Lotus sign ex Ferrari man, Claudio Berro' as Motorsport Director

[Giuseppe F1]

You may not recognise him as hes shaved off his 'tache! Good appointment IMO - Danny Bahar already recruiting from his old Ferrari pals.

The good thing this article suggests is that there 'will' be a relatively close link with the Malaysia1 Group and Lotus Cars as Berro will seemingly report direct to Bahar yet presumably will be focussed predominantly on F1, hence creating a strong link of communication:

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http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/79797

http://cdn.images.autosport.com/editorial/1256713354.jpg

Berro named Lotus motorsport director
By Jonathan Noble
Wednesday, October 28th 2009, 06:55 GMT

Claudio BerroLotus has appointed Claudio Berro as its new Director of Motorsport, ahead of the sportscar marque's return to Formula 1 next year.

Berro, who has previously held posts at Ferrari, Maserati, Fiat and Abarth before a stint heading up the Speedcar Race Series, will join the company on November 2.

Although he will report directly to Group Lotus CEO Dany Bahar, it is likely that Berro will have some involvement in the new F1 team that is currently preparing for a return to grand prix racing at the start of next year.

Speaking about his new role, Berro said: "Lotus has a peerless motorsport heritage, not just in Formula 1, but we have also won in sportscar racing, saloon car racing, world rally championships, Le Mans and the Indy 500.

"There is no other car company in the world which can lay claim to so many accolades and championships in such a wide variety of motorsport fields, and I am looking forward to re-introducing Lotus to high level motorsport to not only compete and win but also to demonstrate the shared technology between Lotus sportscars and future racing cars."

Bahar added: "I am delighted that Claudio is joining us as Director of Motorsport. He has a proven track record of not only setting up and managing the motorsport's divisions within sportscar brands but also winning championships in GT racing and rallying. His skills will be very valuable as we look to return Lotus to high level motorsport around the world."

Lotus was granted the 13th slot on the F1 grid at the end of last month, with its Malaysian-funded efforts having impressed the FIA. Its first wind tunnel model has already been revealed, with the technical team being headed up by Mike Gascoyne.

[I am evil Homer]

Interesting...Lotus have hired a lot of good all round people and look to be the best placed of the 'new' teams.

[Giuseppe F1]

F1-Live.com are also now reporting that Lotus have also signed another Ferrari team member. Im sure alot of you dont recognise the name but will definately recognise the face from TV:


http://img61.imageshack.us/img61/4423/145mz8.jpg

http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/091028165910.shtml

Ferrari is set to lose a long time member of its team. French speaking Canadian Gino Rosato is better known around the world as the team's burly and goateed security man. Radio Canada reports that he has accepted a proposal to join the sports car maker Lotus as the vice-president of corporate affairs. The offer was made by his former Ferrari colleague Dany Bahar, who is Lotus' new chief executive.

[Giuseppe F1]

I read alot of comments from people on various boards about Gino. He seems like a really nice guy who conducts pit garage tours for paddock club guests and fans during race weekends and seems to be a very popular member of both the Ferrari team and F1 paddock in general. Seems Bahar must have made him an offer he couldnt refuse:

Heres the announcement from Gino himself:

Montreal, QC - It's been 18 yrs Gino Rosato has climbed the ladder at Ferrari. Second Quebecer since Gilles Villeneuve serving the prancing horse, the Italio-Laval announced in a press conference today that he would attend his last Grand Prix Formula 1, which will be played on the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi on 1st November 2009.

Mr. Rosato has chosen Montreal, his city close to his heart, announcing in prime time to the media press that he left Ferrari to join the new administration of Lotus in title as Vice President of corporate affairs. "I wanted to share this news with the Montreal media primarily because I have always been supported by the press here.

I literally grew up with Ferrari. This is my university to me. I started at the bottom of the ladder as a handyman and I managed to gradually win the confidence of my superiors as Jean Todt and Dany Bahar.

Dany was the senior vice president of Ferrari and I had the unique opportunity to work with him over the last three years. We all know the talent of Danny and his outstanding achievements at Red Bull, for whom he developed a winning strategy in NASCAR and F1.

