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SM Nasarudin, Kamarudin Meranun and Tony
Fernandes, the three shareholders of Lotus
Racing, announced on Friday 24th September that
Team Lotus is back in Formula One™ from 2011.
Lotus Racing has competed in the 2010 FIA
Formula One World Championship under licence
from Group Lotus parent company Proton, and
today Lotus Racing Chief Executive Officer Riad
Asmat shed more light on why Team Lotus is
coming back for the first time since 1994 in the
2011 Championship.
Riad Asmat: "This has been an incredible year
for everyone associated with Lotus Racing. Last
week we brought Team Lotus back to the Formula
One grid when we announced that we had bought
Team Lotus Ventures from David Hunt, and would
be racing as the successor to one of the most
iconic names in world motorsport. This year, we
have established ourselves as the leading new
team in Formula One™ as a licensee of Group
Lotus, and, although we all dreamt of bringing
Team Lotus back to where it belongs, we could
not do so in 2010 because those rights were
owned by Team Lotus Ventures. As Tune Group has
now bought Team Lotus Ventures it means we can
now use the Team Lotus name for 2011 and beyond.
We are all delighted we can go into 2011 with
total confidence in what we own, and what we can
take to the track.
“However, given that this is contested by Group
Lotus we think now is the time to clear this
matter up so there can be no further arguments.
We have therefore today issued proceedings in
the English High Court for a declaration that
Team Lotus Ventures has the rights to use the
Team Lotus name and everything associated with
that brand in relation to Formula One™.
"Racing under the Team Lotus name from 2011
means our licence with Group Lotus has now come
to an end. In reality, this has nothing to do
with how we will go racing in 2011, as the
ownership of Team Lotus has been clearly defined
for many years. David was approached a number of
times about selling the rights of Team Lotus
Ventures, including one official offer of from
Proton / Group Lotus themselves. That must have
been tempting for David, as the rightful owner
of the Team Lotus brand and its rights. Oddly
enough, Group Lotus also recently tried to
revoke the Team Lotus trade marks at a hearing
at the Trade Mark Registry, but they were
unsuccessful. I suspect David’s misgivings about
their previous offer to buy were justified by
that action.
"The licence debate really is a non-issue. It
was a simple licence, attached to a one year
sponsorship deal with Proton for 2010 alone, and
in fact for a tiny proportion of the amount
invested by the shareholders into the team –
approximately 1.5% of the total budget.
Unfortunately we never reached the point where
we discussed extending that one year deal. When
we signed our licence to compete as Lotus Racing
with Group Lotus, they were very clear that we
could not make any reference to Team Lotus as
they had no rights at all to the Team Lotus name
or its rights. In fact, in the licence agreement
between 1Malaysia Racing and Group Lotus the use
of the Team Lotus name is expressly prohibited
as they had agreed contractually, as long ago as
1985, that they had not rights to use that name.
That was obviously something we had enormous
respect for, and made no attempt to change until
we could do so rightfully, and with a very clear
understanding of what we had acquired in Team
Lotus Ventures.
"So now the licence we ran under this year has
been withdrawn by Group Lotus, and while we
accept that this obviously means we have reached
the end of that chapter, it opens up a new and
very exciting one for everyone in our team.
There will have to be some discussions with
Proton and Group Lotus about the entitlement to
terminate the licence. Frankly, they are trying
to say that some very trivial points, including
t-shirt design approvals of all things, gave
them the right to terminate, but we thoroughly
reject this.
“Now we look to the future. The details of what
has been going on behind the scenes are now
coming to light, and that’s good because it
means the shareholders of Proton, the government,
will now know the truth of what has been going
on. However the important thing is to look at
what we are doing to guarantee future success.
We have already invested heavily in ensuring the
Malaysian / ASEAN motorsports platform grows,
something that cannot be said for our colleagues
at Group Lotus. We created a world first when we
ran Nabil Jeffri in our aero test earlier this
year - the youngest ever F1 test driver. Fairuz
has been gaining invaluable experience at the
highest level by driving for us, and, through
Tony and Din’s AirAsia Driver Development
programme, we are giving young Malaysian / ASEAN
talent the chance to reach the top. We are so
proud to have laid the foundations for future
success, and our fans acknowledge this every day.
Personally I think it’s odd that our colleagues
at Group Lotus have not embraced what we are
giving them – a global platform for creating
huge awareness and great value for their
operations, all at no cost to them. In one year
we have made huge strides in the growth of Lotus
Racing, and now it’s all about |
