With over a dozen teams all bidding to join a new cost-capped F1 next season, it would take a big name to stand out above the competition. Lotus ought to do the trick.
Teaming up with veteran F1 team leader Mike Gascoyne, the Litespeed Formula 3 team has secured the rights to use the Lotus name for its potential entry. Rights to use the name in motorsport reportedly belong to David Hunt, younger brother of renowned F1 driver/all-around lady's man James Hunt, who took over the former Lotus F1 team in 1994. Founded by the legendary Colin Chapman, the Lotus team went on to win seven world championship titles with such drivers as Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Jochen Rindt, Emerson Fittipaldi and Mario Andretti.
The new outfit plans on basing itself at the Racing Technology Norfolk (RTN) facility that previously housed various F1 efforts as well as Bentley's Le Mans team, and has enlisted the services of several former Lotus engineers as well as former Lotus F1 driver Johnny Herbert. While it remains unclear what association would exist with the eponymous automaker, the Lotus name promises to give the Litespeed/Gascoyne entry an edge against other bids using such throwback grand prix names as March and Brabham.
[Autoblog]
