Category: Lotus

Categories
Lotus

Lotus: Keep calm and carry on

Lotus Evora GTE

Lotus boss Dany Bahar has been told he can continue the five-year plan to revitalise Lotus by the company’s new Malaysian owners DRB Hicom, Autocar reports.

There will be a small two month hurdle to overcome thanks to Malaysian change of ownership laws, during which time Lotus will not have access to previously agreed funds from Proton’s former ownership regime.

Already two years into the company’s ambitious plans Bahar has sold the idea to his new bosses. “We have explained our plans to the new owner and have been told to keep going as we are. The immediate problem is to manage the cash in the business carefully during the 60-day pause, but I am confident that this is a temporary technical issue,” Bahar told Autocar.

Despite this rumours still exist suggesting Proton will offload the iconic sports car maker. Genii Capital, owners of the Lotus F1 Team, are believed to be one of the more likely candidates, but Bahar maintains it’s business as usual for the Norfolk-based manufacturer.

“To the best of my knowledge, no one is about to buy the company,” said Bahar. “You’d have to consider the market implications before deciding to sell. Right now we have crazy demand for the latest Exige—383 orders already. The Evora GTE [pictured above] will be homologated by May, and we have 200 orders for that. Things are looking really promising.”

Indeed, Lotus this morning issued a brief press release titled “Maximum Exposure” which stated, “Lotus’ philosophy has always been ‘less is more’. Now, with a display of true fighting spirit, we’ll take this one step further in Geneva.” Other clues indicate they’ll be bringing an open-top creation of some sort—an Evora convertible perhaps?

[Source: Autocar]

Categories
Caterham F1 in pictures Ferrari Lotus McLaren Red Bull Racing Toro Rosso

Jerez pre-season test in pictures

F1 Jerez pre-season testing, February 2012

Following the F1 pre-season test at Jerez we’ve compiled a gallery of images showing the new 2012 cars on track for the first time. It’s good to see the cars away from press launches and studio lighting so we can get a better feel for how things will look this season.

Because we’ve focused on the latest cars there’s no images from Mercedes GP or HRT, who both ran 2011 spec machines, and Marussia didn’t attend the test at all. For some reason McLaren has not made any photos available from Jerez, so we’ll have to go without for now.

Continue reading “Jerez pre-season test in pictures”
Categories
Formula 1 Lotus

Lotus unveils 2012 F1 car

2012 Lotus F1 Team E20 launch

The Lotus F1 Team unveiled its 2012 F1 car early this morning. It’s called the E20 and, as you can see, it features the “alligator” style nose we’ve seen already on the Caterham, Ferrari and Force India. We’re not sure if it’s because we’re now getting used to these noses, but the E20’s design doesn’t look too bad.

Of course, 2012 marks a new era for the Lotus F1 Team, which can trace its roots way back Toleman, the team which gave Ayrton Senna his F1 debut. There’s a new name and two new drivers, Kimi Raikonnen and Romain Grosjean. Technical Director, James Allison said: “Romain put in two very promising sessions at the end of last season, having not driven an F1 can for more than a year. He jumped in the car and was immediately competitive with our race drivers at the time, in a quite impressive fashion. I think that has gone a long way to getting him the ride for this year. So we’re looking forward to a strong start with him. Kimi’s recent test in Valencia with the R30 showed that he has lost none of his speed and that he is full of appetite for the season ahead. It is going to be great for us to work with a driver of such clear quality.”

Speaking about his hopes for the E20, Allison is keeping his cards close to his chest. “We’ve worked hard and long on the car. We have tried to react to the regulatory picture as it’s unfolded, but we will only really start to be able to judge how well we have done once we start to run the car in pre-season. Even then we won’t really know until qualifying in Melbourne,” he said.

There’s more pics and detail from Lotus after the break. Towards the end of the material you can also download the team’s 2012 press pack, which is loaded with information, some useful, some not so! You can even relive the launch thanks to a 20 minute video hosted by Jonny Smith from Fifth Gear.

Continue reading “Lotus unveils 2012 F1 car”
Categories
Lotus Proton

Proton denies Lotus sale rumours

Lotus Elise

Following the Malaysian Government’s move to offload its stake in Proton to DRB-Hicom the car maker is denying the inevitable rumours that it wants to sell iconic sports car maker Lotus.