He is now CEO at Lotus and he made me an offer I could not refuse!

I will act as Vice-President of Corporate Affairs Group Lotus. This for me was a proposal which I believe happens once in a career. With all the changes that are known at this time in the automotive industry, deals like this are exceptional. At Ferrari, I had 8 championships F1 constructors and drivers championships 6, in addition to the extraordinary development of the Ferrari that I saw with my own eyes.

So I think it can bring a unique experience to LOTUS. I am particularly proud of helping to revive a brand as prestigious as LOTUS. Colin Chapman, the creator of Lotus, is a kind of English Enzo Ferrari. I sincerely believe that this brand has great potential and I can announce the imminent return of Formula LOTUS INDY, GT and Le Mans Series. At the moment F1 is not on the short term since it is a different group that holds the license. We will see in the next few years. "

http://www.jv-world.com/forum/default.aspx?g=posts&t=206

[Giuseppe F1]

For anyone who reads Joe Sawards Formula 1 Blog (he regularly writes for grandprix.com) seems he is happy to see Gino go........OUCH!!!!

http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2009/10/28/oh-joy/


Oh joy!

October 28, 2009 by joesaward

Oh joy! Gino Rosato is leaving Ferrari. I do not think I am in a minority when I state that the carefully-bearded French-Canadian was a totally self-important individual who stomped around the F1 paddock as if he owned it. He was even more of a TV camera “goal-hanger” than that patron saint of TV goal-hangers, Flavio Briatore. Perhaps I am being harsh, but all the bloke ever did for me was tread on toes that did not need stomping on.

The announcement that he is joining Lotus to be head of the Le Mans and IndyCar projects (I did not know there were such things) is wonderful news. Ferrari will become a nicer place; and fans everywhere will see an example of how if you have sufficient drive and ambition you can achieve anything. Rosato joined Ferrari 20 years as, what a French website described as the “ramasseur de poubelle” – literally a rubbish collector – and ended up in charge of logistics.

Lotus has also announced that Claudio Berro, another former Ferrari man, will be joining its competition department (which has nothing to do with the F1 team). He was originally employed at Peugeot Italy but was taken to Ferrari by Jean Todt and later went on to head the competition department at Maserati before taking a job as the boss of Speedcar in Dubai.

[Giuseppe F1]

OK, the thing that is REALLY confusing me with the whole '1Malaysia v Lotus F1 team v Lotus Group' thingy and how they are all not the same but kind of are and insist they will be working together....

...LOTUS CARS have today made these 2 appointments of men with huge F1 experience and rather then them being appointed directly to the F1 team, they are appointed to Lotus Cars under a special competitions division which doesnt seem to be a fully integrated part of Lotus F1 plans under the Malaysia project????


If you include Danny Bahar, here are 3 mean with vast and recent F1 experience, all at Ferrari no less, a front running team and it seems they wont be working directly on F1 but on special projects which are yet to be conformed including a return to Sportscars and a return to IndyCars even!!

Surely it is only a matter of time before they will be working directly on the F1 project for as Gaascoyne has said in interviews, the plan is to have the Malaysian Group and the Lotus Cars group working closely together on F1....I mean.....WHY WOULDNT THEY? with such an influx on F1 expertise???


Im confused? Can anyone untangle all this????/

[maximilian]

Hmmm, so this guy was a bouncer at Ferrari, and is now the VP at Lotus? :D Doesn't bode too well for the new team! ;)

[ArrowsFA1]

OK, the thing that is REALLY confusing me with the whole '1Malaysia v Lotus F1 team v Lotus Group' thingy and how they are all not the same but kind of are and insist they will be working together....
I don't think you're the only one.

Team principal Tony Fernandes confused things further for me when the announcement (http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/79836) of the new CEO was made. His comment that "his knowledge of motorsports coupled with vast experience will contribute to the success of the 1Malaysia F1 Team."

So is it Lotus or is it 1Malaysia F1 :confused:

[UltimateDanGTR]

its Lotus F1 team but the company is 1Malaysia

thats what i gather, but no one quite nows where the Lotus group fits in if at all, its all just confusion!