Group Lotus owner Proton has denied the British sports car maker is being sold to formula one team owner Genii.
Last week, Lotus boss Dany Bahar failed to quell speculation that Genii, the Gerard Lopez-led owner of the Enstone based Renault team, is poised to take over its title sponsor Lotus.

“I can only say this,” said Bahar, “when we made the announcement about our involvement in Lotus Renault GP we made it clear that this was the start of a close relationship and this journey continues.”

But Group Lotus owner Proton, the Malaysian carmaker, this week denied the Genii rumours with a media statement.

“Proton hereby states that the alleged moves between Group Lotus and Genii Capital are untrue and that the reports are highly speculative in nature,” it read.

Team Lotus claimed victory in the court dispute, but the Tony Fernandes-led outfit might have to change its name for 2012 and beyond.
That is the claim of Bernie Ecclestone, after the London High Court declared a complex verdict in the name dispute brought by Malaysian-owned British carmaker Group Lotus.

After the latter claimed victory, Team Lotus issued a second media statement clarifying that it can use “the Team Lotus name and roundel (logo) … in relation to formula one racing”.

But with Renault sponsor Group Lotus also cleared to continue deploying the famous name in F1, Ecclestone suggested that Team Lotus might have to undergo a slight identity switch next year.

His comments tie in with a reference by Team Lotus in its first press statement on Friday to “the Caterham Team Lotus umbrella”; a reference to Fernandes’ recent acquisition of the specialty British sports car maker.

Ecclestone told Blick: “Fernandes can keep the name Team Lotus. However, his cars may not be called Lotus.

“In the registration for the world championship, the team (name) comes first, then the car.

“Strictly speaking Fernandes would have to sign up as Team Lotus and something,” added the F1 chief executive to the Swiss newspaper.

Team Lotus did announce a tie-up with specialist British sports car maker Caterham Cars on Wednesday, but not the expected change of name.
Caterham managing director Ansar Ali said Wednesday’s news was the “first step”, with a “full branding and platform” to be laid out “in due course”.

“I think it will excite all the staff at Caterham, and all the fans of Caterham Cars,” he added.

Team Lotus boss and new Caterham owner Tony Fernandes said the move is to give his formula one team a “commercial arm” in the sports car world.

It has been said the tie-up could be a neat move for Fernandes away from his bitter F1 naming dispute with Group Lotus, who as Renault title sponsor now want to be the only ‘Lotus’ in F1.

“This isn’t being done just in case we lose the case,” he insisted to Reuters.

“I and the shareholders want to wait and see what happens with the court case and then we’ll make plans from there,” added Fernandes, referring to the High Court verdict that is due in the coming weeks.

Tony Fernandes has revealed for the first time that Group Lotus has offered to settle the F1 naming dispute out of court.
The parties are fighting over Fernandes’ right to use the ‘Team Lotus’ name he bought from David Hunt for his Hingham based team in 2011.

Group Lotus terminated a license for Fernandes’ team to use ‘Lotus Racing’ last year, before the famous Proton-owned sports car maker decided to enter F1 as title sponsor to Renault.

“I considered doing a deal, but the one they offered me would have bankrupted us,” Malaysian Fernandes, whose team is testing privately at Valencia on Friday, is quoted by the Norwich Advertiser.

It is reported elsewhere that the deal offered was less than US $10m.

Instead, the saga has descended into a ‘he said, she said’ tit-for-tat, with fans now facing the prospect of two Lotus teams on the grid this year before a High Court ruling.

“It’s petty,” agreed Fernandes.

“I think we should all grow up and let the courts decide, and at the end of the day we honour the courts.

“I said I didn’t want to say anything any more, but they keep making statements. I can’t just say silent.”

Proton intends to push ahead with a partial takeover of the Enstone based formula one team Renault.

Previously, it was believed the Malaysian carmaker was only in talks over a potential title sponsorship, with Renault F1 to be renamed after the Proton-owned British sports car maker Group Lotus.

But Datuk Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir, who is Proton’s group managing director, told the Malaysian newspaper The Star that Proton is in fact negotiating to buy 25 per cent of the Renault team before the start of the 2011 season.

“Yes, that’s the intent,” he confirmed. “A decision will be made soon.

“We’re close, just wait for a few days,” added Zainal. “(The) 25 per cent (shareholding) is something that we are discussing.

“It’s still too premature to disclose the exact percentage but it has to be a position where we can control our brand,” he said.

Mike Gascoyne has questioned Group Lotus’ apparent intention to enter formula one next year in collaboration with the Renault team.

