There are reports from highly reliable sources that Gérard Lopez and his partner in GenII Capital Eric Lux, have sold their shares in the Renault F1 Team Ltd company, which was renamed Lotus Renault GP Ltd on December 16. The suggestion is that the Genii Capital shares have been sold to Group Lotus. If this is true then the team should now be 100%-owned by Lotus, as Renault announced on December 8 that it had sold its shares to Genii Capital. We have heard, however, that Renault may still be involved and could have re-acquired a share of the team, on rather different terms to the previous arrangement.
It is worth noting, however, that on December 8, according to records in Companies House, Renault’s Jean-Francois Caubet and Genii’s Eric Boullier both had their Renault F1 directorships terminated, although Boullier is still running the team.
There have been rumours for some time that Genii Capital would sell the team to Group Lotus, but the adoption of the Lotus Renault GP name, and the subsequent company filings, suggest that Renault may still be involved, if only to have a say in what happens to the cars that bear its name in Formula 1. The name of the chassis cannot be changed unless all the teams in F1 agree to allow that to happen.
It is probably worth noting that there is a proposal in Companies House to strike the Lotus Renault GP company off, which appears to be due to the fact that it has yet to file its accounts. No doubt this will be sorted out rapidly as the team will lose all of its Concorde Agreement benefits if the legal entity it represents ceases to exist.
The company in question began life as Inremco 60 Ltd, which became Benetton Formula Ltd in 1985, was transformed into Renault F1 Ltd in 2001 and then revamped into Renault F1 Team Ltd a few months later.
ADDED LATER: The team has denied that Genii is selling out to Lotus and says that right now the team is 100% owned by Genii. There are talks about Lotus acquiring a shareholding, but this will not be more than 50%, despite the rather misleading reference to a “major” shareholding in the team that was included in the December 8 press statement.
joeblogsf1 
Any idea when we could expect to hear confirmation of this?
If true, one has to assume Mr Lopez has made the sale at a profit, which would be quite an achievement in less than 12 months. Any transaction may go someway to validate people’s ill feeling towards venture capitalists coming in to F1 with a purely financial objective, but Renaults 2010 performances were strong if anything they seemed to benefit from a fresh management style.
Will the next piece of news about Lotus be that Mr Lopez has bought into the automotive part of the business? He was looking at buying Saab this time last year, so clearly believes there is money to be made in the industry.
The change in ownership may also pave the way for Nicolas Todt to get involved with the F1 team, following the Lotus ART links in GP2 & 3.
It’ll be interesting to hear what Kubica and Petrov make of the situation.
Well, if Genii have just sold the shares for cash then that would put a bullet in my theory that the F1 deal was a precursor to Genii buying Group Lotus. But what about all the claims of “strategic alliance” between Genii’s automotive compaines and Proton/Lotus? (http://www.lotuscars.com/news/en/lotus-renaultgp) Perhaps (as Jon hints?) Genii have swapped their F1 team shares for Group Lotus shares?
@Joe Saward,
So from now on, how will you reffer to this team? Since Lotus owns all the shares in the team.
Don’t you think it would be fair to reffer to them as Lotus Renault?
Num Lock,
Read the answers elsewhere about the entry list… I am not making this stuff up.
In the history of the team you didn’t mention “Toleman” years. I thought Toleman was the Team which Bought Benetton in 1985 ?
Thanks for this great Blog. N°1 in my own ranking
Happy new year by the way
greg
greg,
In those days the company number was not important and so the Benetton connection started from a new company, rather than taking over the Toleman company. The Benetton did, however, take over the F1 entry, which is a different thing.
With Mr ‘dodgy deals r us’ Bahar at the table………………
Andy H,
I think that you should back up that statement with some facts. Exactly what “dodgy deals” are you referring to?
I love reading all this investigative work you do that we as fans can’t get from elsewhere. Thanks for keeping us so up to date Joe, it’s much appreciated.
