Great news for Lotus fans!

This is all getting confusing as hell.

 

Agreed

 

I suspect the Genii/Proton Lotus Renault team will still be stronger than the Team Lotus Renault of Tony Fernandez.

The Genii group inherited the Renault installations in Enstone, that used to be Benetton and even Toleman to start with. The facilities are huge and there is plenty of technical equipment and experience staff there. Renault has also left some essential French staff there.

In Fernandez camp, Gascoyne is the main asset in their small Norfolk installations. But they look very much under-financed and under-equiped compared to the other Renault-powered teams.

It rests to be seen who Renault will favour among its clients. I suppose that their priority will be Red Bull first, and then Genii and Fernandez after that. That's must also be the order in budget sizes too.

How long Fernandez and Gascoyne can survive that inequal struggle has yet to be seen.

 

Between the IRL program, GP2 sponsorship, supposed LMP program, and plethora of new models an F1 sponsorship program on top sure seems like a lot for a company that was never profitable...

 

Some pics
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But of which team? That giant Lotus badge looks ghastly...

 

Looks like a Renault B team to me.

 

Who is the real Lotus team?

I look at it this way - did Colin Chapman design and build his own cars, or did he slap a grossly oversized logo on the nose of someone else's car and paint the name on the side?

Tony Fernandes and Mike Gascoyne are building a real team, bought the rights to the Team Lotus name (the F1 racing company that Chapman kept separate from Group Lotus, the road car company), and have the support of the Chapman family. They design and build their own car.

Dany Bahar, failed marketing "genius" who was booted from Ferrari after the A1GP fiasco, sold Proton on his smoke and mirrors grand scheme and was hired as Lotus CEO in Sept 2009 (after Proton had already licensed Fernandes to use the Lotus name in 2010). Not content to let Fernandes pay Group Lotus to use the name, he is insisting on Group Lotus entering F1 on their own, and trying to co-opt the Team Lotus racing heritage on the way (to which they have absolutely ZERO rights - Group Lotus had nothing to do with F1, ever). So, he buys the Renault remaining 25% share of Genii Capital's team, and with 25% ownership of someone else's team and title sponsor rights wants to call the team Lotus Renault GP.

Group Lotus has nothing to do with the design and manufacture of the Genii Capital Renault car - they are a title sponsor, period. The real Lotus F1 team of the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s was NOT just a title sponsor, they designed and built the cars. Group Lotus in F1 is a fraud, powered only by Dany Bahar's ego.

The only possible good outcome of this is that Group Lotus will implode within 3 years when Bahar's idiotic plans to take the Group Lotus road cars upmarket to compete against Porsche, Ferrari, Aston Martin implode in a sales disaster, then Proton will sell the smoking wreckage to Fernandes and he will resurrect the road car company as well.

Frankly, though, I can't see Bernie and FOM, nor the FIA, allowing there to be two Lotus Renault teams in black and gold livery (how original, Bahar, Team Lotus announced 4 weeks ago that they would be running black and gold in 2011). Something has got to give! I know there is a British High Court case regarding the rights to Team Lotus, but that won't be heard until later in the year. If Fernandes wins that case, then Proton/Group Lotus will have to cease and desist in F1, and likely pay damages to Fernandes.

 

Yes it is!

 

It looks like Fernandes will change his team to Malaysian GP or something like that and there will be one lotus team. I am hearing there in court as we speak.

 

So there will be two Lotus teams: a Lotus Group (road cars) outfit and a Team Lotus (racingt cars) outfit? And they'll both run with Renault engines in JPS livery? Wow, this could get very interesting as it seems Lotus Group is only doing this to spite Team Lotus....

 

You could well be right on that one.

Bahar's plans to attack the top road cars manufacturers seems rather over ambitious, and certainly brought a few smiles among competitors.

At a time when most manufacturers are 'stepping down' and introducing smaller cars in their range, diversifying or introducing alternative technology (Porsche new Boxster, Hybrid Ferrari? turbine/electric Jag) to satisfy the increasing limit on carbon emission across their ranges, Lotus propose to do just the opposite and increase engine capacities to build bigger and larger cars for a market it has no experience yet.

The intention to market 6 new models in the near future seems utopic at best, and isn't given great credibility in the business. To compete against the big players, Lotus Cars would need to sort out its quality control first and improve the ergonomics on his vehicles.

The saga of Lotus is one of many failures and several owners. Under Bahar, Lotus could reach another dark era of its history.

 

This man speaks the truth

 

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/88628


Bahar: Two Lotus teams 'no problem'


Group Lotus CEO Dany Bahar has insisted he would have no problem with Tony Fernandes' Team Lotus continuing with the same name in Formula 1 next year despite his company also entering the world championship with Renault.

 

That sucks. I really like Kubica, but I'm not about to support that team now that Bahar has done what he's done.

Note to self: Only like the green ones now.

 

Bahar wants to make a point!!

"My badge is bigger than yours... "

 

One thing puzzle me (a few as a matter of fact)...

Lotus Cars (Proton) has announced that it will enter the IRL and become an engine supplier in the series in 2013.

Why then link with Renault in F1? Do they intend to have Renault designing their Indy engine and badge it as Lotus?

Or, do they intend to make their own engine in F1 from 2013 too?


I still can't get my head round the fact that we will have 2 Lotus Renault teams next years. It will be terribly difficult to follow for the TV comment too...

 

wait wait. Is this their new car for '11???

If so............hated it
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What doesn't confuse you?

 

I love the black and gold livery. Reminds me of the JPS era.

 

Bahar is a Ferrari reject after the A1GP fiasco and seems to fancy himself as a Montezemolo. Its a shame he paid for something when he could have gotten the exposure for free from Fernandes. He certainly hasn't won himself many fans with this glorified sponsorship move.

 

Okay, so we have Kubica and possibly Petrov in the Renault-Lotus and Heikki and Trulli in the Lotus-Renault. No problem .

 

I'd like it even more if it was on the real Lotus F1 car.