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ShareMumbai: Italian wind tunnel operator Aerolab have decided to take legal action against the Force India team for "serious and persistent" breaches of contract. The company issued a statement after media reports suggested Force India were concerned that Lotus, who are now working closely with Aerolab's parent company Fondtech, had copied details of their 2009 car.
It must be noted that Lotus F1 technical head Mike Gascoyne was previously employed by Silverstone-based Force India. Aerolab MD Jean-Claude Migeot said in a statement that the Lotus rumours were "designed only to tarnish the company's reputation and professionalism and to divert attention away from the facts. "The truth is that Aerolab is suing Force India for not fulfiling its obligations."
When contacted by DNA, team principal Vijay Mallya's spokesperson said that Force India will carefully study the purported statements made by Aerolab and respond appropriately. "We cannot comment at the moment," the team spokesperson said.
Aerolab ended its three-year collaboration with Force India in September this year after "serious and persistent breaches of contract by Force India," their statement said.
Meanwhile, Gascoyne, whose Malaysian-backed team was awarded what would have been the 13th slot on the 2010 starting grid only in September, played down suggestions that his team's car was based on the Force India. "Obviously our wind-tunnel model was designed for us by Fondtech in Italy," he told the autosport.com.
"It is based around a 2010 chassis, because there is a big fuel volume in it, it has a Cosworth engine, an Xtrac gearbox, our suspension, and other stuff designed by us. The Fondmetal guys put some generic bodywork on. Whereas you cannot copy anything or take anyone else's IP (intellectual property), you can use your expertise -- and you will base that on what you know and what directions you know have been happening. That is exactly what has happened."