So if it happens to be true, will you still refuse to call the team “Lotus”?
Aizen,
It is not a question of refusing to do anything. Look at the entry list. This is what the cars are called. I have no control over that. If the team wants the cars to be called Lotuses then it must ask the other teams to agree. I know several that will not.
Joe,
If it’s true, do you think Lopez has really made profit since he bought shares, or would it mean as Renault had budget issues last year, he sold before having a loss ?
I still can’t understand how such a small company as Proton can afford to do that and with which money they’ll make it, particulary when you think much bigger companies such as Toyota, Honda and BMW retired…
Joe,
Do you think this is maybe wht the Chapman family out-of-the-blue decided to openly back the Group Lotus ‘side’ just before Christmas?
If they were aware that GL had bought all the shares, it follows that they could back the ‘re-uniting’ Lotus’s racing and road cars. Whilst messy and contrary to earlier open support for Tony Fernandes, it sort of makes sense – although not as much as saying nothing.
Time to get Bernie, Fernandes, a Chapman & Bahar in a locked room and sort this out for everyone as it’s making F1 and the heritage of Lotus look stupid.
@joesaward,
There is what’s official, and there is what’s right, as they say.
Officaily the team is Renault, but as we perfectly know Renault sold it out.
The team is called Renault only because of some rules, but the team is owned by Lotus.
Good compromise is to call it Lotus Renault, but apparently you can’t overcome your prejudices.
Scroll Lock,
You are wrong on a number of accounts. As of today (and I had an email today from the team confirming this) the team is owned 100% by Genii Capital. That may change at some point, but they say that the intention is for Genii to remain the majority shareholder. The use of the word “major” with regard to Lotus’s shareholding in the December 8 press statement was thus misleading. Rumours of the sale of the team have been denied. Good sense would be a great answer in lots of F1 problems – particularly this one – but the naming of the chassis is tightly controlled by the Concorde Agreement, which is a legally-binding contract between the teams, the Formula One group and the FIA. Thus, your airy-fairy solution is simply not possible.
The aim of this blog is to amuse and inform and that is what I am trying to do. There is no question of prejudice in this matter. All I am doing is explaining things as they exist and following the rules. You can do as you please, but if you going to attack me, it is best to know what you are talking about.
It would be great fun if Tony had bought these via a nominee stockholder. We have to wait a long time for the next Group Lotus plc and Lotus Group international Ltd accounts to be published,
They seemed to owe about €80M to Proton in the last accounts published. Will check companies house for the Renault accounts.
@Joe Saward,
earlier i was reffering to your post that Lotus owns 100%, now that this was denied makes my point worthless
Well, and here we are again. Happy New Year Joe, and to all the regulars too. 2011 season already…
It’s got to the point where I’m not sure I care what Tony and Mike’s team is called. They have a better claim to the name Lotus than Bahar does, both legally and morally — but if it ends up being stolen from them, well, life is not fair and it is not pretty. I like the cut of Tony and Mike’s jib, I like the way they’ve gone racing, and I have tremendous respect for what they have been able too accomplish in the year and a bit since they were five people rattling around an empty building in Hingham. I’ll support them whether they’re called Lotus or Tiger or whatever else. And when Dany Bahar’s schemes collapse under the weight of the debt piled on top of them, I hope Tony will be there to snap up the remains.
Joe,
“The aim of this blog is to amuse and inform and that is what I am trying to do.”
I take it your tongue was as firmly in cheek as mine when refering to Mr ‘dodgy deals’.
Keep it up Joe, this is fantastic stuff.
@joesaward
No prejudice you say. So why you have spread the unconfirmed rumor, which later was proved to be not true, concerning the team you so often speak negatively of since it underwent shareholding changes?
You said you’re “explaining things as they exist”. Well now you tried to “explain” things that didn’t exist. Sorry, but it looks like every news or even a rumor which can even remotely put Lotus Renault in disrepute or mean troubles for that particular team will be presented here, without prior confirmation.
