Lotus was founded in 1980 in Switzerland by Spanish businessman Miguel Rodriguez. The company is currently owned by the Festina Group, a Spanish watch conglomerate based in Madrid.
Jorge Lorenzo: 250cc to MotoGP
The brand’s early forays into the Grand Prix racing world include sponsoring the Fortuna Aprilia 250cc team before taking over as the title sponsor of the Lotus Aprilia 250cc team. This also included several Jorge Lorenzo watches (reference 15423/5, 15422/2, 15423/2) made in honor of his 250cc title.
The Lotus logo was also present on Lorenzo’s racing leathers during his first season as a MotoGP rider in 2008. It is unclear if signature watches were made during that year.
Marc VDS Racing Team
Lotus Marc VDS limited edition chronographs were created for the team in 2015. While exact details are not well documented, they appeared to have been exclusively sold through retail partner MacManiack.
Black and white dial variants were available with each having a different dial design, and were listed as “New Lotus Watch Sport Black – Marc VDS” and “New Lotus Watch Sport White – Marc VDS” on the MacManiack website. They were priced at 159,50 € each.
According to the press release on the team website, 200 pieces were made. Whether it was per version or the total is not clear.
Marc Marquez: Moto2 to MotoGP
Lotus also had a long term partnership with Marc Márquez spanning from his time in Moto2 to the start of his MotoGP career, with the company logo featuring prominently on the Spanish rider’s helmet until the end of the 2016 MotoGP season. This resulted in an extensive catalog of Marc Márquez edition watches, including championship editions such as 2014 ChronoGP editions in blue (ref. 18230-1) and red (ref. 18105-1).
Marc’s younger brother, Álex Márquez, has also served as a brand ambassador.
Related Pages
References
https://watch-wiki.org/index.php?title=Lotus
https://x.com/FestinaWatchUK/status/398512699170385921
https://twitter.com/LotusWatchesUK/status/627132752018677760
http://reloteca.com/lotus/lotus-edicion-especial-jorge-lorenzo-15423-2/gmx-niv1940-con2551.htm
https://marcvds.com/limited-edition-marc-vds-watches-by-lotus/
https://web.archive.org/web/20150624202450/http://www.marcvds.com/bike/sponsors/
https://web.archive.org/web/20150702203708/http://www.macmaniack.com/en/669-marc-vds-racing-team/
https://www.festinagroup.com/dis/
https://www.orologioblog.net/en/lotus-e-marc-marquez-insieme-per-altri-due-anni/
https://web.archive.org/web/20160413025150/http://www.lotus-watches.com/en/marc-marquez
https://www.fruugo.dk/marc-marquez-limited-edition-quartz-analog-herre-ur-med-182301-rustfrit-stal-armband/p-50783805-101583016
https://www.facebook.com/koscom/posts/lotus-marc-m%C3%A1rquez-limited-editionwwwhodinky-koscomczczlotus-18105-1marc-m%C3%A1rquez/740752575991195/