Proton has released an official statement, which reads in part: “We are aware of the many concerns of the different parties related to Proton—especially our business partners, with regards to the current plans and future direction of the Group and all its subsidiaries, including its UK-based Lotus Group International Limited (LGIL).

“Our new incoming owner is in discussions with the current management of Proton to get a clear understanding and assessment of the Group’s current business plans, before any strategic future plans can be mapped out, including the plans for our Lotus subsidiary.”

You may recall Lotus grabbed the headlines at the 2010 Paris Motor Show with audacious plans to effectively relaunch the brand with five all-new models: Elan, Elise, Elite, Esprit and Eterne. Lotus said all models, except the Eterne, would be in production by 2015, with the Elan and Esprit due for release next year.

Despite their recent ownership changes Proton say their transformation plan is on schedule: “Our focus remains the same for all our current business plans and this includes Lotus’ commitment in realising its current five-year business transformation plan, of which we are happy to report, is right on track,” the official statement continued.

“As such, business is as usual for us and all our subsidiaries and we thank them for their professionalism and patience during this time.”

Sales in the UK, Lotus’ largest market, dropped by 41% last year and tallied a meagre 329 sales. That drop in cash flow and persistent annual losses must weigh heavily on Proton’s upper management.

[Source: Car]

Categories
Formula 1 Lotus

Kimi excited to be back in F1

Overnight Kimi Raikkonen got back in a Formula 1 car for the first time in over two years. Fittingly, and to get around F1’s strict testing policies, it was a two-year old Renault R30 chassis running old tyres. And, as you’d expect, Kimi was over the moon to be back in an F1 car.

You can almost see a smile.

[Thanks to Ryan for the tip]

Categories
Lotus News Proton

Malaysian Government sells its share in Proton

Proton dealership

News reports tell us the Malaysian Government has sold its stake in Proton for a reported AU$401m. An announcement on the implications for Lotus, owned by Proton, is expected in the next 24 hours or so.

Khazanah Nasional, the state owned investment company, sold its 42.7% share in Proton Holdings to DRB-Hicom, which has also agreed to submit an offer to buy Proton’s remaining shares. The total deal could be around AU$933m.

DRB-Hicom has links to European car makers Mercedes and Volkswagen as well as Honda. It is hoped the cash-injection and renewed impetus from Proton’s new owners will help revive its recent flagging fortunes.

[Source: Autocar & Business Spectator]

Categories
Formula 1 Lotus Renault

Romain Grosjean to join Raikkonen at Lotus

Romain Grosjean

Romain Grosjean will return to the driver’s seat with Lotus Renault GP in 2012. The 25-year-old Frenchman won the GP2 series this year and will join Kimi Raikkonen at the newly branded Lotus team. He’s pretty happy about that too.

“I am thrilled to be one of the team’s race drivers in 2012. There’s a big grin on my face at the prospect of getting behind the wheel of next year’s car, and I feel very privileged to be given this opportunity,” said Grosjean.

“To be racing alongside a former world champion and someone who is hungry and returning to Formula 1 will be a great experience, and I’m sure will help raise my level of performance too. I feel that my successful season in GP2 Series has helped me mature a lot, and I am a much more complete driver than I was last time I was competing in this sport.”

Grosjean’s boss, Eric Boullier, is also making the right noises, “Romain has shown a lot of maturity in the past twelve months both through his GP2 Series victory and his development as third driver with us. We were impressed when he drove for us in the first practice sessions in Abu Dhabi and Brazil.”

Boullier also made this heartfelt comment about his former drivers, “I would like to thank Vitaly Petrov and Bruno Senna for their contribution to the team’s performance this year and I wish them all the best for the future.”

More after the break, including a video interview with Grosjean.

Continue reading “Romain Grosjean to join Raikkonen at Lotus”
Categories
Formula 1 Lotus

Kimi Raikkonen talks about F1 return

Kimi Raikkonen

Lotus (nee Lotus Renault GP) has released a Q&A interview with their new signing Kimi Raikkonen. Laconic as ever, Kimi explains why he chose Lotus over Williams: “Really there were two options – it was this team or Williams. And everything worked out with Lotus Renault GP as we wanted, so that’s really the reason.”

They showed him the money, in other words.

