What is Lotus up to now?

To eb honest we do not know what these pictures have to do with cars, but we got them in the inbox from Lotus with a cryptic message, they're gonna blow the roof off..

Even if they are planning to blow off some roof, what has it got to do with sun cream, bikini top and sunburnt head?...maybe they're showing off a really hot summer convertible that would attract ladies and give you sunburn if you don't put on sunscreen

Not Selling Lotus...

Well, that is to say no decision have yet to be made to sell the iconic British sportscar maker and automotive engineeering powerhouse.

Apparently all this talk of being sold have hit morale in Norwich and Proton Managing Director, Datuk Syed Zainal Abidin Tahir made assurances that they are still committed to Lotus, but it all depends on what the new shareholders have to say about it.

Of course the real fate of Lotus will depend very much on what the new owners have to say and DRB-Hicom is expected to pass all the administrative hurdles by March.

Repeated queries to DRB about Proton has been met with the same answer, they will make the decisions after completing the purchase and receiving full information about Proton and all its businesses.

Meanwhile in Europe it appears as if Lotus chief, Danny Bahar is already making alternative plans, evidenced by various reports that he is looking for a new investor in the company.

We will keep you posted on the latest development in Proton-DRB as it happens.

We have excerpts from the Malaysian Insider's story with Syed Zainal

Lotus Exige R-GT passes first rally shakedown

LOTUS MOTORSPORT HIT MAJOR MILESTONES

Success in Italy with the first IndyCar engine fire-up and Exige R-GT Rally shakedown


Whilst most sensible people prepare to wind down for the festive period, the hard working Lotus Motorsport team are busy celebrating the fruits of their labour over the past 12 months following the first successful engine fire up in the Lotus IndyCar chassis AND the first proper Exige R-GT rally car shakedown all within the space of 24 hours.

LOTUS: More F1 Points & More GT4 Success

More F1 Points & More GT4 Success Group Lotus presents something from the weekend….



FORMULA ONE – JAPANESE GRAND PRIX

Lotus Renault GP displayed some promising performance in Japan, which translated into two Championship points on Sunday.

Having been out of contention two weeks ago in Singapore, the team bounced back at Suzuka by getting both cars in the top ten in qualifying. Despite taking a bite out of the barriers on Saturday morning, Bruno Senna managed to claim P9 while team-mate Vitaly Petrov took P10..

Both drivers started on the medium compound tyre, while the other cars around them were on softs. The strategy meant the LRGP drivers had searing pace in the final quarter of the race, but for the start they were at a disadvantage. Petrov switched from medium rubber to soft on lap 39, his final pitstop, and was then unleashed to pass multiple cars and finish in ninth place. Senna suffered from traffic and tyre degradation and finished 16th.

Lotus back on track in Suzuka

Lotus ambassador Jean Alesi was up at the crack of dawn to watch the Japanese Grand Prix

Lotus Renault GP got both cars in the top ten in qualifying, which must have come as a relief after all the head-scratching in Singapore?

It was uncomfortable to watch the pace in Singapore. They weren’t as competitive as they should have been, but things were back on track in Suzuka. Qualifying was impressive, and this is at one of the most demanding circuits ever built. So that’s encouraging but based on where they started I was disappointed with the result. Ninth and 16th: I expected a little better.

What did you make of the fact that neither driver drove a Q3 lap in order to save tyres?

Proton denies Genii Capital is negotiating to buy Lotus

In the past few days, some websites have been carrying stories that Genii Capital, the company that currently owns the Renault F1 team is working on a deal to buy out a majority stake in Group Lotus.

In response to this story, Proton issued a short and sternly worded Media Statement denying the speculation.

The statement said: "PROTON hereby states that the alleged moves between Group Lotus and GENII Capital are untrue and that the news are highly speculative in nature.

Lotus sign Petronas for GT Motorsports

Ever since Lotus reactivated their Motorsports division to the level of activity that we see today, many Malaysians had wished that Petronas would support the effort but in Formula One, the national oil company decided to go with Mercedes-Benz because it is a top-flight team.

Yesterday Group Lotus announced that they have attracted the oil giant to their GT motorsports activity through Petronas Lubricant International. Petronas Lubricant International used to be known as Selenia, which Petronas bought over a couple of years ago.

Petronas is now a major partner of Lotus Motorsports, supplying lubricants for all their motorsports activities in this category and this includes the Evora GT4s in the British GT Championship, Blancpain European GT and the International Le Mans Cup (ILMC).

Group Lotus Chief Executive Officer Dany Bahar said: "For Lotus, motorsport isn't just a branding exercise – ultimately we're in it to win and PETRONAS share this philosophy. They have built a lot of technological knowledge during their time in motorsport and we can benefit in many ways from technology transfer especially when it comes to fuel and lubricants technology used today in race cars. We are all about technology and performance and in PETRONAS we have a partner who share our values and vision."

For the official Press Release please follow the jump

Is Lotus bringing an all-new model to Frankfurt

Lotus released a teaser of an unnamed and unseen car (well not very clearly anyway) facing a  boxer. Why a boxer? that's a real mystery.
This is a screen capture of the mystery car, it could be an upgrade of a current model or if it is an all new model, then it is the Esprit... we assume this because Lotus had said earlier that they do not have the financial resources to develop two cars at the same time and they felt the flagship Esprit should be developed first.
My guess? An extreme Evora, maybe with a Lexus V8...the engine they were thinking about when they first started the Lotus revival plan

Watch the video after the jump