As previously reported Lotus Racing has officially announced that they will be known as Team Lotus as of 2011. This is due to the fact that team principal Tony Fernandes and Kamarudin Meranun’s Tune Group, has bought over Lotus Ventures Ltd. This is the company under David Hunt which owns the rights to the original Lotus brand that competed in Formula One.
In effect, the Malaysian-run team can now officially say that they are the one and only official Lotus Formula One team in the world. “Kamarudin, Nasa and I are absolutely delighted to have completed this transaction – It’s difficult to express just what it means to us to now be able to say we are Team Lotus, one of the most iconic names in any form of sport worldwide, but we have been working very hard to make this dream come true, and today it has,” said Tony. Previous owner and MD of Team Lotus, David Hunt, said that his previous plans of bringing Colin Chapman’s brand back to Formula One failed due to financial constraints.
“In relinquishing this responsibility I am confident I am handing over to a team who have the financial resources, passion, energy, vision and long-term commitment to give Team Lotus the best possible chance of returning to the sharp end of the grid. I look forward to assisting the team towards scoring Team Lotus’ 80th Grand Prix win – that will be the day when all the effort of the past 15 years will finally seem worthwhile,” said Hunt.
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
chup… this doesn’t Lotus Automobile themselves is going to partake in the development of the future cars… right? no news on that yet right? Or did i missed it? I really hope Lotus Automobiles get involved in the F1 again through the current racing team so future Lotus road cars can trully inherite some of the F1 technology…
you might find this of interest : http://bit.ly/dfCmvU. Especially the part about Intellectual Property applications files by numerous parties.
Lotus Group has its sight on Indianapolis 500 glory…
now we’re talkin’
Well, they better buck up and perform like Team Lotus did before.. in the top 10.
The old Team Lotus was also a disgrace by the early 90s and went bust! :) I’m sure this new Team Lotus wants to win the championship one day, just like all the other teams in F1. No one enters a competition with the ultimate goal of ‘just making up a numbers’
even redbull racing start as backmarker
really? wasn’t tat was Toro Rosso?
Red Bull Racing comes from Jaguar Racing/Stewart GP. the cars were consistent midfield runners.
ferrari also not a winning team….after join with schumi help after 5 year…now they hv bcm champion…
well, I was hoping against hope for a Brawn GP success story.. oh well.
you guys will see I will have my own F1 team at 2012, call the Team FACEBOOK
Me too. We’re also going to have our own Apple F1 team in the 4th quarter of 2012. Not sure about the name yet but iRacer might be a good ones….
Our company RIM will have our own team soon too. We’ll call it BlackAero.
Team Google will pwn all of you with our Android drivers…
Lotus Group should get their priorities right, sell more cars, increase dealer networks, engineer better cars etc.. once that is sorted, the benefits of racing can be better realized, which is to help sell more cars.
Imagine that you are a potential sportscar buyer.. why would you buy a Lotus? Is it because you see the brand in Indycar or is it because you love the qualities of the road cars – lightweight, handling, responsiveness etc.
I don’t think it is the right time for them to go racing, at least where Group Lotus is concerned. It costs too mush money and Group Lotus isn’t really stable enough either.
Tony can race the brand all he wants. It doesn’t cost Group Lotus any money and it’s going to negatively affect its brand or sales anyway.
TYPO:
‘Tony can race the brand all he wants. It doesn’t cost Group Lotus any money and it’s NOT going to negatively affect its brand or sales anyway.’
TL & GL 2 separate entity under different company control…impossible to mix up the finance info…unless they are parent & subsidiary company…but colin chapman didn’t set up this way….so that why Lotus is special & unique…
I not sure if going independent from the parent company is a good idea but seeing many fans can accept the new team Lotus, aka also know as Litespeed (Formula F3 team with alot of former Lotus staff), this is indeed a good sign.
2011 should an interesting season for the Lotus boys. Hopefully with new engines from Renault, technical expertise from Mike, and proper funding from Tony and the new sponsors will bring the new Lotus team into greater highs, hopefully some points finish.
Hi, the team is not Litespeed. The team’s composition is unique and was built from scratch. Nino Judge from Litespeed is affiliated to the team, assisting in driver development but is not involved in the team’s day to day operation. Litespeed is running in F3 albeit in Lotus colours as ‘Junior Lotus’.
There are around 8 Malaysian engineers in Lotus Racing’s design office in Hingham not including Malaysians in the commercial department. There are other Asians and of course Europeans that make up the 200 strong team.
What happened to Team 1Malaysia? Stillborn already?
1 Malaysia Racing Team Sdn Bhd is still the legal entity behind Lotus Racing
Then was it just a political agenda behind the 1Malaysia a year ago when they were granted a grid for 2010? 1Malaysia – the most expensive marketing budget yet.
So? You want to talk politics here? Get a life! There are many political blogs out there. Go and voice your grouses there. We talk cars here.
this 1malaysia ,marketing campaign is good.
so malaysia is famous, and its easier to migrate to other country.
imagine you’re from santoniakaliseovia. lol.
but TL going to terminate the license from GL….they will get new self own license…all transaction been follow the english law…no way GL can do anything abt them….in 1998 GL (under proton) hv been lose all court case against TL at that time…so now GL also hv been withdraw 3 legal action against tony….jz to frighten tony….sure tony won’t fall into their traps…
The ‘budget’ was not from the country. It was the shareholders own pockets. They used the 1 Malaysia name hoping to get support from Malaysia both public and corporate.
hey..Singapore GP FP1 F.Fauzy currently 11sec behind webber..ok~
11sec is acceptable.