Group Lotus ambassador and former AUSmotive hero, Jean Alesi, has also been wheeled out to share his thoughts. You can read both interviews after the break.

Meanwhile, word on the street says Vitaly Petrov is under some pressure to keep his drive with Lotus in 2012. Bruno Senna and Romain Grosjean are waiting to fight over the scraps. More news as it comes to hand.

Continue reading “Kimi Raikkonen talks about F1 return”
Categories
Formula 1 Lotus Renault

Renault announces Kimi comeback

Kimi Raikkonen

Kimi Raikkonen’s Formula One comeback is now official after Lotus Renault GP today announced he has signed a two-year deal with the team. Remember, the team will be known as simply as Lotus in 2012.

It hasn’t taken long to knock off one F1 silly season rumour and Kimi is happy to be back. “I’m delighted to be coming back to Formula 1 after a two-year break, and I’m grateful to Lotus Renault GP for offering me this opportunity,” the 2007 world champion said in a team statement.

“My time in the World Rally Championship has been a useful stage in my career as a driver, but I can’t deny the fact that my hunger for F1 has recently become overwhelming. It was an easy choice to return with Lotus Renault GP as I have been impressed by the scope of the team’s ambition. Now I’m looking forward to playing an important role in pushing the team to the very front of the grid.”

For now we assume he will partner Vitaly Petrov, which would leave Bruno Senna looking for a drive. Senna has been performed reasonably well for Renault since taking over from Nick Heidfeld part way through the season. One would expect he would be reluctant to return to a Friday test drive role.

Now that one domino has fallen will the pressure, perceived or otherwise, on Rubens Barichello (Williams), Adrian Sutil (Force India) and Jarno Trulli (Lotus/Caterham) force more teams to quickly lock in their 2012 roster?

The full statement from LRGP can be read after the break.

UPDATE: A short video interview with Kimi has been added below.

Continue reading “Renault announces Kimi comeback”
Categories
Caterham Formula 1 Lotus

Ricciardo to Caterham, Raikkonen to Lotus?

2011 Japanese Grand Prix

Now that the dust has settled on the 2011 F1 season we can start dealing in rumour and innuendo; Formula One excels in such matters after all. First cab off the rank, then, is the emerging rumour that young Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo will join Caterham after Jarno Trulli has been thanked for his services.

That would increase the chances of Sebastian Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari remaining at Toro Rosso. Or could French GP2 driver Jean-Eric Vergne leapfrog Ricciardo into a Toro Rosso seat? Like Ricciardo last year, Vergne impressed when given the chance to drive the lead Red Bull car at the recent young driver test sessions in Abu Dhabi.

“It’s a luxury problem, and I’m sure we’ll find a solution,” Helmut Marko told Adam Cooper.

When asked what he thought of his Toro Rosso drivers in season 2011 Marko didn’t exactly lavish them with high praise, “I would say they both improved from mid-season onwards, unfortunately Buemi had more technical issues. But still, we are not looking for a good F1 driver, we are looking for a top F1 driver.”

Continue reading “Ricciardo to Caterham, Raikkonen to Lotus?”
Categories
F1 in pictures Ferrari Lotus McLaren Mercedes-Benz Red Bull Racing Renault

2011 Brazilian Grand Prix in pictures

2011 Brazilian GP

In our final F1 in pictures post for the year it’s great that we can reflect on another grand prix victory for Mark Webber. It’s scant reward in the wake of a dominant season from the other side of the Red Bull garage, but a win is a win and for most drivers they don’t come too easily.

As usual there’s some great pics for you after the break; a job touring the globe shooting F1 cars is one we’d rather like if we had the skills.

We trust you’ve enjoyed this series again in 2011 and we’ll be back with our F1 picture galleries in 2012. If there’s anything you’d like to see added future collections please let us know in the comments section below.

Continue reading “2011 Brazilian Grand Prix in pictures”
Categories
F1 in pictures Ferrari Lotus McLaren Mercedes-Benz Red Bull Racing Renault

2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in pictures

2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Just in case you haven’t forgotten all about the snore fest that was Lewis Hamilton’s redemption here’s 90-odd pics to help you relive the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. There’s a nice mix of day and night shots, with a few colourful sunset shots in between. Actually a few of the shots illstrate well the undulations of the Yas Marina circuit; something television tends to mask too well.

Continue reading “2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in pictures”