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Showing results for tags 'lotus f1'.
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Ever since firing its CEO Dany Bahar in June 2012 and reporting a near $200 million loss, Lotus has sought to find solid footing. One way the British marque planned to achieve this was by entering the motorcycle business, promising to deliver a Lotus "hyper bike," built by German race team Kodewa and the Holzer Group, by the turn of the year. The storied sports car maker has become more of a branding company than the automotive innovator it once was, enlisting others to do the heavy lifting while licensing the Lotus name for the sheet metal. This was evident in the 2010 IndyCar season, slapping Lotus logos on the carbon body that covered the Honda powerplant (they did enter an engine in 2012, although I'm not sure Lotus wants to be reminded of that). In Formula One, the Lotus F1 team is powered by Renault, and according to Lotus' most recent press release, the C-01 bike "is not designed, engineered or produced by Group Lotus" at all. It remains another licensing deal where Lotus plays consultant, with Kodewa producing the bike and Holzer handling development. The glorious retro exterior was designed by Daniel Simon, the man behind the awesome glow-in-the-dark blue "Tron: Legacy" bike. It features carbon-fiber and integrated titanium, along with aerospace-quality steel. Powered by a 2-cylinder, four-stroke V-twin motor delivering 200 hp, weighing a tick under 400 lbs., the C-01 promises to be as racy as the Lotus name depicts. Only 100 bikes will be produced, and Lotus is yet to reveal pricing. (Translation: Outrageous.) A range of colors will be available, from the John Player Special black and gold from Senna's early years to the legendary British racing green from Jim Clark's latter. The Martini livery looks more Lancia than Lotus (Lotus had a darker background on its Martini F1 car), but it's nonetheless sensational. No word on whether luminous Tron blue will be an option. Does it matter that it's not technically a Lotus? Well, that depends on your view. What we know for sure is it's about as stunning a motorbike as one could imagine, which isn't surprising given its designer. It may not have the strongest business, but Lotus still knows how to get attention.
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Oh No. The Lotus group, makers of the Lotus Elise, Exige and Evora is rumoured to be in trouble. It seems that DRB-Hicom, the Malaysian conglomerate that owns Group Lotus' parent company, Proton may want to free itself from the wrangles of trying to turn around the sports car company. According to industry followers, notably F1 reporter Joe Saward, the management of DRB-Hicom somehow does not think that owning Lotus makes financial sense and may sell off its stake in Lotus to China Youngman, a company that already has ties with Proton. This news comes after the Lotus F1 team terminated a sponsorship agreement with Group Lotus but also stated that it had struck a five-year deal with Lotus
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The 2012 Malaysian Formula 1 Grand Prix was again an event full of unpredictability mainly due to the weather. I was glad that I decided to stay home and catch it on telly again as it rained, the race was red flagged after some laps before continuing again some time later. It was so unpredictable that Fernando Alonso driving the Ferrari came in first behind Mexican Sergio Perez of Sauber and Lewis Hamilton in the McLaren Mercedes. Sergio who? Exactly. The rain cause a great many upsets until we got to see the first Mexican in over 40 years to step up on a Formula 1 winner's podium. And then we got to see grown men from Ferrari and Sauber shed tears of joy. Team Ferrari was most pleased that they've managed to secure a win after a very tough and dry 2011 season. Whilst for Sauber, it has managed to score some points and a podium finish after a great deal of years finishing at the rear. This is also the first podium finish for Sauber as an independent team instead of branded as BMW Sauber or Sauber Petronas in recent years. Watching Peter Sauber cry is almost like watching a happily-ever-after fairytale ending. Of course it isn't. The F1 calendar for 2012 has just got into full stride. This is only the second race this season but the first proper race held at a track. Melbourne was a city track and we did not see the true potential of the cars. BUT it rained in Sepang and we still didn't manage to see the true potential of the cars. We could see however that some drivers and some cars doing well in the wet, but that's about it really. We also saw upsets. Michael Schumacher started in fourth and was tagged by turn 4 of the opening lap. It caused him a chance for a top three finish that I was also hoping for due to the rain (the chap was called 'rainmeister' if one remembers correctly). He managed to finish 10th giving him some points though. Starting high up in the grid shows us the potential of the Mercedes Petronas F1 car. It seems to me that this latest Ross Brawn designed car is up there with the rest of the leaders. Even with ol' Schumacher at the wheel. Maybe it is because he's at the wheel in a car that is set up for him that he's fast
