"Lotus" at Le Mans 2012
Discussion
I'm watching LM on tv, rather bemoaning the withdrawl of Peugeot and demise of the Toyota challenge to the usual Audi steamroller, but I'm appalled to see that 'Lotus' is represented by a sticker or two and some black paint on a Lola, of all things!
What have things come to?? A branding excercise that must fool only the fools! If this is the brainchild of the late departed Mr.Behar, then good riddance.
Lotus have a LM heritage to be proud of and this latest joke is, I think, in poor taste - shame on whoever thought it up.
What have things come to?? A branding excercise that must fool only the fools! If this is the brainchild of the late departed Mr.Behar, then good riddance.
Lotus have a LM heritage to be proud of and this latest joke is, I think, in poor taste - shame on whoever thought it up.
mmatthej1 said:
I'm watching LM on tv, rather bemoaning the withdrawl of Peugeot and demise of the Toyota challenge to the usual Audi steamroller, but I'm appalled to see that 'Lotus' is represented by a sticker or two and some black paint on a Lola, of all things!
What have things come to?? A branding excercise that must fool only the fools! If this is the brainchild of the late departed Mr.Behar, then good riddance.
Lotus have a LM heritage to be proud of and this latest joke is, I think, in poor taste - shame on whoever thought it up.
I did post this as recent history ........forget the comments about how chapman died I think its more in line with your comment about how Bahar went racing by sticking badges on other peoples cars and how the Lotus Go-Kart is made in Italy What have things come to?? A branding excercise that must fool only the fools! If this is the brainchild of the late departed Mr.Behar, then good riddance.
Lotus have a LM heritage to be proud of and this latest joke is, I think, in poor taste - shame on whoever thought it up.
Its worth a read http://chiefofficers.net/888333888/cms/index.php/n...
"Bahar got involved in a dishonourable spat with Tony Fernandes who bought the defunct Team Lotus name and took it back into Formula One. Bahar became petty and jealous. He put Team Lotus memorabilia all around Lotus' Hethel headquarters. He put pressure on Malaysian politicians to compel Tony Fernandes into surrendering the name and he took the company into an expensive and diversionary legal action in London's High Court. Lotus did not win.
He decided that the company's motor racing heritage needed to be capitalised upon so Lotus sponsored the Renault racing team when, after crashgate arose from the team's cheating in the Singapore Grand Prix, sponsors were hard to come by. There's no doubt, Lotus got in cheap - but it caused confusion. The Renault team had Lotus in big letters but it was not Team Lotus. Now, as the major sponsor of the team which has been renamed "Lotus Renault, " It is the only team with the word Lotus on it. But it's not "Team Lotus." Bahar failed to claim the iconic name. And there is little, if any, input into the F1 team from Lotus. Bizarrely, the sponsorship deal has ended; Lotus are not putting any more money into it but their name is still on the car.
In the USA, an Indycar was branded Lotus but it was just a paint-job. This year, Lotus is putting an engine into a third party chassis for the series (as do all other engine manufacturers). But the engine isn't working properly.
Lotus was disqualified from le Mans when Colin Chapman realised that he could benefit from different tyres front and rear. Chapman vowed Lotus would never return to le Mans. Bahar - embarrassingly in a Lola chassis - with a Lotus V8 engine is back in France. It is racing in other endurance races. For Lotus, the chassis is the core of the car, that and the suspension is what makes Lotus great. And there's a Lotus paint-job on the Rebellion car - but Lotus have no input except sponsorship. The cars in all three formula may be black and gold, they may have the Lotus name, but they are not Lotus in the Chapman tradition."
mmatthej1 said:
I'm watching LM on tv, rather bemoaning the withdrawl of Peugeot and demise of the Toyota challenge to the usual Audi steamroller, but I'm appalled to see that 'Lotus' is represented by a sticker or two and some black paint on a Lola, of all things!
What have things come to?? A branding excercise that must fool only the fools! If this is the brainchild of the late departed Mr.Behar, then good riddance.
Lotus have a LM heritage to be proud of and this latest joke is, I think, in poor taste - shame on whoever thought it up.
Thought I also heard on the Eurosport commentary that this was very much a 'toe in the water' exercise this year ahead of a factory-backed effort in LMP2 next year.What have things come to?? A branding excercise that must fool only the fools! If this is the brainchild of the late departed Mr.Behar, then good riddance.
Lotus have a LM heritage to be proud of and this latest joke is, I think, in poor taste - shame on whoever thought it up.
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