0.5 seconds is about 3 car lengths away.
11 seconds is like 30 car lengths away. So 11 second makes you look like a safety car following them. wahahahahahahahahahahahaha.
better go drive Merc SLS AMG La then. wahahhaahahhaakaakkakaakakka
Kamarudin, Nasa and I are absolutely delighted to have completed this transaction……………………….wtf nasa tech?
S.M. Nasaruddin…lol
NASA is referring to SM Nasarudin, the 3rd shareholder of the team and the one from NAZA group
I am a big fan of lotus but rather disappointed with the fact they end the relationship with lotus cars and proton.That saying, we lose part of the malaysianess in the team.Last year i thought lotus racing would collaborate with Lotus Group, and build a great car whilst in the same time boost the lotus image.Now, is only about tony and riches of malaysian living their dream playing with their toys.Obviously they wish NAZA name to be promoted rather than Proton.The Proton basher must love the news, not for people like me..who really love Proton…Not much of malaysian dream.sigh…
Fernandes denies that the apparent clash will cause problems.
“There’s no confusion. If Group Lotus decided to sponsor the ART racing team, that’s fine, and that carries on. We don’t actually understand the logic behind that, but that is their call.”
Fernandes doesn’t expect an ART/Lotus F1 effort: “I think it would be a very odd situation and will destroy a lot of goodwill. It was always very clear, Group Lotus is a car company, and Team Lotus has always been a racing team, racing in Indy and many other series, including Le Mans. I wouldn’t think that would happen.
“English law is very clear. Trade mark is an extra source of protection, but good will and passing off is very clear in English law. If someone tried to pass off [as Team Lotus] as a Formula One racing team or even in GP2 or Indy, we will obviously challenge that.”
well said by tony fernandes…fabulous now TL & GL under ms’ian control…i won’t thk m’sia govt get involve this matter….save 1 will hurt 3….save 3 the other 1 (QL) shld continue focus on selling road car….leave the racing team (TL) challenge the motorsports world peacefully…dun fight dun fight….both lotus shld thk wisely….
Don’t quite understand. They’re ending their relationship with Group Lotus, not Proton. Proton is still a sponsor to the team. They also still have AirAsia, Maxis, NAZA on the car. All Malaysian companies so I don’t know why you’ve singled out NAZA.
Group Lotus was very much Brtitish though owned by Proton. Don’t see how they’ve lost some ‘Malaysianness’
Lotus or Proton should buy the name back their own! Not by Tony os Naza…
not necessary..since TL & GL is 2 separate entity…and hv been run separately since founded by colin chapman set up this way….so this is not ferrari….this is Lotus special unique is here….who capable who control & rule the company….fair world…
LOL…even Lotus itself is not at any aspects of Lotus racing development…if they are they will be just be swelled with more debts…as it is, Lotus pun dah kaput….so basically its Team Lotus is tony, tony, tony and SM…nothing to do with Group Lotus apart from namesake…david hunt use to owned the brand, now just change that to Tony…no difference…am sure if the brand value of Team Lotus goes up he wouldn’t be selling it to Group Lotus for 1 pound….but hats off to tony for his shrewd move…
honestly i dont car wat name thy use , as long as results are respectable , and not jus fighting with Virgin racing…..if results dont go well , that lotus name can be a burden…..it jus has too much history…i hope it becomes successful worthy of the lotus name…GO LOTUS !
see this..
I look forward to assisting the team towards scoring Team Lotus’ 80th Grand Prix win – that will be the day when all the effort of the past 15 years will finally seem worthwhile,” said Hunt.
Hehe
Call yourself anything. The most important thing is to strive for podium finishes. F1 is about business, leave politic at the gate.
Elio De Angelis and Senna made Team Lotus a proud and winning team decades ago. Tony and Meranun made Team Lotus now the champ of backmarkers
I love to see Malaysian team in Formula 1 and Malaysian involved in this racing. Lotus Racing was the newest of the newest team in F1 but able to be top new team.
Ya,mostly the technical workforce not Malaysian, but the top management are Malaysian (Tony, Din, Nasa, Riad and etc).
So, it shows that Malaysian is able to compete with others at least in terms of management skills. So this will increase our Malaysian value around the world about who we are.
Its not the time for Proton or Lotus cars to heavily involve in F1 maybe just as small part of sponsor in terms of branding. The priority is must on making improvement of their cars first.
I rather love to see Proton involvement in rallying. Love to see Proton Satria Neo S2000 on stage. This will shows true Proton ability because using their own chassis designed. Hopefully they will using Proton’s engine later on instead of Renault engine.
Don’t you see like coincidence that Proton Satria Neo S2000 using Renault engine and the Team Lotus also will using Renault engine next season : )
Lets make your head spin with this deep info about TL and GL
http://bbs.hellof1.com/1566891-1.html
http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2010/09/22/a-mess-developing-in-malaysia/