The historic Lotus name is poised to return to Formula 1 after submitting an entry for the 2010 championship. The Norfolk-based Litespeed team have bought the rights to the name Team Lotus, which disappeared from F1 following financial problems in 1994. Lotus won seven constructors' crowns and six drivers' champions, including Jim Clark and Graham Hill, during their golden era in the 1960s and '70s. The new Team Lotus has lodged an entry for next year as a "cost-capped" team. They will use Cosworth engines and have a car designed under the leadership of former Toyota and Renault technical director Mike Gascoyne. Gascoyne told BBC Radio Norfolk the Lotus brand should help the team's bid to secure a place on the 2010 grid. "Certainly it should help us, it's obviously one of the most famous names in Formula 1, and still the fourth most successful constructor in F1 history. "To come back in with the Lotus name and to be based in Norfolk is a great story for Formula 1. "We've secured the lease to the RTN factory in Hingham near to Lotus and we've been in discussion with Lotus and [their parent company] Proton. "For me to continue my F1 career under the banner of the Team Lotus name and help to bring it back to its deserving place in the world championship is a fantastic feeling and something that I am extremely proud to be doing," said Gascoyne. The FIA will announce which teams have been successful in gaining entries on 12 June. The FIA's ongoing negotiations to agree a budget cap of around £40m with the 10 existing teams on the grid is partly designed to encourage more teams to enter the sport. But there is an ongoing row over the plans between the FIA and the F1 Teams' Association (Fota). The Fota teams - which include big names such as Ferrari, McLaren and Renault - lodged entries that were conditional on FIA president Max Mosley acting on a compromise agreement negotiated at the Monaco Grand Prix last month. But Mosley appears to have hardened his position in the fortnight since then and is now saying that the Fota teams would have to organise their own championship if they want to write the rules. Team Lotus have joined US F1, Spain's Campos Racing and several other largely unheralded outfits in adding their names to the list of new entrants on 29 May. The ownership rights for the name were bought by businessman David Hunt - the brother of the late former world champion James - when Team Lotus collapsed. Former Lotus F1 engineer Nino Judge and Steve Kenchington have been named as team principal and director of engineering, respectively. 'David Hunt has been the custodian of the name for so many years and we thank him for entrusting us not just with its safeguard but, more importantly, its development in the racing world of tomorrow," said Judge. Former Lotus driver Johnny Herbert has also joined the new team as driver manager and global commercial ambassador. If the team's application is successful it will mark a return to F1 by one of its most celebrated teams. Colin Chapman founded Lotus in 1952 and went on to influence the careers of some of the sport's great drivers - and cars. Stirling Moss gave Lotus their first grand prix win at Monaco in 1960, signalling the team's rise in competitiveness. In 1962, Chapman designed the revolutionary one-piece, or monocoque, chassis based on aircraft design. The following season, the dominant Lotus powered Clark to his first title and the Scot added a second in 1965. Andretti claimed the last world title for Lotus in their famous black and gold cars in 1978 However, Lotus' history has been marked as much by tragedy as success. In 1968 Clark was killed in a Formula Two race; his Lotus team-mate Hill went on to win his second championship that year. Austrian Jochen Rindt became the sport's first posthumous world champion in 1970 when he died driving for Lotus during practice for the Italian Grand Prix. Rindt's replacement, Emerson Fittipaldi, won another title for Lotus in 1972 with Mario Andretti becoming the team's sixth world champion in 1978. Andretti's triumph was down to another Chapman design perfection known as "ground effect," where air flowing under the car was channelled to create increased levels of aerodynamic downforce. But Andretti's win was also marked by sadness as his popular team-mate Ronnie Peterson died when he was seriously injured at Monza. Four years later, Chapman, who handed future world champion Nigel Mansell his debut in 1980, suffered a heart attack and died. Under new leadership, Lotus enjoyed limited success in the mid-1980s, despite having Ayrton Senna, who would go on to win three world titles, at the wheel. The team succumbed to financial pressures in 1994 and withdrew from F1, but remains the fourth most successful constructor of all time. From BBC
True however The new Lotus will use Cosworth engines and will be based at the Racing Technologies Norfolk facility at Hingham. This means that Litespeed is also involved as it has been leasing that facility. The factory has been in racing since the 1980s when the Japanese Toyota preparation company TOMS acquired the headquarters of the Percival Hodges F1 powerboat team.