“It is best to know what you are talking about”. Same to you.
SammyHagar,
Firstly, read the What? section of this blog if you wish to understand what you are involved in here. Secondly, if you think you can do a better job, do it and don’t just spout on from your armchair about how badly others do it. Thirdly, journalism is not as simple as you think. Sometimes a trusted source says something that cannot be confirmed or denied by anyone trustworthy. I wrote the story on that basis. The reason I later added to the story was because I received a reply from someone who I trust. Finally, as I often say, this blog is offered free. You do not have to read it. If you don’t like it, don’t read it.
I would like to remind everybody that Joe is perhaps F1’s single most credible journalist. He tends not to print rumour alone, and we should all remember that he has some fine lines to tread. I ask you to consider how rarely he is wrong, especially in his management of ‘premature facts’.
What I see is a total mess on the part of Genii:
1. Managed to pi**-off Renault in less than 12 months to a point where they exited stage right – NOT good for F1 to lose another manufacturer, particularly a long-standing, multi-Championship winning one
2. Filled the car with brands that were a) non-paying and b) often conflicting (three banks on the car by the time they got to Abu Dhabi, and Snoras enjoying principal branding in exchange for an interest-free loan)
3. Made a number of key announcements publicly, then had to withdraw them (Lotus shareholding statement included). How can they announce Tarek Obaid as a (long term partner and friend) co-shareholder in RF1 in May, then his departure by October…more bulls**t
4. Remains to be seen how much money Genii ACTUALLY has. No doubt they take plate-spinning to a new level
5. Russian programme is a disaster. They have tried every trick in the book and have not secured a single major brand or any real money from that ‘lucrative market’
Shall I continue???
Perfect
Most people who say they prefer white text on black background have in fact a monitor that is way too bright for their working
Tell them I’m sorry, the true is out there
Moderation process took a while, so thought I’d offer some more food for thought…
6. Most recent sponsor to appear on the car was Bank of Moscow, and they weren’t even announced formally anywhere (unlikely to help the team or sponsor)
7. New Lotus Black and Gold livery defines just which brands where ‘real’ and which weren’t – bearing in mind the livery was revealed ahead of the end of the calendar year when even contracted one-year partners would have a legal right to appear on car. Gone from the mix are:
Mangrove (Lopez is an owner)
Helvetica (their friends and ‘strategic business partners’)
HP (badged as a big money deal, it was a Renault IT order with discount)
Movit (Lopez is an owner)
EFG Bank
Lada
Vyborg Shipyard
Leaving:
Pre-existing Renault supplier, Total
Pirelli (Wow!)
TW Steel
TrinaSolar (Genii customer)
Snoras Bank (free $ loan)
Japan Rags (Who?)
And a couple of Union Jack flags for the Luxembourg/French/Malaysian team.
8. Friday drivers – Tung didn’t attract the expected gazillions of dollars from China, so he’s even gone from GP2; D’Ambrosio, removed from his Gravity (read Genii) drive in GP2 for poor performance, then reinstated, then wins his first race in the series in 4 (?) years…and now propping up the back of the grid at Virgin Racing!
9. Danny Bahar….indeed
10. Trying to borrow FOM monies early, because of timings of sponsor payments being due in September…which brands made that BIG difference? Japan Rags? Less than US$1m for sure. Moscow Bank? Same spend level.
11. Saab purchase was in partnership with Mr. Ecclestone and did of course fail. Seen off in that deal by the guy that owns Snoras Bank…small world, eh?
Joe, forgot about one thing,
Hapy New Year, pls be always here, ok
best regards.
Joe,
If the team is 100% owned by Genii, that means Group Lotus doesnt have any shares. Am i right? Why then they have already announced they are title sponsor…
@Patrick Bateman
I agree Joe is is a good journalist but for some reason he is on Frenandes site in Lotus “war” at least that how it look from my point of view. And as a journalist he should be neutral right ?
