Lotus-Renault V Team Lotus

[CNR]

http://chiefofficers.net/888333888/c...ecomes_surreal
Battle over Lotus name becomes surreal

The deal is done but the news hasn't been released by either party, it appears. Group Lotus, the wholly owned subsidiary of Malaysian car manufacturer Proton, is to buy out the 25% of Renault F1 team that is owned by .... Renault. But Renault will keep their name on the car. Whose logo will be on the nose-cone of the Lotus-Renault remains to be seen.
By making the investment and re-branding the Renault outfit, Group Lotus expect to immediately be ahead of the Team Lotus cars in 2011.Renault - which has many years F1 experience (it was, at one time, the Benetton team) finished 5th this year aided by the impossibility of overtaking in the last race of the season in Abu Dhabi; Lotus Racing finished 10th in its first season - a remarkable achievement.

[Sonic]

*slap hand head*

[gloomyDAY]

[LJH1225]

Just came across this website - really goes into detail about the whole Lotus thing - certainly makes things clear where things stand....

http://www.saveteamlotus.com/

[LJH1225]

Just came across this - goes into a lot of detail about the "Lotus Wars"...

http://www.saveteamlotus.com/

I hope Fernandes comes to his senses and fights for Team Lotus! Would hate to see Proton and Group Lotus just walk away with something they never had....

[nigelred5]

Fernandez- Proton F1 Malaysia
Group Lotus- Lotus-Renault F1

Proton wants to promote the Lotus Brand via racing = makes sense. Proton essentially pays Fernandez for the rights he purchased to the Lotus name by promoting Proton. Proton/ Group Lotus keep Cosworth happy after dropping their F1 engines by agreeing to a tie with Cosworth for Lotus badged cosworth engines in Indycar.

Those Malaysian Ringgit are getting around!

[nigelred5]

I really could care less. It's not like this was truly "Lotus Racing" Let Lotus use the Lotus name, with proper compensation of course. I like the idea of that compensation coming in the form of Proton marketing and naming of the
"Malaysian" team which makes a hell of a lot more sense. It's not like Fernandes owned team was going to see a dollar of support from the Lotus brand. Win-win

[nigelred5]

we can probably combine the two threads.

[Duchess]

I effing give up, this is bloody ridiculous. Pretty sure Group Lotus is run by maniacal children.

[Dr. Krogshöj]

Just came across this - goes into a lot of detail about the "Lotus Wars"...

http://www.saveteamlotus.com/

I hope Fernandes comes to his senses and fights for Team Lotus! Would hate to see Proton and Group Lotus just walk away with something they never had....

As opposed to Tony Fernandes who also never had it?

I really like Tony Fernandes. He's an extremely nice person and I think his team is poised for success. With Mike Gascoyne at the helm, Renault engines and Red Bull transmission, I expect them to challenge some of the old teams in 2011. His team did the Lotus name justice so far, which was highlighted by the support of the Champan Family.

But I don't believe he has more moral right to the Lotus name than Group Lotus. Yes, Group Lotus was a separate company that wasn't directly involved in Team Lotus's racing activites. But it was founded by Colin Chapman and, legalities aside, for all intents and purposes, Team Lotus was the factory team of Group Lotus. He kept them legally separate to prevent them going down in case the other one goes bankrupt but Team Lotus was used to promote Lotus road cars.

I think at this point, it would be wise if Tony let Group Lotus use the Lotus name in Formula 1 and rebrand his team as Air Asia F1 Team or Tune Racing F1 Team or Fernandes Racing or something like that. Even the Chapmans support Group Lotus now.

I believe this website was set up by David Hunt or people close to him, and its tone suggests that he will be more of a road block to peace than Tony Fernandes himself.