Lotus
Tuesday, September 28, 2010 at 03:13PM
Will the real Lotus please stand up? This situation over the use of "Lotus" would be silly if it were not for the history behind that name. This is a fight between two Malaysian groups that both use the Lotus name. One is Proton, the Malaysian car maker, owned by the Government I think, that owns the rights to make Lotus road cars, and has obviously decided to go racing in a big way. They sponsor a car in IRL for Kato to drive, and have just extended that deal, and have just announced an LMP2 Prototype for 2012. In between they have announced they are sponsoring the ART GP2 team next year. So, despite licensing Tony Fernandes, another Malaysian, to use the Lotus name this year in F1, I guess they have woken up that this is a great name to have if you are going racing and have decided not to renew the agreement, or rescind it, depending on what you read.
The plot thickens, as "Team Lotus," the original F1 Team, was presumably run as a separate entity to the Lotus road cars, and that name is apparently owned by David Hunt, relation of James Hunt F1 Champion. Tony Fernandes says he has acquired the rights from David to use the Team Lotus name next year. It is all headed to the courts to resolve this mess. As nice as it is to see Lotus racing again, some of us would probably have been just as happy to remember them as they were and save us all this. How about "Force Malaysia" Tony?
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, or paddock. It seems FOTA met at Singapore and agreed a "Resource Restriction Agreement" RRA, to run through 2017. Reading between the lines it sounds as if they have just extended the time for the existing "Resource Restriction" out to 2017. Quoting Renault Team Principle, Eric Boullier, "The decision taken last year [with the original RRA] was maybe in a special context with manufacturers threatening to break away for another championship. The RRA in its old version could even have damaged the sport by being too radical and I was keen to change the slope and extending it – and why not? We know we have to enter into a transition period. Everyone has done a reasonable job and I am happy we have signed this agreement."
So, it is business as usual, find as much money as you can and find a way to spend it. Martin Whitmarsh said that a number of loopholes have been closed and the RRA should be harder to fudge in future. Let us remember that this is basically a "Gentlemen's Agreement" between the teams, and there are few gentlemen in that paddock. You just have to look at the ludicrous amounts of money spent on the "motorhomes," McLaren being the biggest offender, to see where it goes. How is that making the racing better? Yes the drivers and engineers need somewhere to work and debrief, but that is a mobile Taj Mahal used for only half the races anyway. Never mind a test team, how big a team and how many trucks does that take to cart around and assemble, let alone run. Can you imagine the kitchen?
Just look at the musical drivers going on. A contract is not worth much apparently. Heidfeld did bring a sponsor to HRT as I suggested, but his drive to the end of the season seems to have lasted one race. Let's see who gets in that hot seat for Japan. Ask Petrov how his contract is going, with Boullier now saying he wants to meet Kimi face-to-face to see how serious he is about returning? Luizzi is confident his contract and good relations with the team will save his seat for next year. Let us know how that works out for you Tonio.
The plot thickens, as "Team Lotus," the original F1 Team, was presumably run as a separate entity to the Lotus road cars, and that name is apparently owned by David Hunt, relation of James Hunt F1 Champion. Tony Fernandes says he has acquired the rights from David to use the Team Lotus name next year. It is all headed to the courts to resolve this mess. As nice as it is to see Lotus racing again, some of us would probably have been just as happy to remember them as they were and save us all this. How about "Force Malaysia" Tony?
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, or paddock. It seems FOTA met at Singapore and agreed a "Resource Restriction Agreement" RRA, to run through 2017. Reading between the lines it sounds as if they have just extended the time for the existing "Resource Restriction" out to 2017. Quoting Renault Team Principle, Eric Boullier, "The decision taken last year [with the original RRA] was maybe in a special context with manufacturers threatening to break away for another championship. The RRA in its old version could even have damaged the sport by being too radical and I was keen to change the slope and extending it – and why not? We know we have to enter into a transition period. Everyone has done a reasonable job and I am happy we have signed this agreement."
So, it is business as usual, find as much money as you can and find a way to spend it. Martin Whitmarsh said that a number of loopholes have been closed and the RRA should be harder to fudge in future. Let us remember that this is basically a "Gentlemen's Agreement" between the teams, and there are few gentlemen in that paddock. You just have to look at the ludicrous amounts of money spent on the "motorhomes," McLaren being the biggest offender, to see where it goes. How is that making the racing better? Yes the drivers and engineers need somewhere to work and debrief, but that is a mobile Taj Mahal used for only half the races anyway. Never mind a test team, how big a team and how many trucks does that take to cart around and assemble, let alone run. Can you imagine the kitchen?
Just look at the musical drivers going on. A contract is not worth much apparently. Heidfeld did bring a sponsor to HRT as I suggested, but his drive to the end of the season seems to have lasted one race. Let's see who gets in that hot seat for Japan. Ask Petrov how his contract is going, with Boullier now saying he wants to meet Kimi face-to-face to see how serious he is about returning? Luizzi is confident his contract and good relations with the team will save his seat for next year. Let us know how that works out for you Tonio.
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