Ruf is only about 60km from me near Ulm. Great operation!! Good to hear. Lotus is a very exciting operation!!
Hmmmm...... Sounds like a money deal to me. Not sure how, if at all, it will help Fauxtus. It's not like RUF have any single seater experience. Sure, they've done some quick cars, but that's a world away from a modern F1 team. I could definitely be wrong, but I suspect RUF were hurting some, Lopez is a long time fan and saw an opportunity for some "cheap" equity. Very little, if anything, to do do with the team. Cheers, Ian
+1 Well I'm sure at least the top boys can now drive about in cool Porsches (oops...I mean RUF's!) as a company car . I like the RT12...
LOL !! I am not sure how this partnership works and will work out. I would be more optimistic had we been talking about sports car racing instead of F1. Will this open the door to VW/Porsche to re-enter F1 as an engine supplier to Lotus in 2015 or maybe 2014 even ?
+1 Another keyboard takes a hit! I'm not even sure Lotus are involved TBH - It reads like Lopez [thru Genii] simply invested in 'em. Dunno if they were "hurting", but it sounds like Mr Ruf was happy to get some capital injected. Don't see it affecting the team at all. Cheers, Ian
Why? As noted, it doesn't look like there's any kind of tie up, just that they've both now got the same investors. I fail to see how that's good news for the team. Cheers, Ian
I wonder if I can buy a RUF badge somewhere and add it to my kimi autographed fleece jacket from last year. That'd be pretty cool! http://distilleryimage6.s3.amazonaws.com/cf3d0d2877ad11e2800922000a9e5110_7.jpg
Lopez/Genii wanted to buy the Lotus retail arm outright but couldn't work out a deal. So he bought Caterham, who is now working with Renault towards a common mid-engine platform that each concern will use for road cars (super light cars that are meant to come in just under the 981.) The nice thing is that Ruf's expertise may end up improving whatever cars Caterham is expected to release. I also figure that access to all the data, expertise and facilities at Lotus F1 can only make Ruf better.
Whoa!..... I know I confused the whole mess earlier (apologies), but that's not my understanding! I'd happily stand corrected, but I thought; - Lopez is the main man at Genii. - Genii now "owns" the black & gold F1 team (Lotus), with jockeys Kimi & Lettuce. - Caterham is owned by Tony Fernandez, from Malaysia - Nothing to do with Lotus F1, or Lopez, or Genii. Lotus?........ [Who will remain "Fauxtus" forever to me BTW. ] Although, I still don't see any link between 'em TBH. Cheers, Ian
Same here, I-man....but I do think Rufus would be terrific intro music for the 2014 Fauxtus... CHAKA! [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-hu4QR0XHU]You Got The Love - Rufus - YouTube[/ame]