The opportunity of a lifetime.The 17-year-old, who in 2013 completed his rookie season in the Formula Renault 2.0 ALPS series, joins the stable of drivers being groomed by the race-winning Lotus F1 Team on his quest to reach the pinnacle of motorsport.This means that East Kilbride racer Ramsay will step up to contest the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup in 2014. The series visits seven Formula 1-level tracks in six countries: Motorland Aragon (Spain), Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium), Moscow Raceway (Russia), Nurburgring (Germany), Hungaroring (Hungary), Paul Ricard (France) and Jerez (Spain). Ramsay will compete with the Belgian-based KTR team run by former racing ace Kurt Mollekens.Ramsay rapidly rose through the ranks of karting, thanks to the support of renowned karting talent-spotters, Terry Fullerton and the late Martin Hines. With support from Ferrari Driver Academy manager Luca Baldisserri, he moved into the Formula Abarth European Series, becoming a race winner at Vallelunga in his rookie season of 2012, taking a further podium finish at Imola and finishing a creditable eighth in the championship at the age of 16.His graduation to Formula Renault ALPS included some very strong showings with the Euronova Racing team run by highly-respected ex-international race star Vincenzo Sospiri, as well as eye-catching form as a wild-card entrant in selected races in the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup on the Grand Prix circuits at Spa and Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya.Ramsay’s single-seater racing career has been assisted by Colin and Chris Weir, who will continue their involvement with their fellow Scot.The signing with Lotus is a highly significant one for Gregor, as it means he will be following in the wheeltracks of Scottish hero Jim Clark, who won the 1963 and 1965 Formula 1 World Championship titles for Team Lotus.“I am absolutely delighted to join the Lotus F1 Junior Team,” said Ramsay, “especially as such famous Scots have flown the Saltire with Lotus in the past. Lotus’s F1 headquarters at Enstone, near Oxford, is mindblowing, with its research facilities, wind-tunnel, Formula 1 simulator and all the engineering departments.“It’s unbelievable when you look back to when I was nine years old and starting in karts. We had to travel a lot, and from my two years in Cadets I was either racing throughout Britain or testing at my local track, Larkhall, with the West of Scotland Kart Club, in rain, hail, sun or snow. We never missed a weekend!“This is a new chapter in my career and I am looking forward to representing Lotus F1 Junior Team, and of course I will do my very best. I would like to say a massive thank you to my new management team, whose trust played a big part in giving me this opportunity, and to everyone who has helped me in my karting career and early days in car racing.“I would also like to thank Colin and Chris Weir, and Jim McColl of Clyde Blowers who have done so much for my career. I could not have done this without them.”