I wonder if there will be any further acquisition of Toyota assets. I don't think they're planning to stick around.
exactly - capitalization on the name only (how can this be even remotely compared to Senna, the black JPS beautiful black cars of the real Lotus??) . . . .the FIA said a company called 1Malaysia F1 Team has won the 13th entry for a Norfolk-based and Cosworth-powered team to be headed by Tony Fernandes and technical director Mike Gascoyne. Fernandes is currently chief executive of the Malaysian airline AirAsia, a sponsor of the Williams team. Appears to have the makings of Williams losing a current sponsor doesn't it?? Although the Lotus team is based in Norfolk, it is funded by a partnership between the Malaysian Government and a consortium of Malaysian entrepreneurs, spearheaded by team principal Tony Fernandes, who is the founder and CEO of the Malaysian-based Tune Group, owner of the Air Asia airline. In a statement, the Malaysian government have announced: "The cars will be made in Malaysia, by Malaysians. The team will announce its two drivers by October 31, 2009. Currently six local and international drivers have been selected." They will build a new headquarters in Sepang. Another Cosworth team (obviously or they wouldn't have been accepted) and potentially another backmarker team. Carol (wonder if Todt has any connection to this??? don't mean to get Steve in a fray since the elections are forthcoming but just curious!)
Very much so, I would feel quite sorry for Frank if that occurs - especially a re-creation that will undoubtely capitalize on Lotus roots. I suppose one might say that could go hand in hand with the "new wave" of F1 in godforsaken places with no crowds - far away from the traditional roots of the series. Carol
Another blow coming to Williams. Too bad. So now we have a Team more or less sponsored by Malaysia who can compete against the French and Italian teams. Is Barack behind the US teams as part of an economic stimulus package ? Anyway its free advertising for the Lotus car factory.
So I don't get it... There is still a Lotus car company, but this has nothing to do with that company, correct? WTF?
In other words, the last 15 years of Lotus' history. Like you, I choose to remember Lotus for their glory years. But the reality is, there was little to celebrate after Mario's title other than Senna's first win. Lotus was always like 'Ferrari-lite' to me; they made sports cars for the road but seemed to do so only to go racing. Only they never achieved the same level of prestige as Ferrari. It's anyone's guess what would have become of Lotus had Colin Chapman been around a few more years to secure its legacy. But I can't help feel that at best they would have followed Tyrrell/Stewart/Jordan and sold to a bigger owner. We've covered the Lotus branding issue before, and while reanimating the marque seems a dishonor to the halcyon days, I really believe their legend has already been trod-upon.
I doubt Todt has any connection with this. Tony Fernandes is respected local businessman here, his operation is of cos, Malaysian budget Airline, Air Asia. However, i just hope this whole project won't screw up and be an embarrassment, just like how Alex Yoong is.
Huh? The above makes it sound like an old story..... IIRC, aren't Lotus on record as saying "no, you can't use our name"? [Came up here a few months back?] Cheers, Ian
Ferrari Lite? Baloney. IN 1972 or 1973, Lotus surpassed Ferrari on the all-time F-1 wins chart DESPITE BEING IN F-1 FOR A MUCH SHORTER TIME! Lotus gradually died out once its founder and his brilliant (usually) ideas were gone. Ferrari, on the other hand, got considerably better once Enzo passed away. Sorry to inject a little reality into this discussion, but this is the truth! (BTW: yes, I do currently own a Ferrari.)
So what? Lotus entered F1 in 1958, at which time the calendar expanded from 7 or 8 races per year to 10 or 11. These also included the Indy 500 (through 1960), at which Ferrari did not compete. This means for the first 7 seasons there were only 6 or 7 opportunities for Ferrari to win a race. Colin Chapman was always an innovator, and he enjoyed the spikes in success as a result. The 49 and 72 were dominant chassis for multiple seasons, and the impact he made bring ground effects to the sport was immense. But to believe that Lotus holds anywhere near the cache of Ferrari in either the sports car market or in racing is flat out wrong. You alluded to the point about Ferrari returning to prominence following the death of its founder while Lotus collapsed. This only strengthens my point that Lotus was a lesser version of the Scuderia. Like I said in my post, had Colin Chapman been able to secure the legacy of his team before he passed, they may still be a force today. But that point is moot--he didn't, and sadly a once-proud F1 team is now more of a trivia question.
It is someone who wants to keep a low profile but with the name like Qadbak Investments Ltd I would hazard a guess at Qadbak stands for Qatar, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Kuwait. Also the Middle East has big ambitions in the automotive world as has been seen in the recent Daimler/Aabar and Porsche/Qatar deals.
