F1 Lotus owner launches GP2 team

Lotus team owner Tony Fernandes’ application to launch a GP2 team for 2011 has been successful, the series announced on Tuesday.

The Malaysian millionaire’s team is called Team Air Asia, named after his Kuala Lumpur based low-fare airline, and is "strongly linked to formula one", GP2 organisers said in a statement.

"The seriousness of their presentation, their ambition and their worldwide project were really appealing and in line with what we expect from all our teams," said organiser Bruno Michel.