The return of Team Lotus

[Shine]

from GrandPrix.com:

Litespeed has announced that it intends to enter F1 in 2010 under the Team Lotus banner. The team says that a deal has been truck with David Hunt to use the name he has been trying to revive since 1995. The team has also agreed a deal to employ former Lotus F1 driver Johnny Herbert as a driver manager and commercial ambassador.

The team will have a car designed by Mike Gascoyne and will operate out of the former Racing Technology Norfolk (RTN) facility in Hingham, Norfolk. This was previously the headquarters of the TOM'S GB team, but actually started out housing the Percival Hodges F1 powerboat team in the early 1980s. It was sold to TOM'S in 1987 and two years later was upgraded when TOM'S tried to lure Toyota into F1. A TOM'S F1 car was designed but never built and after Toyota rejected the idea of F1 Barnard went to Ferrari. TOM'S later sold the facility to Audi and it became known as RTN and built the Bentley sports cars which won the Le Mans 24 Hours. In 2007 it was sold to a company called Express Composites but proved to be bigger than was needed and closed down.

The team is to be run by Litespeed's Nino Judge, who will be team principal and Steve Kenchington, the director of engineering. Both men are former Team Lotus engineers.

"I am Norfolk born and bred," Mike Gascoyne says. "For me to continue my F1 career under the banner of the Team Lotus name and help to bring it back to its deserving place in the world championship is a fantastic feeling and something that I am extremely proud to be doing."

[Abe]

Time will tell if this is true or if it will actually happen.

[ggelise]

Litespeed intending to enter F1 as Team Lotus
06/06/2009

Litespeed F3 has tonight (Saturday) issued the following:

It is the news that millions of fans across the globe have waited 15 years to hear - the prospect that the familiar British racing green and gold marque of Team Lotus may be back on the F1 world championship grid in 2010.

This announcement will come as a surprise to those who have dreamt, but dared not believe, that the iconic Team Lotus name would once again appear in the championship in which, to this day, it remains the 4th most successful constructor of all time. But for Nino Judge, Team Principal of Team Lotus (previously known as Litespeed GP) and Steve Kenchington, Director of Engineering, both ex Team Lotus F1, it was always to be the Team Lotus name under which they would want to submit the FIA team application.

'Most people already know that MGI Ltd and Mike Gascoyne are undertaking design activities for the new 2010 chassis,' said Judge.

'What has not been public knowledge until now has been our desire to secure the Team Lotus name. Team Lotus is synonymous with great British engineering and F1 innovation, such as the Lotus 25 being the first monocoque chassis in F1 and the introduction of groundbreaking sponsorship, both of which easily demonstrate why ex Lotus personnel would want to bring this championship-winning name back to the formula. Litespeed was born from a similar British background - a factor that was at the core of Colin Chapman's beliefs and subsequent success.

'David Hunt has been the custodian of the name for so many years and we thank him for entrusting us not just with its safeguard but, more importantly, its development in the racing world of tomorrow.'

Reiterating his support for the FIA's proposed budget cap, Judge said, 'The FIA's new regulations are a bold initiative which allow for a level playing field in the sport for the first time. It underpins our objective to re-establish the Team Lotus name and paves the way for us to introduce a competitive car.

Is this the final piece being placed into a contemporary F1 team puzzle? Of course not - that would be to underestimate the vision of Judge and Kenchington. The team has recently taken on the RTN facility in Norfolk, a county that is associated not just with the Lotus name, but with racing per se.

'I am Norfolk born and bred,' said Gascoyne. 'For me to continue my F1 career under the banner of the Team Lotus name and help to bring it back to its deserving place in the world championship is a fantastic feeling and something that I am extremely proud to be doing.'

So the real story behind Litespeed's application is twofold: Norfolk and Team Lotus. It should then come as no surprise that Johnny Herbert - ex Team Lotus F1 and arguably the most popular person in the F1 paddock - has joined the team as both driver manager and global commercial ambassador.

The momentum is building, the team is growing, and for the loyal Lotus fans around the world, their dreams will be determined on 12th June.

[dbisbee]

Like a dream come true...

[Aedo]

merged threads

[spacepig]

Originally Posted by dbisbee

Like a dream come true...

You've been dreaming that a midpack F3 team would buy the Team Lotus name and use it to attempt to give their half-assed F1 bid some legitimacy? Really?

[ggelise]

Yea... it would be tragic if the factory was not involved. What a bizarre sham if this is the ultimate outcome. Perhaps this would give Lotus impetuous to get involved.

[goelise]

[Green Ghost]

Great… the real teams are threatening to leave and start a new series (and I am all for it, screw the FIA, Max Mosley and Bernie) and now Lotus is going to be a scab team sucking up to Bernie and friends in a low budget fake F1 series. IRL already exists and I don’t want to see another one, and even IRL is going to be (finally) allowing a few new chassis in next year. Maybe IRL will step up a notch in quality.

If this new Lotus is going to work it needs to get in the ring with the real teams. I would of course give it a few years to get up and going but to get in bed with Max and Bernie is just wrong.

I for one have hoped Lotus would come back, and I hope this works out good, but it’s not looking good from how I see this maybe going.

