Lotus have announced their driver selection. The Malaysian PM (Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak) was represented by the local Youth and Sports Minister (Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek) who made the announcement.
I borrowed this pic from the Sun article... (From left) Lotus F1 Racing 2010 drivers Heikki Kovalainen, Fairuz Fauzy and Jarno Trulli.
I left a presentation of my proposal with the previous Youth and Sports minister's office a year or two ago. It was accepted by her PA. I heard no more!
Interestingly, Proton had representatives there also:
Also present during the announcement were AirAsia CEO Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes, Proton Holdings Berhad Group managing director Datuk Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir and Deputy Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Wee Jeck Seng. - thesundaily.com
Additionally, the report goes on to say.
Ahmad Shabery said the 1Malaysia F1 team project was a good example of private and government sectors coming together.
He said collaborations with local universities such as University Teknologi Malaysia (UTM),Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP) and Composites Technology Research Malaysia Sdn Bhd (CTRM) for research and development signifies the "Malaysian flavour" of the team.
It was also interesting to note that TeamLotus have brought the Local Universities onboard. This all looks very familiar to me!
Group Lotus appeared to have no representation at the event whatsoever. Maybe if Proton buys them a share of LotusF1 they will have some input. Obviously, Proton Holdings Berhad Group managing director Datuk Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir is keeping a close eye on all this. I spoke to him briefly at the ASLI Automotive conference (26-27 May 2009). He had not heard of MUM at that time. I'm sure he has now.
It is highly likely that Dany (CEO Group Lotus) and Claudio (Group Lotus Motorsport) would like to have some tangeable connection to this.
Finally, I notice in the Cars Bike and Truck site, that a certain brother of a Malaysian Drift Champion has won a ticket to next weekends Formula Drift championship.
I won't be attending as I am in the UK. Good luck to Tengku Djan. I hope your brother enjoys the race!
A Prosperous and successful New Year to everyone!
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