Lotus bid for F1 return

Eurosport - Mon, 08 Jun 11:49:00 2009

Team Lotus has joined a list of resurrected names from the sport's glittering past seeking a return to Formula One next season.

FORMULA 1 Jim Clark Lotus - 0

The Norfolk-based Litespeed Formula Three team said in a statement ahead of Sunday's Turkish Grand Prix they had submitted an application to the governing FIA to enter Formula One next season as Team Lotus.

They added that former Lotus grand prix driver Johnny Herbert had joined as "driver manager and global commercial ambassador".

Former Renault, Toyota and Force India technical director Mike Gascoyne is also involved in the project.

The FIA is due to announce the entry list next Friday, with at least 10 would-be new entrants seeking to compete under a budget cap.

Others include a Brabham Grand Prix team entered by a German businessman, who bought the assets of the failed Super Aguri team, Lola and March.

Kuwaiti-financed Prodrive have also applied with their entry, if successful, likely to race eventually under the Aston Martin name.

Force India and former champions Williams are the only existing teams to have submitted unconditional entries, with the other eight attaching conditions to their joint application under the Formula One Teams Association umbrella.

The FIA has said there would be room for three new teams if all the current ones stayed.

However, FOTA and the FIA are at loggerheads over the 2010 rules, with champions Ferrari and others threatening to walk away unless the regulations are rewritten to remove an optional £40 million.

"The FIA's new regulations are a bold initiative which allow for a level playing field in the sport for the first time," said Team Lotus principal Nino Judge, himself a former Lotus engineer, in the Team Lotus statement.

"It underpins our objective to re-establish the Team Lotus name and paves the way for us to introduce a competitive car."

The original Team Lotus was founded by the late Colin Chapman and made its debut in 1958.

It remains the fourth most successful Formula One team with 73 grand prix wins, seven constructors' titles and six drivers' crowns between 1963 and 1978.

Chapman died in 1982 and the team's last race was in 1994.

Reuters

Comment 2 - 21 of 41

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  1. Yeah Bring back lotus to F1 and racing green, but who­ will they get to drive them,

    From Peter, on Sun 7 Jun 8:52PM
  2. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    maybe itta a button a is i isa white

    From , on Sun 7 Jun 8:49PM

  3. Francis s - and - Potter etc etc

    contribute nothing­ but "­ racist " comments on these forums­ !!

    pair of ­ " AR$EHOLES " - racist ones at­ that !!!

    GTF­ - the pair of you

    From MC A, on Sun 7 Jun 8:26PM

  4. Ferrari who!
    look who's coming back yes Lotus
    I­ know I will get a rise out of you Ferrari Fans but hey­ Lotus wanting to come back into F1­ BRILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL.
    They are the­ English version of Ferrari Classic Sport Cars

    From anthony m, on Sun 7 Jun 7:27PM

  5. Lotus return to F-1,,,,,,,

    now the real coup would be­ to have Tony George corrupt F-1 and apply the same­ formula to IRL/CART here in the­ states,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

    From M M, on Sun 7 Jun 5:48PM

  6. How great things return the mini and bell bottoms, but­ best of all Lotus. John Player Special as it says it­ was special in its day . F1 needs somethingl to bring­ back the enthusiam.

    D Logan

    From maxlogan50, on Sun 7 Jun 4:37PM

  7. Ok,any of the old colours are good, I just have fond­ memorys of sitting in Elio's car as a young man and­ wondering why the gear change was on the right hand­ side. That was in 84 I think.

    From Cashel, on Sun 7 Jun 3:25PM

  8. As a Lotus fan from years ago, it would be great to see­ British Racing Green once again. Jim Clark fan­ forever.

    From Bill V, on Sun 7 Jun 3:19PM
  9. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    hay litle lee . yer meds are makin ya a sad litle boy­ taday . yer al woun up. take er eesy or ya wil blow a­ pimpel

    From Francis S, on Sun 7 Jun 2:17PM

  10. It would be great to see them back - FIA and FOTA just­ need to SRT THE FCKR OUT!!!

    From littlee.69123, on Sun 7 Jun 1:18PM

  11. Yes Clive!! I just didn't think it was relevant,­ has he sold the name or just leased it to them.
    Whilst­ I love the JPS colours I'd like to see them in BRG­ with the Yellow stripe, it'll all depend on­ sponsorship in the end.

