ART GP2 and GP3 team becomes Lotus GP
Leading GP2 and GP3 team ART will rebrand as Lotus GP from 2012, as it intensifies its relationship with the sportscar constructor
Lotus became ART's title sponsor last year, with the squad's cars running in green and yellow livery. This year it will switch to the black and gold colours used by the Lotus Formula 1 team, and in addition to the name and livery change, the former ART teams will have assistance from Lotus engineers.
Team boss Frederic Vasseur said: "I am proud and happy to have the chance to give this new boost to the venture and to have the confidence of as prestigious an auto maker as Group Lotus, whose heritage in the sporting world is known worldwide.
"I am very happy about the sporting and technical prospects this partnership offers our team. It will enable both entities to capitalise on each other's expertise in order to rise to big challenges in the coming years."
Lotus' motorsport director Claudio Berro said the partnership would be a two-way collaboration between Vasseur's team and the car firm.
"The relationship between Group Lotus and ART continues to intensify and both parties will benefit from sharing technological developments and engineering support," said Berro.
"The partnership goes far beyond an agreement on the team name - this is just the tip of the iceberg. The collaboration between ART and Group Lotus is deeply rooted in the culture and daily life of both entities.
"For example, Lotus' road cars, like the Elise and the Evora will benefit directly from the impacts of developments made by the team on the circuit as well as in the factory. The current and future cars will benefit from developments in performance, endurance and stability at high speed and in return, the racing team can draw its inspiration from world-renowned engineering, since Lotus Engineering's engineers may be assigned to Lotus in the GP2 and GP3 Series."
As ART, the team has won multiple titles in GP2, GP3 and Formula 3, with its most recent championship success being Valtteri Bottas' victory in GP3 last season.
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