Tony,
Read the What? section of the blog…
Is it just me, or is anyone else here just waiting for the whole Group Lotus/Renault farrago to go t*ts-up? As has been noted elsewhere, the team seems to have been treated as nothing more than an empty vessel by the owners in an effort to sell the entry on for a profit. Unfortunately, if anyone wants an F1 entry, there are probably a number available cheaper elsewhere, including Torro Rosso, Sauber and HRT. These may not come with the same benefits and heritage as the Renault entry, but the price would reflect this.
Group Lotus’s involvement in all of this seems to become more vague and uncertain by the day. So now they have no shares in Renault F1 at all? Has some deal been done to allow Proton to back out? Have Genii bought back the shares GL were supposed to have bought at a big discount, was the original announcement of GL buying in smoke and mirrors or has someone just got their wires crossed? Whilst I understand that things may get done in Malaysia in a different way than they do elsewhere, I think that the rest of the grid would be within their rights to feel that on recent evidence, the Malaysian way is childish and idiotic and they want nothing to do with it.
Joe – It’s funny how people don’t quite understand that you are allowed to voice your own opinion on YOUR blog. I loved your comment to SammyHagar…”If you don’t like it, don’t read it.” Reminded me of a comment made by modern composer Philip Glass in a documentary I saw recently. When asked about negative reaction to his sometimes controversial music he said “There is a lot of other music out there. If you don’t like my music don’t listen to it”. Bravo !!!
Tony,
I couldn’t do Joe’s job, but from all I know about him, he would naturally ‘favour’ someone that comes in, commits all, shows focus and desire, reignites something that once meant something, and delivers all that he said he would. Fernandes is a very clever guy, and the Forbes of the world don’t lie.
Meanwhile Genii is perhaps smoke and mirrors, not good for the sport, not doing what they say etc.
As I said, I admire Joe and his work, but don’t all journos show some preference? James Allen = ‘Ferrari’; Peter Windsor = ‘anyone but BAR’; Murray Walker = ‘Schumacher’; Martin Brundle = ‘Coulthard’. The last is the most clear yet least obvious….Brundle managed DC and expected others to see him as ‘partial’ so he often worked hard to position himself conversely to that expectation
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-drive/new-cars/motorsports/a-rough-year-ahead-for-lotus-and-lotus/article1856127/
interesting article from canada comparing the Lotus/Lotus situation with the Rough Riders/Roughriders situation in Canada.
This should have been nipped in the bud long ago by Bernie/FIA/FOTA. Surely the first two can write a rule right now ahead of the season outlining a reasonable naming regulation.
1. chassis = owner. this would have sorted the BMW Sauber Ferrari issue last year.
2. car company sponsors vs team names?. Again last year we had Tata sposoring Ferrari, Lada sponsoring Renault. I think FIAT sponsors Yamaha in MotoGP.
The Lotus debacle is the culmination of this confusion.
John
Patrick
I agree with James , Peter etc . But that is my point , yes journalist should have their opinion but do not favour anyone . Don`t jump on me i don`t suport any Lotus i`m just fan of F1 . 2011 bring it on !
Greetings, Joe.
First of all, I want to wish you a Happy 2011 to you and your relatives. And I hope to continue to do your excellent articles, they are a reference to me.
Second. As I was reading this post about Renault-Genii-Lotus Cars deal, all I can say in a phrase is this: what a mess! I can understand that business like this tend to be complex, but this goes beyond my capability. I tend to agree with Patrick Bateman. Spot on, mate!
I wouldn’t be surprised if Renault would be back to take care of this, or let it go down. First, I thought that Bahar’s money from Lotus Cars was a sort of lunacy, but looks like that Lopez’s Genii Capital can be worse. How this will end? Badly, I’m afraid…
Re Matt D–
I’m certainly waiting for the whole thing to collapse.
