Motorsport Teams In Uk
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So why are media outlets reporting that they have purchased the rights of the name when they own Lotus Group?
Referring to this question, Haydon and Dan (see below)
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=ApL.Z6gJbucSfXSsfEgln9ZbT31G;_ylv=3?qid=20091128033829AAeuYV8
What both of you are saying makes sense, since Proton owns Group Lotus they have an entitlement to use that name, but not specifically ‘Team Lotus’. But then the conclusion would be that there was no actual purchase of naming rights, contrary to A LOT of media reports? So the media are getting their facts wrong….. as an example:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8256295.stm (4th last paragraph)
And another thing, why has Litespeed, confirmed interest in buying a small controlling stake in the F1 Lotus Team, when they have the rights to the ‘Team Lotus’ name? Doesn’t make much sense…
Team Lotus is not a branch of Lotus Group, and thus is not part of Lotus F1 Team… new name for new team, related to the company that gave birth to both…
Litespeed were the guys that initially wanted to bring ‘Lotus’ back, but they actually DID buy the rights to ‘Team Lotus’ from David Hunt. Now that their entry was rejected, but having the bonus of the original name (and probably through that access to the historical rights of the old team, race wins etc.) they presumably would like to use that as a carrot to buy into Proton Lotus and rebadge it Team Lotus…
A lot of the media (admittedly not the hardcore ones, more casual writers for casual readers/fans) have got confused about this, but once you separate the entities it’s really really simple..
Lotus F1 Team (entry for 2010) – Owned by Proton, with funding from Malaysian consortium also. Has rights to name ‘Lotus’ through Lotus Group ownership, but not ‘Team Lotus’
Team Lotus (1957-1994) – Now just a name, owned by David Hunt/Litespeed. Split from main car company in 1954 as Colin Chapman’s racing concern (Much like Ferrari with the Scuderia). Team disbanded in 1994, with naming rights to any future Team Lotus going to David Hunt, brother of late 1976 Champion James. Litespeed, a Norfolk F3 team, have either purchased or leased the rights to this name, and attempted to launch their own F1 team for 2010, being rejected by the FIA. Has no connection to either Lotus Group, or parent company Proton, as this hasn’t been part of the Lotus portfolio since 1954!
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