Lotus To race F1 in 2010
It maybe almost 30 years since the founder of Lotus Cars, Colin Chapman passed away. With a 16 year absence from F1, the 2010 season will see the iconic name back in the sport, albeit without the fantastic JPS livery.
Mike Gascoyne, the former technical director for Toyota and Renault will head the team and is very excited to be part of it, he said, “We are hopeful in securing a place on the next season’s grid. Plans are in place, the factory has been confirmed, we just need to work hard and hopefully we will have the Lotus name back as being world champion”.
Lotus were the winners of seven constructors championships and had six drivers champions in the same time. Legendary names such as Sterling Moss, Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Mario Andretti and Ayrton Senna have all turned a Lotus wheel and have had fantastic success.
The F1 division pulled out of F1 in 1994, due to financial problems, but now with their parent company Proton and Litespeed who own the rights to Lotus, will hopefully gain a place in the 2010 season.
The team has brought in Johnny Herbert, an ex Lotus and GT racer as driver manager and global ambassador. Former Lotus engineer Steve Kenchington and Nino Judge have the titles of team principal and director of engineering respectively. Judge said, “We thank David, brother of the late James Hunt, who is keeping the Lotus name alive”.
