelled at every step of his motorsport career and is committed to achieving the desired outcome, so for us, it was a no brainer – he is the epitome of what we stand for.”

The company says a further announcement regarding a partnership between Rodin Cars and Lawson’s team, Hitech GP which runs teams in both Formula 2 and Formula 3 championships, will be announced after the 2021 British Grand Prix.