    From http://f1fanatics.myforumx.com/index.php, on Sun 7 Jun 12:26PM

  12. Great to see them back where they belong.
    Let it be­ British run and the original Green/Gold livery.
    Maybe­ Nigel Mansell as an advisor.

    From John, on Sun 7 Jun 12:01PM

  13. Everything is possible, I trust Mike does a good­ job.
    BTW for some people's information , Daimler­ Benz bought Ilmor and called it Mercedes,
    Bmw bought­ Sauber and is now called BMW, Renault bought­ Benneton/Toleman and is called now Renault , Brawn was­ Honda , Leytonhouse was March , Project4 bought­ McLaren, etc etc

    From Ape, on Sun 7 Jun 11:52AM

  14. THAT WAS NOT A SWEAR WORD IT WAS SLANG FOR CIGGYS ­ (F.A.G.S). COME ON YAHOO GET A GRIP!!!!!

    From robert, on Sun 7 Jun 11:51AM

  15. I WOULD HOPE THEY WILL RUN IN THE ORIGINAL COLOURS OF­ GREEN WITH A YELLOW STRIPE UP THE MIDDLE, THEY ONLY­ USED THE BLACK & GOLD BECAUSE OF THE SPONSESHIP­ FROM JPS @#$%.
    I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO NEXT YEAR­ ALREADY AS I AM BORED WITH THIS YEARS.

    From robert, on Sun 7 Jun 11:50AM

  16. Comment on No5, that guy called Dave Hunt also had a­ brother called James!

    From clive.crocksord, on Sun 7 Jun 11:35AM

  17. I hope that if they do bring the Lotus name back they­ do it in a way that keeps the reputation of Lotus as an­ F1 manufacturer intact and in time enhances it.

    I­ agree with post No1 ( Cashel ) that any car baring the­ Lotus name needs to have Black & Gold livery, The­ name and that colour scheme belongs together

    From wolfy, on Sun 7 Jun 11:32AM

  18. Team Lotus and Lotus Cars were sold off separately, A­ guy called Dave Hunt owns the rights to "Team­ Lotus" Maybe Lotus Cars (Proton) will sponsor­ them?

    From http://f1fanatics.myforumx.com/index.php, on Sun 7 Jun 11:02AM

  19. Not sure how a "back of the grid British F3­­ outfit" purchasing the name of Lotus and racing­­ under it's name can be construed as some sort of­­ glorious return to the halcyon days of F1. More spin­­ from the Mosley press machine. And hasn't the­­ Brabham family denied that Formtech has the right to­­ use their name and are considering taking legal­ action?­ Lotus and Brabham are iconic names - legends­ in­ Motor-racing - but using their pedigree to­­ promote
    third rate teams that can't even make it­ in­ the lower reaches of motor-racing is just mutton­­ dressed as lamb. Or perhaps spam dressed as lamb is­­ more accurate...

    From DAVID, on Sun 7 Jun 10:47AM

  20. I wondered if Lotus would re enter into F1 under the­ new salary cap of £40 million with everyone else taking­ a keen interest. But again I hope that Lifespeed has­ bought the rights or permission from Lotus cars to use­ their name. Just like the German businessman that­ bought Super Aguri and is planning to use the Brabham­ name, without permission from the Brabham family to use­ the name Brabham by the way. And just because a German­ businessman has bought Super Aguri and its assets­ doesn't mean he owns the name Brabham, and what has­ Super Aguri ever had to do with the name Brabham. Any­ Brabham assets in 1993 would have been sold to pay off­ the Brabham teams debts when the team was liquidated.­ The F1 team Brabham has existed since 1993.

    D.Bristow

    From , on Sun 7 Jun 10:46AM
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