Lotus are to return to Formula One Grid in 2010

Lotus are to return to Formula 1 next season for the first time since 1994.
They have been awarded the final grid spot and join Campos GP, Manor and US F1 as one of four new teams for 2010.
The FIA has given current team BMW Sauber "14th place" for 2010, meaning they are now first reserves to fill any vacancy on the grid should one arise.
However, motorsport's governing body says it will "consult urgently" with the 10 existing teams to expand the grid from 13 to 14 teams for 2010.
"The FIA believes that a good case can be made for expanding the grid to 14 teams," read an FIA statement released on Tuesday.
"It will be consulting urgently with the existing teams regarding the introduction of an appropriate rule change to expand the grid to 28 cars in time for the first Grand Prix in 2010."
While the FIA said it had received an "impressive application" from the BMW Sauber team, it added: "However, given that BMW has announced it will withdraw its support in 2010, there are still uncertainties regarding the future ownership of the team."
The German car manufacturer, which took over Sauber in 2005, revealed it would withdraw from F1 at the end of July citing "current developments in motorsport" as the reason for their decision.
BMW was the second major manufacturer to announce it was leaving the sport after Honda's withdrawal eight months earlier.
The Norfolk-based Litespeed team bought the rights to the name Team Lotus - which competed in F1 from 1958 through to 1994 - and was awarded its place, also pushing out Epsilon Euskadi, following an intensive selection and due diligence process conducted by the FIA.
The team won seven constructors' crowns and six drivers' championships, including wins by Jim Clark and Graham Hill, during their golden era in the 1960s and '70s.
Three-time world champion, the late Ayrton Senna, drove for Lotus for three seasons between 1985 and 1987 - although the team enjoyed limited success during that period.
In its new incarnation the team is a partnership between the Malaysian Government and a consortium of Malaysian entrepreneurs and is being led by team principal Tony Fernandes, the founder of the Malaysian-based Tune Group, which owns Air Asia airline.
Mike Gascoyne - who has 20 years experience in the sport after working with Jordan, Renault, Toyota, and most recently Force India - returns to F1 as the team's technical director.
The team will be initially based in Norfolk, though its future design, research and development, manufacturing and technical centre will be purpose built at Malaysia's Sepang International circuit.
Their withdrawal from F1 in 1994 was down to financial pressures, but Lotus remains the fourth most successful constructor of all time.


By Adam Feneley
Motorsport Engineering
www.motorsportengineering.blogspot.com
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