Gascoyne is the technical boss at the team currently known as Lotus Racing, but the official naming license has been revoked by Group Lotus for 2011 and beyond.

This year’s Lotus Racing cars have also run with branding of the Group Lotus owner Proton, but Gascoyne’s boss Tony Fernandes is reportedly dismayed the sports car maker did not embrace the opportunity to tie up with his team.

And Gascoyne is now confused about the reports linking Group Lotus with a three-year EUR 60 million title sponsorship of Renault F1.

“If they want to advertise their road cars, why spend so much money on it?” the Briton is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport.

“With us, they could do it free of charge.”

The German report said Group Lotus is currently running at a loss, meaning it is essentially subsidised by Malaysian tax-payers due to its Proton ownership.

“The cynic might say they are going to blow away taxpayer money in formula one,” said Auto Motor und Sport.

Renault team boss Eric Boullier has confirmed talks with the Proton owned sports car maker Group Lotus.

Speculation at Interlagos this weekend has suggested Group Lotus, having terminated its naming license deal with the F1 team currently known as Lotus Racing, is keen to buy into Enstone based Renault.

It is understood that rumour may be wide of the mark, with Lotus keener instead to simply tie up with Renault as a title sponsor.

But rumours persist that Renault SA could step further away from F1 and remain on the grid only as an engine supplier to the Enstone based team as well as Red Bull and Lotus Racing.

When asked about the Group Lotus rumours, Boullier told Auto Hebdo in Brazil: “Today, there are discussions, but we also have these with other sponsors and other companies.”

Renault SA chief Carlos Ghosn is expected at Interlagos on Sunday but no formal announcements are scheduled.

Boullier commented further about the apparently complicated situation.

“At the moment there are a lot of distorted rumours, but it is true there have been discussions about a possible collaboration,” said the Frenchman.

A deal to host at least seven Russian grand prix in Sochi beginning in 2014 has been reached, the country’s president Vladimir Putin announced on Thursday.

“An agreement with the (sport’s) organising company has been reached,” he told investors in the Black Sea resort city, according to the state news agency Ria Novosti.

F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone was reportedly also in Sochi to sign the contract.

“In order to organise the work properly, we should create a management company here, in our country.  It should consist of private national companies,” Putin added.

The report said some of Russia’s biggest companies, including the state enterprise Rostekhnologii, mobile phone operator Megafon, oil company Lukoil and aluminum giant Rusal will invest in the circuit that could cost $200 million.

Nikolai Fomenko, boss of Marussia, said last month that he planned to bring the Russian sports car maker into F1 in 2012.  The company already sponsors the Virgin team.

“The signing of the agreement to stage a grand prix in Sochi will help put a Russian team in F1,” said Igor Yermilin, an official of the Russian Motor Racing Federation.

Group Lotus has no plans to enter formula one, despite fighting to prevent its name from being deployed in the category next year.

Tony Fernandes’ Malaysian-backed Lotus Racing entered F1 this year with its name officially licensed by Lotus Cars, the famous British sports car maker.

But with Lotus Motorsport moving into racing next year with the GP2 team ART, it has withdrawn the license from Fernandes, who has instead bought the separate Team Lotus name from 1976 world champion James Hunt’s brother David.

The matter is now in the hands of the courts.

It might be said the decision to withdraw the license was related to Group Lotus’ plans to enter F1 in the near future, but Lotus Motorsport’s Claudio Berro insists this is not the case.

“This is not our decision at the moment because F1 has enormous costs,” he told the Italian website 422race.com.

“I think that, if Lotus is to go into F1, they have to do it at the top and competing with the best teams, unlike this year,” added Berro, clearly referring to Lotus Racing’s current position near the rear of the 2010 grid.

He is not ruling out a change of position in the future, depending on the sport’s regulations.

“Then if formula one will be accessible and the conditions will be there, we will see.  It will be a future step,” said Berro.

Tony Fernandes has reportedly lost the support of Clive Chapman.

The news was reported by the well-known French commentator Jean-Louis Moncet in his latest Auto Plus column.

He said he received the information from “a very good source” at Lotus Cars.

The famous British sports car maker is locked in a legal battle with Fernandes, who intends to continue to use the Lotus name in formula one next year, despite Group Lotus withdrawing its official license.

Moncet’s source said Fernandes, Lotus Racing’s majority owner and team boss, continually says he has the backing of Chapman, the son of the late Lotus founder Colin Chapman.

But the source said Chapman in fact has dissociated himself from Fernandes’ team.

Chapman has reportedly written a letter to Bernie Ecclestone to this effect, and may also issue a press release to confirm his stance officially.

