176 lines
4.4 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
176 lines
4.4 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
sport
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motorsport
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formulaone
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8188426
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-----
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# Dany Bahar: We are Lotus, and we are back
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## Dany Bahar, the chief executive of Group Lotus, has set out his stall in
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Formula One's latest battle.
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![Nigel Mansell - Dany Bahar We are Lotus, and we are back][1]
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Back in black: both Lotus teams are planning on reviving the classic John
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Player Special livery from the 1970s and 1980s Photo: PA
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[![Tom Cary][2]][3]
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By [Tom Cary][4], F1 Correspondent 10:03AM GMT 08 Dec 2010
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[Follow Tom Cary on Twitter][5]
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After announcing a seven-year title sponsorship and partnership deal with
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Renault F1 this morning, [a deal that was exclusively flagged up by _Telegraph
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Sport_][6], he made his company's position crystal clear. "We're well aware
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that there has been a lot of controversy around the usage of our brand in F1
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and I'm delighted to be able to formally clarify our position: We are Lotus,
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and we are back," Bahar said.
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The words are aimed squarely at Tony Fernandes' Hingham-based team, who have
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entered the 2011 championship as Team Lotus having raced in 2010 as Lotus
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Racing. Group Lotus have questioned Fernandes' right to use the iconic marque
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and withdrawn a licence which he had agreed to use the Lotus name.
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The dispute is due to go before the High Court in London next year.
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However, any thoughts that Fernandes might be intimidated by the announcement
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of the Lotus deal with Renault, which is worth well over £100m, were dismissed
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when the Malaysian entrepreneur tweeted his 38,000 followers with the
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following: "Dany bahr [sic] has done us a favour. Never felt better about our
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future and Team Lotus. Looks like the trying to hijak [sic] our black and gold
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idea."
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That last line is a reference to the fact that both Lotus teams are planning
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on reviving the classic John Player Special livery from the 1970s and 1980s.
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Team Lotus announced plans to do so in Abu Dhabi at the end of the season
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while Lotus Renault GP claim their design has been on the drawing board since
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September.
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## Related Articles
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* [Renault to pay Piquet damages for 'Crashgate'][7]
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07 Dec 2010
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* [Lotus v Lotus: rights battle][8]
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08 Dec 2010
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* [Fernandes sticks to his guns][9]
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07 Dec 2010
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* [What did injury mean for Red Bull?][10]
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06 Dec 2010
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* [Webber hid shoulder break][11]
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06 Dec 2010
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* [Maldonado to replace Hulkenberg][12]
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01 Dec 2010
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Perhaps significantly, Group Lotus' Malaysian owners Proton, insist they are
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fully behind the Lotus Renault GP team. Dato' Sri Mohd Nadzmi Mohd Salleh,
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Chairman of Proton, Lotus majority shareholder, said: "We know that Group
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Lotus has much to offer Formula 1 and vice versa. After careful consideration,
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we believe this arrangement will be fruitful, both from a commercial and
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marketing point of view."
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Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Proton advisor and former Prime Minister of Malaysia,
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said: "This is an exciting development which delivers strategic benefits to
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both Group Lotus and Proton. I fully support the partnership."
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It may be that Fernandes, who has plenty of other business interests in
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Malaysia, is prevailed upon to sell on the rights to Team Lotus by his
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compatriots. However, he is sounding combative thus far. The battle is just
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beginning.
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[X][13] Share & bookmark
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Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
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Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
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[What are these?][14]
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* Share: [Share][13] [ ][15] [ ][16]
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[Tweet][17]
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motorsport/formulaone/8188426/Dany-Bahar-We-
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are-Lotus-and-we-are-back.html
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Telegraph
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## [Formula One][18]
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* ### [Sport »][19]
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* ### [Motorsport »][20]
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* ### [Tom Cary »][3]
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* ### [Lotus F1 »][21]
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In sport
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[![][22] ][23]
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### [Red Bull rule in Turkey][23]
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[![Formula One 2011: drivers' and constructors' world championships standings
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- Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton][24] ][25]
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### [F1 2011: standings][25]
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[![][26] ][27]
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### [F1 2011: full race schedule][27]
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[X][13] Share & bookmark
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Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
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Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
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[What are these?][14]
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Share:
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* [ ][13]
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* [ ][15]
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* [ ][16]
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* [Tweet][17]
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* FORMULA ONE ACTION PHOTOS
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Advertisement
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![][28]
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Advertisement
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Formula 1 Drivers' championship: Latest standing in the Formula One drivers'
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championship.
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Advertisement
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Classified Advertising
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* [Motoring][29]
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* [Engineering Jobs][30]
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* [Property][31]
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