London: Highly-rated technical director James Allison is leaving Lotus and will be replaced by Nick Chester, the Formula One team said on Wednesday. The announcement before the first race of the European season in Spain this weekend will be seen as a blow for Finnish Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen, the 2007 world champion who is second in the standings to Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel.
Allison has been with British-based Lotus, previously Renault, since 2005 after previous stints in the 1990s when they raced as Benetton. No details were given about his likely destination, although early speculation focused heavily on Ferrari. Allison worked for the Italian team for five years - during Michael Schumacher's dominant years - overseeing trackside aerodynamic operations prior to joining Renault.
Chester was previously Lotus's engineering director. He worked for now-defunct Arrows before moving to the Enstone factory in 2000. "He is already directly involved with this and next year's cars, ensuring a smooth transition which has been underway for some time," said team principal Eric Boullier. "The 2014 technical regulation changes present many challenges, while our current position of second place in both the constructors' and drivers' world championships mean we cannot lose sight of this year's development battle," he added.
"Nick really has his work cut out, but we know he is more than capable of handling the tasks ahead."...
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06:41 PM, May 08, 2013
New Delhi: Academy award-winning actress Reese Witherspoon has pleaded no contest to a charge of disorderly conduct and paid a $100 fine after she was arrested with her husband following an evening out in Atlanta last month. The deputy solicitor of the Municipal Court of Atlanta, Ronda Graham, said in a statement on Thursday that "the pending criminal matters against Ms. Reese Witherspoon and Mr. Jim Toth have been resolved."...
12:50 PM, May 04, 2013
Los Angeles: Oscar-winning actress Reese Witherspoon was arrested in Atlanta for alleged disorderly conduct after her husband, talent agent James Toth, was stopped by police on suspicion of drunken driving, online Hollywood magazine Variety reported on Sunday. Witherspoon, 37, was arrested early on Friday after she quarreled with officers who had taken Toth, 42, into custody during a traffic stop of the couple on Peachtree Street, Variety said, citing an...
11:21 AM, Apr 22, 2013
Los Angeles: 'Django Unchained' star Jamie Foxx will be awarded the highest honor at 2013 MTV Movie Awards for his huge contribution in the entertainment industry. The 45-year-old actor, who also remains active as a musician and comedian, is set to receive the award at the ceremony which will be held on April 14, reported Ace Showbiz. "As a comedian, Academy award-winning actor and Grammy award-winning artist, Jamie Foxx is...
05:57 PM, Apr 13, 2013
Chandhok said that Formula One is the pinnacle but his future now lies in sports car racing and the focus in 2013 would be on FIA GT series and Endurance races. ...
06:31 PM, Apr 03, 2013
Making his debut in the FIA GT series, Karun Chandhok helped his side Seyffarth Motorsport earn sixth position on the grid. ...
09:14 PM, Mar 31, 2013
The former Formula One driver will be joined in the car by Jan Seyffarth who has been competing in the German GT series for his family-run team. ...
02:48 PM, Mar 25, 2013
Actress Kristen Stewart's 'Twilight' character Bella Swan has been named Britain's favourite movie mother in a new poll. The character, essayed by the 22-year-old, has topped an Empire Cinemas poll of the nation's favourite cinematic mothers ahead of Mother's Day Sunday, reports contactmusic.com. ...
06:11 PM, Mar 10, 2013
Some dressed down in jeans and hoodies. Others looked camera-ready in suits or chic dresses and spiky stilettos. But no matter how they looked, all of the stars who rehearsed Saturday for the 85th Academy Awards seemed excited about being a part of the big show. ...
11:26 AM, Feb 24, 2013
Academy has added actors Salma Hayek Pinault, Melissa McCarthy, Liam Neeson and John Travolta to its star-studded list of Oscar presenters. Hayek earned an Oscar nomination for her leading performance in 'Frida'. She will be seen next in 'Grown Ups 2'. ...
05:20 PM, Feb 19, 2013
Actresses Halle Berry, Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon, who have won Oscars in the past, will present at this year's Academy Awards on February 24. Berry won the award for her performance in 'Monster's Ball' (2001), Bullock for 'The Blind Side' (2009), Kidman for 'The Hours' (2002) and Witherspoon for 'Walk the Line' (2005). ...
11:10 AM, Feb 14, 2013
Maruti Suzuki Desert Strom - the annual rendezvous with the Thar desert is all set begin from February 18 with over 275 motor enthusiasts participating in a riveting race. ...
11:43 AM, Feb 13, 2013
Political violence has been rising in West Bengal under the government of Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee. There have been 642 cases of violent clashes related to students politics in the first five months of Mamata Banerjee's tenure. While 27 people have lost their lives at least 926 political workers and 128 students have been injured in the clashes. ...
05:22 PM, Feb 12, 2013
Bangkok: Germany, represented by Formula One world champions Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher, won the Race of Champions team crown for the sixth successive year in Bangkok on Saturday. The event, which pits winners from various motorsport series competing in identical cars and being held at the Thai capital's Rajamangala stadium for the first time, saw Germany comfortably beat the French pairing of F1 driver Romain Grosjean and rally driver...
08:56 AM, Dec 16, 2012
Tokyo: A Japanese government spokesman says a Chinese airplane has been spotted in Japanese airspace above southwestern islands controlled by Tokyo but also claimed by Beijing. The Defense Agency said four Japanese F-15 jets headed to the area Thursday morning, but no further action was taken. The islands known as Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese have been at the center of a territorial dispute. The purchase of the...
12:22 PM, Dec 13, 2012
New Delhi: India's ace drivers Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandhok will come together for the first time since 2004 to represent India at the season-ending Motorsport festival -- Race of Champions -- in Bangkok next month. India have been invited to participate in the December 14-16 event for the first time since its introduction in 1988 and it's a clear indication that motorsport world now looks at India differently with...
06:02 PM, Nov 06, 2012
New Delhi: Actress Uma Thurman's daughter has joined the list of celebrity children with bizarre names. Thurman's daughter is justifiably called Luna at home since her official name is Rosalind Arusha Arkadina Altalune Florence Thurman-Busson. William Shakespeare wouldnt know that even ages down his popular line Whats in a name from 'Romeo and Juliet' would still make sense to many. The present Hollywood celebrities have their own take when it...
02:23 PM, Oct 19, 2012
New Delhi: Opposing opening up of multi-brand retail, broadcast and aviation sectors for foreign players, the Left parties on Friday vowed a "wave of protests" against the UPA government accusing it of having become a "burden on the people". CPI(M), CPI, RSP and Forward Bloc came out with angry reactions on the Union Cabinet decision on allowing more FDI in the three sectors and disinvesting four PSUs, charging the UPA...
08:43 PM, Sep 14, 2012
Washington: The flight path taken by two American MH-47 Chinook helicopters to Abbottabad in Pakistan to kill Osama bin Laden in May, 2011 has triggered a controversy with questions being raised as to whether they flew over the Indian air space. A just-published book, containing a first-hand account of the raid on the al Qaeda leader's hideout in the Pakistan garrison town near Islamabad, contains a map showing the flight...
08:48 AM, Sep 13, 2012
Thiruvananthapuram: Veteran RSP leader K Pankajakshan, who passed away on Tuesday, was a doyen of Kerala coalition politics. He was elected to the state Assembly five times and had been minister for various terms in five ministries. Highly respected in political and social circles, Pankajakshan had been instrumental in stabilising RSP in Kerala politics before moving to the national scene as the national general secretary of the undivided RSP. Later,...
01:34 PM, Aug 29, 2012