[DeanG]

At LOG 29 there were some Q&A sessions with Lotus representatives. Someone asked if there was going to be Lotus involvement in F1. The answer was along the line of No. That kind of racing was not in their plans.

[cornbeef]

this whole f1 stuff right now is firstly they need to control costs, they just can't keep rising. a few months ago toyota was supposidly pulling out if they didn't get wins as the cost was too high, now they are one of the main supporters of not reducing costs

anyway i really don't think f1 will turn into an irl/gp2 type championship if the new teams come in, provided there still is the stipulation that the chassis (or a large proportion of it) must be built by the team. take f1 in the 60 & 70s, there were plenty of teams, but only a few engine manufacturers with most cars running the cosworth engines. i think the dual rule thing would make for exciting racing as the little guys come up with new ideas, which can only be good. as for the breakaway series, it's all well and good until the car companies get tired of running their own championship, then what...... i guess i've known this was inevitable once the car companies came in the sport in a big way pushing out the essense of what f1 used to be, ie a bunch of guys in a 'shed' building the fastest car they can.

anyway as for lotus' return, i'd love to see the name in the championship again and it looks like they have quite a decent team built up especially with gascoyne if they leave him alone and give him the resources. my big issue is the fact lotus cars is not involved, therefore it is not a lotus so it shouldn't use the name. to be honest if lotus cars built the steering wheel then i'd be ok about it as at least they would be involved. i've heard the brabham name is returning also and i don't have an issue as there is no related road or any other company the brand should be associated with or had historic links with.

[bueno]

Originally Posted by DeanG

At LOG 29 there were some Q&A sessions with Lotus representatives. Someone asked if there was going to be Lotus involvement in F1. The answer was along the line of No. That kind of racing was not in their plans.

To get the real answer you'd have to speak with Lotus UK since there's never a great channel of communication with Lotus USA.

[richw350]

Originally Posted by cornbeef

this whole f1 stuff right now is firstly they need to control costs, they just can't keep rising. a few months ago toyota was supposidly pulling out if they didn't get wins as the cost was too high, now they are one of the main supporters of not reducing costs

Um, you seem to be mis-informed. The FOTA has issue with going from ~$400-500 million budgets down to $45 million in one year. They have preposed reducing the budgets to the $45 million over 3 years. The FOTA has always said they agree with the cost reductions, it is how they are being implemented is the issue.

[wallabyguy]

Originally Posted by bueno

To get the real answer you'd have to speak with Lotus UK since there's never a great channel of communication with Lotus USA.

I can't really tell if anyone really addressed this yet but Team Lotus and the company which is now known as Group Lotus separated when Chapman died. While there has been cooperation in the past, the companies have remained apart.

[Roger]

Originally Posted by wallabyguy

I can't really tell if anyone really addressed this yet but Team Lotus and the company which is now known as Group Lotus separated when Chapman died. While there has been cooperation in the past, the companies have remained apart.

Even before Chapman died, Team Lotus was not part of Group Lotus. Team was owned by Chapman, but Group was a public company.

[...m...]

Originally Posted by wallabyguy

I can't really tell if anyone really addressed this yet but Team Lotus and the company which is now known as Group Lotus separated when Chapman died. While there has been cooperation in the past, the companies have remained apart.

...that's a good point - still, with chapman gone, and especially after their long hiatus, it'd be nice to see some collaboration between the reborn team and group lotus as a legitimizing measure...

[dickedup]

Originally Posted by Abe

Time will tell if this is true or if it will actually happen.

F1 is a money gobbling mistress with no mercy. Probably the very last thing Lotus needs at this point.

[pchop]

the day i took my Lotus Elise home, I said to myself that someday it would be great to see Team Lotus be back in F1...

today this almost bring tears to my eyes.

[spacepig]

Originally Posted by pchop

today this almost bring tears to my eyes.

It brings tears to my eyes too, but for a different reason. This is not Team Lotus. There is no continuity with the original organization at all. None. It's a badge. As we saw in 1995, you can stick a Lotus badge on a Pacific, but it's still a Pacific. This is just as shameful.

If the Ferrari F1 team had collapsed and gone away in 1994, and we now had Dallara buying the name and entering as "Ferrari," would anyone really think that was kosher?

Better to stay dead than live as a sham. Clive should have bought the name back years ago. Now he is going to have to watch his father's legacy get tarnished by a bunch of pretenders. That must be very sad.

[bueno]

Originally Posted by spacepig

It brings tears to my eyes too, but for a different reason. This is not Team Lotus. There is no continuity with the original organization at all. None. It's a badge. As we saw in 1995, you can stick a Lotus badge on a Pacific, but it's still a Pacific. This is just as shameful.

If the Ferrari F1 team had collapsed and gone away in 1994, and we now had Dallara buying the name and entering as "Ferrari," would anyone really think that was kosher?

Better to stay dead than live as a sham. Clive should have bought the name back years ago. Now he is going to have to watch his father's legacy get tarnished by a bunch of pretenders. That must be very sad.

Wow, tell us how you really feel

I wonder what the nay-sayers are thinking now when they told Brawn the same thing.

Sorry but, this is not shameful and if anything, it gives Lotus more awareness even if they have no part in this. I'm excited