Lotus F1 Racing – or Team Lotus, as it was accepted by the International Automobile Federation and Bernie Ecclestone on the 2011 F1 entry list – and Group Lotus are currently fighting in court over the use of the Lotus name in the championship. While Tony Fernandes' team is set to find other means of financing for the season to come, Group Lotus plans to sponsor the current Renault F1 Team.
“We are here, and whatever we may be called there will be a formula one team based in Norfolk again, making racing and engineering racing cars, which I think is great for Norfolk and is a sense of pride for me as a Norfolk lad", said Gascoyne, according to a report from the GMM news agency.
“I just can't quite understand why Group Lotus wouldn't want it to be called Lotus,” he added, pointing to the fact that Lotus Group demanded that the name of Lotus would be scrapped from the team's 2011 designation.
“I think when (Lotus founder) Colin Chapman brought sponsorship into F1, he thought he'd be on the receiving end – he wouldn't be paying it out. For me, Colin Chapman was about engineering, about making and engineering racing cars. That's what Team Lotus did; that's what we do here.”
“It’s not about going and sponsoring a French manufacturer to put a badge on it, I find that very difficult to understand,” added the former technical boss of Toyota and Force India.
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