Lotus Racing F1 Team Race Report: Singaporean GP

The Singaporean GP, first of the last 5 fly-away races before the 2010 season ends was packed with close bumper-to-bumper action, with the Safety Car intervening the race a few times. The 26th September night race saw a triumphant Fernando Alonso trumped his competition and strengthen his bid for this season's championship. Scuderia Ferrari driver Alonso, who started on pole drove a flawless and commanding race for his second Singaporean GP win. Lewis Hamilton of McLaren Mercedes on the other hand saw his race once again ended after tangling with Redd Bull Racing's Mark Webber on lap 35, threathening bid to regain the titled he lost last year to fellow team-mate and compatriot Jenson Button, who finished this race in 4th. Webber and team-mate Sebastian Vettel took the other two spots of the podium respectively. This race meanwhile proved to be a bitter-sweet one for Lotus Racing. While the team celebrated the fact that they would be renamed to the historic Team Lotus name for next season after team principal Datuk Tony Fernandes announced that he had bought the rights to the name from David Hunt, the brother of the late former racing driver James Hunt, drivers Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen had their race ended in unfortunate circumstances. Trulli pulled out of the race on lap 27 due to hydraulic problems and Kovalainen's car went up in flames right in front of the pits, 2 laps from the end. Off-track, another saga unfolds when Lotus Group's owner, Malaysian car maker Proton Holdings claims that Lotus Racing does not have the rights to use the "Team Lotus" name and has terminated its current license to Fernandes, stating "flagrant and persistent breaches of the licence by 1 Malaysia Racing Team" as the reason and that It dismissed Fernandes' acquisition of Team Lotus Ventures, saying "there is and always has been only one Lotus" and that its Group Lotus was the owner of all rights in the brand, including those relating to Formula One. Fernandes has now taken the case to the British court.