It’s telling that Proton and Bahar don’t appear to be running any actual racing cars anywhere. F1 is sponsorship of Renault; GP2 and GP3 are sponsorship of ART. Indycar is sponsorship of Kalkhoven. Bahar is going on and on about the “Group Lotus racing heritage”, but all anything has amounted to so far is flinging the dollars about.
And even in that regard, there’s not a confirmed ownership stake by Group Lotus or Proton in any racing team, if I’m not mistaken — which is great from Bahar’s point of view, since he can get all this wonderful exposure without having to pay for anything yet.
Have to hand it to Bahar, it’s pretty neat work to position the company you work for as a racing colossus, and get the mouthbreathing partisans so excited that they go out flinging accusations of bias around, without ever designing, building or operating a single-seater racing car or even owning a team that does so (the Lotus 125 toy for wealthy boys does not count).
It strikes me that there’s someone writing comments here under different usernames, claiming to be a different person – grow a pair!
Matt D.
Not far off my thoughts.
I dont think there was any crossed wires just alot of baharluster from some playground bullies.
The FIA and Bernie are just letting this play out.
Sit tight Tony and say nowt. Its all gonna turn out nice again.
Matt D
More than this, unless Bahar is deposed in time, I expect Lotus Group International Ltd (who own Group Lotus) to be bankrupted (again) within 3 years. Bahar’s stated targets are just not achievable by a car manufacturer of that size. He has also demonstrated a major misunderstanding of the UK car market and customer mentality. A great shame, they had many (and now have a few less) outstanding engineers at Hethel in Lotus Cars and Lotus engineering and were an old customer of mine. They always impressed, whilst with some customers one wondered how they ever managed to build a singe vehicle. (indeed some didn’t)
This was all before I retired unintentionally several years ago, and whilst Danny Bahar was busy flamboyantly upsetting a different circle.
The Renault team is the best available team with decent tech, engine gearbox and aero if you want to buy a good “working out of the box” team. Insert money and drivers and press go!
What is interesting to me is why the story was planted and subsequently firmly squashed, does it indicate some displeasure within Genii at the claims of LGplc to already own 20% and to be shortly increasing that to over 40%? Could it be that Bahar’s balloon has been burst or at least punctured?
@Tony
even if Joe is on Frenandes site it does not change anything,
I’m a big fan of Team Lotus, for me both sides doing this only for money, doing dirty job
There is no room for innovation, for visionares in F1 so …
Clive said
“The family, as and when appropriate, made it clear to those involved that it would prefer the Team Lotus name should not be used in Formula One. Indeed, assurances to this effect were received.
The Team Lotus identity represents the motor racing legacy of Colin Chapman, and this was preserved by the Chapman Family and invested within Classic Team Lotus.”
And even if he changes his mind as gloves, I agree with that,…
…but Joe have right to his opinion I also accept that, why not ?
I am hoping Kubica will find a new team in the near future who deserve is immense talent .
Matt D
I nominate that the word of 2011 so far is……farrago…!!!
Lovely word.
Tony F might be looking around for a new team name soon,
Farrago GP ? Classic Team Farrago?
Or even Scuderia Farrago ? (Maybe keep that in reserve depending on how Domenicalli’s shake-up goes esp. on the prat perch)
Yours, amused and informed
Gary
Joe
Good article – thanks.
Putin met with Petrov at the Kremlin today and said Rostechnolgy (defence) and Novotek (Gaz) will continue to support him in 2011.
What’s your notion of how much that deal is worth to the team?
I like both teams a lot – Eric Boullier is a racer through and through and the Enstone old guard know how to win WC and Tony though he is new to F1 in some ways is committed, a great manager and truly loves the sport.
That there is going to be two Renault powered cars called Lotus (in some form) on the grid next season is a typical “politics of F1″story which will create loads of relatively harmless coverage for both teams until it is sorted out. I hope it’s still news at the beginning of next season as we might see the tabloids pick up on it.
I think this is half, well maybe 10%, of the reason people watch F1-It is the sort of battle that every businessman in the world outside F1 spends his life avoiding writ large for all to enjoy.
