Lotus Back On Track With Art

The best of British meets the best of France as Lotus Motorsport and GP2 championship winners ART Grand Prix unite to create the ultimate GP2 and GP3 race teams.

Lotus Motorsport in collaboration with seasoned championship winners ART Grand Prix can confirm their participation in the 2011 GP2 (Europe and Asia series) and GP3 series. The contract with ART Grand Prix sees Lotus commit to providing technical and engineering support for the GP2 and GP3 race series for the foreseeable future.

Lotus Motorsport and ART Grand Prix share a hunger for success, the facts speak for themselves. With seven F1 Constructers Championships, six F1 Driver Championships and numerous other considerable accolades, Lotus has a unique racing pedigree making them the perfect partner for ART Grand Prix.

Since the GP2 series was launched in 2005, Lotus' new collaborators ART Grand Prix have won the GP2 championship three times, first with Nico Rosberg (2005), then with Lewis Hamilton (2006) and last year with Nico Hülkenberg (2009) under the expert management of team founders Nicolas Todt and Frédéric Vasseur. Vasseur and Todt's complementary abilities guarantee the best possible management of the team, day in, day out. Frédéric Vasseur is in charge of the team and the factory on the ground, while Nicolas Todt runs the commercial and marketing side of the organization.

Commenting on the news Gino Rosato, Director of Corporate Communications at Lotus said: "This deal means a lot to me personally; I've known Nicolas Todt for many years and have already had the opportunity to work alongside him in the past. Lotus is proud to be partnering ART Grand Prix and in doing so uniting with the most successful and recognized team in GP2 Series. We come together with a common goal: to continue our great success in motorsport."

Frédéric Vasseur Team Manager of ART Grand Prix said: "It is a fantastic opportunity for ART Grand Prix to be working with Lotus. The goal is clear: winning together the future GP2 and GP3 championships. I can't wait to see the new livery of our racing cars."

As part of the celebration, Lotus ART will field two cars in the GP2 Europe and GP2 Asia series and three cars in the GP3 Europe series. The GP2 Series, one of the World's premier racing categories, is widely recognised as the breeding ground for future F1 talent. Almost half of the current F1 grid got their chance to race at the pinnacle of motorsport after proving their worth in the GP2 Series including Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg, Timo Glock and Heikki Kovalainen. The goal of the new GP3 Series is to give young upcoming drivers a chance to develop their driving skills and jump to the next step: GP2.

Lotus Motorsport Director of Operations Miodrag Kotur said: "The move into GP2 and GP3 solidifies Lotus Motorsport's commitment to promoting driver development and supporting the search for the world champions of the future. Lotus won't simply be partner in name only, ART Grand Prix will also benefit from Lotus' considerable engineering and technical support and experience."