Who saved Super Aguri?
Reports out of Germany and re-posted on TSN in Canada indicate that three partnering investors have come forward with a financial package to save the Super Aguri team. The question is, who are they?
The report in Auto Motor und Sport suggests the buyers are a British based company, a group of Middle Eastern investors and another group of German investors. Could Dave Richards be behind the deal as well? It’s well known that Richards desperately wants to have his own F1 team and while his dream of a ProDrive F1 team seems to be over, taking over the financially strapped Super Aguri team would work too.
Richards recently arranged for a Middle Eastern investment group to take over British marquee, Aston Martin. Dave had a strong relationship with Aston Martin for several years having prepared DB9’s for Le Mans (through his company ProDrive). Since the purchase, Richards enjoys a position on the board of Aston Martin.
Could Richards have convinced the new owners of Aston Martin to buy into F1 as well?
Parallel to the ProDrive/Aston Martin partnership, Richards has also managed the Benetton and Honda F1 teams. He knows the current landscape of F1 and is credited with turning the Honda program around. Interestingly, Super Aguri has a contract with Honda for engines so the previous relationship might be quite helpful in the short term.
In the long term, if the investor is Aston Martin, would they consider building their own F1 engine and entering the team under its own name?
It’s a discussion probably best held over a beer in the pub but in the funny old world of F1, the same people seem to keep popping up in the strangest places.
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Tags: Aston Martin, Auto Motor und Sport, Bennetton, Dave Richards, F1, Honda, Pro Drive, ProDrive, Super Aguri, TSN