In any case the real battle will be played out on the track and though I’d bet Gennii Renault will have the edge over Fernandes Renault for the moment…with Mike Gascoyne on board, a Renault powerplant and Redbull gear box and bits it’s not going to be a sure thing for long. Once Fernandes Renault get their wind tunnel sorted … well let’s just say that Dany Behar must have his fingers crossed that this is all done and dusted before that happens.
Hi joe,
Happy new year, and welcome back!
Is anyone else bored of the lotus v lotus affair? Perhaps fernandes and bahar should have a charity ARM wrestle for the name and the loser puts a few grand to charity!
As for the former Renault team, I feel rather sorry for its staff. If you don’t fully know what’s going on, and put the story out into the public domain, then they must feel rather worried for their future….
I sympathise, as I thought they were going great guns this year after the train wreck of the previous year!
If Genii does in fact own 100% instead of 0%, then the real question is who now owns Genii… Have we considered that angle?
Hi Joe
Could you please clarify the requirements for the team formerly known as Renault to still collect its FOM money? At what point would they no longer be eligible for these funds?
As for the structure, I would not put too much emphasis on the shares. Control can be exercised through lots of different structures. A venture capital firm would be very fluent in these.
Adrian Newey Jr
If the team wants to collect its full FOM money it must remain solvent and must not be wound up or declare bankruptcy. The moment that happens it loses all rights as the money is linked to the company number so starting a new company with the same name but a different number would not work. Although the number must remain the same, the team’s company name may change.
In order to keep the full FOM allowance the team must also keep the same chassis name, unless it can get all the teams to agree to allow it to change the name. In that case the name can be changed without any loss of “historical” money.
Hope this helps.
If journalists had to remain completely neutral, the Fox Network wouldn’t exist.
Joe, amongst others, has his opinion but also reports fairly and evenly. This is the mark of a good journalist, rather than being unbiased.
Being unbiased is impossible. If nothing else, Joe is biased towards F1 (as he doesn’t hate it – I presume) before we even start discussing driver or team preferences. I believe I have a fair idea of where Joe’s preferences lie but that is merely my opinion of Joe’s opinion.
Oh yeah, and maybe those who are complaining of bias should read more of what is written out there – unless they are complaining at every website, newspaper and magazine which shows some sort of bias to either side of the Lotus debacle.
P.S. Australia’s mainstream press are unbiased about the Lotuses – they ignore both equally.
Joe,
This is the first time I have read your blog. Its interesting. Plus your readers have well thought out opinions.
Dany Bahar has managed to talk the Malaysian government to give him access to a large amount of money. This gives him some leverage in any dispute with another Malaysian entity that may pose a threat, perceived or otherwise.
Lotus used to attract a lot of publicity due to its technological innovations upsetting the other teams… now it seems to be about branding… and no-one is getting upset other than Lotus. Shame
John Mansfield
I imagine much of the disinfo Joe and others receive is instigated by Bahar himself.
A motive could be to ‘big up’ the involvement of Group Lotus in ‘racing’ ahead of the court case.
Big pal of the Chapmans, Mansell . . . . you name it. Big player in everything from F1 to Indycar. Friend of Autosport. (Laugh.)
Bahar has been disseminating a lot of aggressive PR lately, of which few journos can make any sense. All the F1 journos I read were baffled by the Chapmans ‘very well publicised’ turnaround. Even though they have no legal say in anything. That was a PR machine at work.
The ‘major shareholding in an F1 team/buyer of Renault’ is just another piece of disinfo carrying on from December.
For me, it’s all a makeweight for a court case he is likely to lose. And in that event, Genii capital can whistle for their money. Money that a loss-making, taxpayer-subbed car company probably never had in the first place.
It’s Son of Quadbak, surely.
I really do want to keep clear of the Lotus thing, so much so it was almost a resolution. Almost 🙂
Few short points, nonetheless:
1. 1st Gazette Notice To Strike Off.