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2012 F1 begins in Melbourne and some thoughts on the Lotus F1 Team
Rigval posted a blog entry in MyAutoBlog
The Formula 1 circus show has begun for 2012 Melbourne Grand Prix recently. The race was entertaining as the cars were bunched up again with 17 laps to go due to the safety car coming out after a racing incident. So it was basically down to the wire. However, the Malaysian Grand Prix happens this coming weekend (the 25th of March 2012) over at Sepang and the carnival has started early for some. The newly minted Lotus F1 Team (Lotus bought out the Renault F1 team last year) have started the ball rolling displaying their latest challenger, the E20. It was displayed and driven in front of the Malaysian public at Proton's Power of 1 Event. Donuts and all. Driven by former F1 Champion Kimi Raikkonen and newbie Romain Grosjean, Raikkonen did quite well coming in 7th over at Melbourne while Grosjean did not finish. It wasn't too long ago that a powered by Renault car propelled Fernando Alonso to two world championships and it is a good platform for any car manufacturer to gain entry into F1. Of course we have to note that Renault is an automobile manufacturer in their own right and must have decided that they had to spend tons of money on their own in Formula 1. That is why they must have become enginge suppliers. It makes perfect sense money-wise and so we now have the Lotus F1 Team -
Every car enthusiast or petrol head would have some form of home decoration that is based on cars. It can be a die-cast model, poster/framed pictures or even custom made furniture made from car parts. Nowadays, these items are readily available off the shelf and I found two sets of items which I believe that every car enthusiast would want one in their home. Firstly, the retro looking chairs you see above are made by a company known as Racing and Emotion Design. The company was founded by renowned French designers Jannarelly and Fraylon. Jannarelly and Fraylon wanted to design a product that allowed enthusiasts to express their love of beautiful cars in their homes or offices. The company has taken these 1960s egg shaped chairs and painted them in various legendary racing liveries such as the Gulf livery, Lotus F1 John Player Special livery (my favourite) and etc. There are over 20 designs to choose from and they would be ideal for office spaces and at a corner in your living room (for watching F1 or other racing events on TV). Pricing for these unique chairs start from
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Groups Lotus wins the right to use the Lotus name in F1...Or do they?
Rigval posted a blog entry in MyAutoBlog
As expected the company that builds Lotus cars for the road has won the High Court battle over the use of the Lotus name in Formula 1. The legal tussle began sometime ago when both Group Lotus and 1 Malaysia Racing Team a.k.a. Team Lotus, run by AirAsia head honcho Tony Fernandes basically parted ways when Group Lotus claimed that Team Lotus had breached the Lotus name (as 'Team Lotus' confusingly) licensing agreement. However, Justice Peter Smith, the presiding jugde over this matter had also ruled that Team Lotus also retained the right to race in Formula One under its existing name. That basically means that Group Lotus can continue racing through its sponsorship of the Renault team (or in full the Lotus-Renault GP team) and Team Lotus continues as Team Lotus Anyway, other judgments awarded was the right for Group Lotus to use the black and gold livery. This basically means that Team Lotus must stick to their current British Racing Green and yellow livery. Team Lotus was instructed to pay Group Lotus for damages on the breach of the licensing agreement. How much has not been stated. So Team Lotus cannot use anything related to Group Lotus or in that whether it has any relation to the road-going cars that Lotus builds as Group Lotus was also adjudged in the same matter that they have the right to continue to use the Lotus name on road cars. Group Lotus may have won this battle but this basically means that there will still be two Lotus named teams racing in Formula 1. So they are mounting an appeal on the matter