The issue could be doubly problematic for Fernandes’ Lotus Racing, with Renault believed to be holding off confirming its supply of engines for 2011 until the wrangling has stopped.

Lotus Racing said last week it will not be making “any further comments” on the issue on the advice of Tun Dr Mahathir, advisor to Group Lotus owner Proton and the former Malaysian PM.

F1′s engine makers are banding together against the FIA’s plans to introduce a radically new engine formula in 2013.

It was previously believed the bulk of the teams backed the plans for turbocharged 1.6 litre 4-cylinder engines, in accordance with a ‘greener’ image.

But the sport’s engine makers Ferrari, Mercedes, Renault and Cosworth have now come to the conclusion that Jean Todt’s plans will cost EUR100 million to develop, and are lobbying to be able to base the new formula on the existing V8 engines.

Cosworth has reportedly warned that it can develop 4-cylinder engines for EUR20 million but that the costs must be passed on to its small customer teams.

So the engine maker group wants the plans to be delayed until 2015, according to a report in Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

They believe the FIA’s ambitions can be achieved with the current engines, such as by restricting fuel flow and developing the KERS regulations further.

They met after the Singapore race and agreed that efforts should be made to retain the basic V8 layout beyond 2012.

But also despite some F1 purists’ fears about the benign sound the smaller engines will make, FIA president Todt is reportedly adamant the new formula one will be imposed on time.

One marque happy with the FIA’s plans, including the possibility of the new engines being deployed outside of F1, is Porsche.

The German sports car maker’s research and development chief Wolfgang Durheimer said its interest in entering F1 is “based on the ‘world engine’”.

“Of course, the rules have to be right,” he added.

A second leading figure of the famous sports car maker Porsche has admitted the German marque is considering a new formula one foray.

Porsche’s new chief executive Matthias Mueller kicked off the reports with his comments at the Paris motor show last week.

And now Wolfgang Durheimer, Porsche’s research and development director, has revealed that the marque is not simply considering becoming an engine supplier as it was in 1991.

“If Porsche was to go to formula one, then it would only be with its own team, because you need complete control over all the competition-related factors, including the car and its technology,” Durheimer is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport.

“Porsche is a very profitable company, we can afford that,” he added.

F1 team Lotus Racing is taking a naming dispute with Malaysian carmaker Proton to London’s High Court.

After terminating the team’s license of the Lotus Racing moniker, Proton on Monday vowed to challenge boss Tony Fernandes’ intention to call itself Team Lotus in 2011.

Team Lotus, separate from the Proton-owned British sports car maker Group Lotus, was sold to Fernandes by David Hunt, who acquired the name when the original team folded in the 90s.

But Proton said: “We are the owners of this brand, and will take all necessary steps to protect it.”

Lotus Racing has now responded to Proton’s statement.

“We have today issued proceedings in the English High Court for a declaration that Team Lotus Ventures has the rights to use the Team Lotus name and everything associated with that brand in relation to formula one,” announced team chief executive Riad Asmat.

He said he was confident the court will permit the use of the Team Lotus name because Group Lotus “recently tried to revoke the Team Lotus trademarks at a hearing … but they were unsuccessful”.

And “When we signed our licence to compete as Lotus Racing, (Group Lotus) were very clear that we could not make any reference to Team Lotus as they had no rights at all to the Team Lotus name”, added Asmat.

Asmat also confirmed that a small team sponsorship by Proton, worth about 1.5 per cent of the team’s 2010 budget, is ending.

“Personally I think it’s odd that our colleagues at Group Lotus have not embraced what we are giving them — a global platform for creating huge awareness and great value for their operations, all at no cost to them,” he added.

On Twitter, team boss Fernandes commented: “Funny how after we deliver a formula one team that’s professional and has promise, everyone wants a piece.

“But this is great because all the facts will come out and the shareholders and government will see the real story.”

HRT on Wednesday morning confirmed that its relationship with Italian chassis maker Dallara has ended.

Amid multiple criticisms of the F110 car from within the new Spanish outfit, it has been reported for some time that the Dallara contract was terminated.

“It was clear from the outset that the contract with Dallara is completed,” team boss Colin Kolles was quoted as saying last month.

“It ended on the date on which we ran our cars,” he added.

In a press release on Wednesday morning, the team confirmed the split, insisting it is “on amicable terms”.

But the statement also revealed that after six races in 2010, “no further chassis development was made by Dallara”.

“HRT … will continue to develop and improve the Dallara designed F110 chassis via its own development programme,” the statement added.

Amid suggestions the Dallara split would convince consultant Geoff Willis to sign up as technical director, Kolles said earlier this month that the team will build its own car for 2011.
(GMM)