– it’s really not uncommon. OK, I was brought up in business by a man who would take it personally if he was even a day late, but the reality is there is considerable flexibility. It could be as simple as a change of accountants, and presumably those could have changed, post the Renault sale to GenII. Realistically, though, all it take to reverse a Gazette, is a letter from a director. So, that cog, even if it is turning, might not engage with the Treasury Solicitor (dissolution, bona vacentia) before the new season is long gone, and even then TSol can ressurect a registration, if you are clearly not full of rubbish.
2. Control of a company.
– I could issue one share, and cede control, whilst keeping the majority common stock. Or you could write a call option via another entity. The Venture Capital types are professional slicers and dicers. Check out “liquidation preference” and the smorgasord of ways they skew the odds to favor investors over innovators. What do GenII do again?
3. Pure speculation.
– Would it not be cheaper for Lotus Group to buy a good friend or two, than commit actual money? I’m saying this as they’re acting desperate to claim significance in the paddock, by any other means. I’m not saying Joe’s contact was bought, or anything like that, far from it, but it’s entrely possible, given the murkiness of all this, that some very plausible stories might assume the simulacra of credibility, even to the most responsible of people. We know Lotus Group can hustle.
There were a lot of stories, in F1 and the world in general, dumped during the holiday, more than normal I think.
– j
Didn’t Chapman used to get his knickers in a twist trying to get journos to call his cars John Player Specials rather than Lotuses at one time? (And possibly to call them Gold Leafs before that?).
Ironic if so.
Y’know, all these people claiming to represent and prolong Chapman’s racing heritage might have adopted his example of choosing his own name…
Patrick Bateman,
Really good redux, thanks.
Since the Lotus Renault livery was a CGI render, can anyone send us the model?
I was wondering if it could not be “photoshopped” with some interesting failed names.
I’ll start with:
Bankhaus Herstatt.
Because they went bust failing to complete a leg of a forex carry trade, and took all their small brethren with them.
Your turn!
in jest and seriousness,
– john
After reading people complain about how you will refer to Renault as Renault, I found it interesting to wake up to find an Autosport article titled “The Renault F1 team will unveil its Lotus-sponsored livery at the AUTOSPORT International Show…”
So there has been some deal struck between Autosport and Renault to reveal their livery at an Autosport event, yet they are still referred to as Renault on Autosport’s website. Thats gotta make Group Lotus happy.
I still don’t understand why people feel the need to bash you on your blog, if they don’t like what you write, just stop reading it. I’m sure you would rather have fewer page views if it meant less idiots in the comments or are of the “any publicity is good publicity” mindset. I like to think you are not.
Jabin,
Hesseltine had his eyes open, when he founded Haymarket.
There’s an obvious link between trade magazines, trade shows, and who became Trade Secretary.
But Hesseltine is gone.
It use to be the joke, in the 70’s, that any B2B magazine which sprang up had the address of their advertisers c/o Langley. (obscure movie ref: “What about Langley, Bob?”, said Connery)
What happens, when the Real Man goes, is lesser characters believe they can achieve the same feats, and so they take short cuts. Fools.
We might argue about “business succession” now, in some MBA – speak, but the reality is some businesses are just vehicles for their owners, not real constituents in the economy.
For London publishing geeks, Euromoney one time nicked all the useful sales staff, and ended up doing a good job of that. That, there, was the end of a lot of houses.
best,
– john
Kitchen Cynic
I think it was at the time of the Lotus 78 that we were expected to refer to it as a JPS ?, sorry but I don’t remember the number.
The British Grand Prix was also to be titled the JPS Grand Prix, or similar, I should have the old programmes somewhere to confirm this.
It didn’t work though, all the people I went racing with at the time objected, it was still Lotus and the British Grand Prix.
The press of the time, Denis Jenkinson in particular if I remember correctly, objected too.
It didn’t work though, all the people I went racing with at the time objected, it was still Lotus and the British Grand Prix??