Lotus Teams Granted Equal Status by London High Court

LONDON, England—RIS—In a legal move that took many weeks to complete, the High Court in London Friday announced that both Lotus teams, Tony Fernande’s, unit, and the Group Lotus Renault sponsored  squad, will remain to have  their cars with the famous marquee.

Both teams have been fighting to be the sole representative of the famous name, but when the court decided that both teams were allowed to keep the name, it also eliminated the fact that the termination of the contract by Group Lotus was valid to do so, and because Team Lotus violated this breach of contract, damages now have been awarded to their rival.

Considering the verdict, both teams are claiming victory, and Fernandes still is showing some sort of disappointment.

"We are of course disappointed about the decision that Group Lotus was entitled to end our license agreement in 2010. We entered into that contract on the basis that we were beginning a long-term partnership with Group Lotus but unfortunately they then used technical breaches of the merchandising pre-notification process to bring the license and our partnership to an end.

"However, my fellow shareholders and I are firm believers that when one door closes another door opens. In the early days of our agreement we realized its termination was inevitable and as events have unfolded the end of the license has proved positive for us, with many new avenues being opened up as a result."

Group Lotus, despite their compensation, are not pleased with the outcome either and is filing an appeal.

"Group Lotus is pleased that its right to race under the Lotus name in F1 has been upheld and that the Defendants' attempts to stop that have failed," Sarah Price, Head of Legal, Group Lotus plc said. "The on-going dispute with Team Lotus and associated companies has been a cause for concern for all at Group Lotus.

"Despite the detailed judgment there are issues which still require clarification and we remain committed to obtaining this much needed clarity for the many fans of the Lotus marquee - we are extremely grateful for their continued support. The decision to appeal has not been taken lightly."

On this year’s formula one grid, Lotus is not the only sponsor that has two teams. Austrian energy drinks sponsor Red Bull also fields two teams; Toro Rosso , and the leading F1 team, Red Bull Racing.