Lotus Granted 13th Spot On 2010 Grid

[raceman]

what a time for Lotus to have granted the entry!!! just as they are granted it, BMW has found a new buyer for its F1 team.....

had it been just a few days earlier, they would have been on 2010 grid and Lotus would have been the 14th team

[xpensive]

Im surprised we haven't heard more regarding title sponsors for these new teams. They obviously have them already?

Lotus will have Petronas/Proton and themselves as a given...so that's the major ones done...With BMW quitting the existing sponsorship deals for them are broken so Petronas will be free to move.

And USF1 will have Chad Hurley!

[sticky667]

why hasn't anyone linked Air Asia as well? Tony is the CEO of AA and new team manager of Lotus. Does anyone know the contract length with Williams? surely all of the Malaysian companies will want to support the Malaysian flag.

[asdf10101]

PROTON, AIR ASIA and NAZA group and maybe petronas?





ugly paint job

[Giblet]

Not necessarily, at least not right away. The new teams will not get much in the way of TV time as they will (likely) meander around the back of the pack, making the newer teams a good startup option for a sponsor, but not a switch per se IMO.

[timbo]

We are aiming at the second week of February for the roll-out, and we have got a huge amount of work considering we are starting from nothing.

Nuff said...

[andartop]

At least I'm happy they're not calling the new team "Force Malaysia" or something similar..
Just hope they don't pull another "Jaguar" and ridicule the name.. [-o<

[xpensive]

If nothing else, this "Lotus 2.0" seems to be well funded, which seems a little more doubtful with the other newbies?

[timbo]

If nothing else, this "Lotus 2.0" seems to be well funded, which seems a little more doubtful with the other newbies?

What? Manor has FIA backing, best support in F1 you can imagine!

Leaving stupid jokes aside, don't you think a government support may be even more shaky than long-term dedication to sport by manufacturers?

[xpensive]

Not stupid at all timbo, MrM's bizare involvement with Wirth-less is a most flagrant step out of line.

I don't know really, all F1 races in that part of the world are dependent on government support.

[timbo]

I don't know really, all F1 races in that part of the world are dependent on government support.

Well, there's a point in it, we'll see.
My problem with Lotus is the shear hastiness of their F1 plan. For sure Gascoyne promised that his team, although struggling at first, would have tremendous progress. But if it don't progress at the first year enough would support still be at place?
If he had such support why not take shot at 2011 season, building a proper base and car?

[Bob Brown]

Here's my thoughts on this:

They will most likely end up using Cosworth engines and it is no surprise that all the new entrants are using Cosworth engines. Mosley is still in charge and has always expressed his disdain for the big manufacturers.
With the now Qadadaadab Sauber team still having to search for an engine, it would be better to put Lotus first since they had the whole Lotus Epsilon(sp?)entrant thing earlier, therefore there must have already been stuff worked on with Gascoyne and will be transfered to the UK facility before they go to the Malaysian one once it is built.

Will they be ready? Most likely
Will they be competitive? Probably not
Will they be in the sport long? I doubt it

[gridwalker]

Group Lotus PLC have already disavowed any connection with the consortium who have purchased the rights to use the Team Lotus brand for their race team (henceforth known by most of the race fans that I know personally as "Legally Lotus") ...

Legally Lotus have no continuity from the original Team Lotus and I find it disgusting that the media are marking this as a "return" to the sport. Legally Lotus is a reprehensible exercise in brand marketing, aimed at securing additional funding for an otherwise unknown startup team. Sticking a Team Lotus sticker on your car does not magically transform your team into the 4th most successful team in the history of Formula One.

The only time that I will be cheering for Legally Lotus will be when their machinery fails, which is probably a good thing because I've not had anyone to jeer at since Mr Schumacher retired : every good pantomime needs a villain to boo.

[sticky667]

Group Lotus PLC have already disavowed any connection with the consortium who have purchased the rights to use the Team Lotus brand for their race team (henceforth known by most of the race fans that I know personally as "Legally Lotus") ...

Legally Lotus have no continuity from the original Team Lotus and I find it disgusting that the media are marking this as a "return" to the sport. Legally Lotus is a reprehensible exercise in brand marketing, aimed at securing additional funding for an otherwise unknown startup team. Sticking a Team Lotus sticker on your car does not magically transform your team into the 4th most successful team in the history of Formula One.

The only time that I will be cheering for Legally Lotus will be when their machinery fails, which is probably a good thing because I've not had anyone to jeer at since Mr Schumacher retired : every good pantomime needs a villain to boo.

I'm almost certain Group Lotus PLC is directly involved in the company. There are too many coincidences for them not to be.

Dany Bahar

Dany T. Bahar has been appointed as the new CEO of Group Lotus effective 1st October 2009, replacing Michael J. Kimberley, who retired in July.

Before joining Ferrari SpA, Dany Bahar was the Head of Corporate Projects Business in Red Bull GmbH. He was responsible for the overall corporate project business development, with emphasis on diversifying the business such as setting up their F1 strategy with Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso...

Facilites

The main operating subsidiary of Group Lotus plc is Lotus Cars Limited, which has two operating divisions - Lotus Engineering and Lotus Cars. Lotus Engineering is an internationally recognised automotive engineering consultancy based in Norfolk, UK. Global facilities include those in Michigan (USA), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), China and offices in Germany.

The team's future design, R&D, manufacturing and technical centre will be built at Malaysia's Sepang International Circuit.

Wow. look at that, another coincidence, their new facility will be at Sepang Circuit.

[gridwalker]

Ok, so unless Group Lotus has repurchased the brand (I see no reports of this anywhere thus far) I understand that the situation remains as it was when this article was published : http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/76013

Has anyone got more up to date information regarding the use or licensing of the independently owned brand of "Team Lotus"? As far as I am aware, the brand itself was sold off to pay creditors at the time the original F1 team folded.