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[Jabberwocky]

I am sure there would be a black market value for them. Think of all the stolen art etc that gets sold on behind closed doors.

I am sure some billionaire F1 fan somewhere would be happy to give someone a million or so for them.

[CookinFlat6]

They are much more likely to have been stolen to order (by order, someone wants them) rather than the thieves are now going to try find a buyer. Either stolen for an order, or an inside job. Thieves could get the metal in those things much easier by robbing a stall in a village antique market

[sagi58]

I am sure there would be a black market value for them. Think of all the stolen art etc that gets sold on behind closed doors.

I am sure some billionaire F1 fan somewhere would be happy to give someone a million or so for them.

Good point!! Someone who is a real Vettel fan may have hired someone to get those trophies.
Even if they can't be shown off to the world at large, just having them may be satisfaction enough!

That's what money can do for you!!

[sagi58]

, William Esler wrote:">The incident is similar to the burglary in September 2013 at successful junior formula team Carlin.

Trophies stolen from Carlin Motorsport after robbery at the outfit's factory

[stonemonkey]

Wierd

The outfit have a rich history in junior formulae, winning its first race back in 1999 with Narain Karthikeyan in British F3 and have played a part in the careers of many F1 drivers including Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen and Robert Kubica.

Another Vettel link, wonder if any trophies he won were among those taken. Maybe it's only happened to RBR now is because he won't be winning any more trophies for that team and Ferrari better be careful in the future if he wins any for them.

[sagi58]

Interesting view on why it's not so funny:

, the Editor wrote:">Why the 60 Trophies Stolen During the Red Bull F1 Factory Attack Affect Us All

Over the years, motorsport has become more of a business and less of a passion. This has led to a decrease in interest from the public, the greatest challenge motor racing is facing nowadays and something that can't be compensated by any budget in the world. Sadly, it all got a bit worse this morning.

While you and I were sleeping tight, or out partying at 1:30 AM in the morning, six men raided the Red Bull F1 Team factory in the UK, stealing no less than 60 trophies. My greatest concern about this is that their action only deepens the popularity issue motorsport is facing.

Red Bull aimed one of their marketing budget snipers at Formula One back in 2005. It took a few practice bullets, but between 2010 and 2013 the Austrian team went on an opponent-killing spree, taking home 4 world championships while their Vettel grabbed just as many world titles. Sure, the 2014 season was lost to Mercedes, but nobody can take away Red Bull's trophies, can they?

Alas, the group of thieves begged to differ to the rhetorical nature of the aforementioned question. A hard-working team was treated with... hard-working robbers, as the men raided Red Bull's Formula One base in Milton Keys really, really early this morning - Thames Valley Police were summoned to the team's headquarters at 1:30 AM today, confirming a group of six men stole no less than 60 trophies from the building.

The perpetrators used a silver SUV, driving straight through the glass structure that makes up the front entrance of the structure.

As Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner explained, many of the trophies in the display that was targeted by the offenders were replicas, so expecting to turn them into cash would be a rather ridiculous idea.

The robbers were organized, as, for instance, a second car (a Mercedes) is believed to have been involved. When it comes to the reason of their attack, I simply don't give a damn. They could very well be fans of racing unicorns who feel threatened by Red Bull's commitment to motorsport.

Fortunately, the night staff were not harmed in the robbery, but the damage done here is much greater than it might seem.

As Horner said: "The actions of these men mean it’s likely that we will have to make our site less accessible in the future, which will be unfair on the hundreds of fans that travel to visit our factory each year to see our trophies and our Formula One car."

Capturing the extreme feelings and emotions experienced inside a racecar and spreading them to the world was hard enough on itself, we didn't need a six-pack of idiots stabbing motorsport in the back.

Sadly, the problem spreads beyond the borders of racing - the situation reminds me of what happened in Germany back in October, when thieves stole two brand new Passats straight from the Volkswagen factory in Emden.

The two cars were grabbed as part of separate incidents and, during the second... grand theft das auto, the security guards even had to leap onto the side of the road in order to avoid being hit by the thief that was running away with the Passat.

Later that day, the man ran the VW through a radar trap thus basically offering authorities his mugshot, in a move that seemed just as stupid as that of the Red Bull offenders.

Volkswagen is obviously expected to increase its security level after that incident and while the situation may be different to that of Red Bull, it's still worrying to see the auto industry having to turn to such measures.

I'm sure other companies will follow and this applies to both petrol pilgrimage sites and less interesting factories, so I feel that us car aficionados are being disturbed here.

[What's Burning?]

It would seem like the crooks just muddied the waters. Why isn't MI5 investigating?

PitPass Red Bull has revealed that a number of trophies stolen during a recent break-in at the team's HQ have been found.

Around 20 of the trophies were recovered yesterday from the Horseshoe Lake near Sandhurst, after being spotted by a member of the public. Members of the Specialist Search and Rescue Team searched part of the lake yesterday and located a number of trophies.

"We estimate about twenty trophies have been recovered, but we are liaising with Red Bull to establish the exact number," said Investigating officer Det Con Chris Oakman, "as some of the trophies are damaged.

"We would continue to ask that anyone with any information about the burglary contacts us. Further, if anyone sees a trophy or trophy parts near the area of Horseshoe Lake please contact the Force."

"It's good news that some of our trophies have been found and thanks to the police for all their help so far," said team boss Christian Horner. "The fact that some of the trophies were discarded in a lake and damaged shows how senseless this crime was.

"While the trophies mean an enormous amount to the team, their intrinsic value is low - and the extent of the damage that was caused to the factory by the offenders during the break-in was significant. Hopefully we can get the trophies back to our factory where they belong and get replicas made of those that we can't. Thanks to everyone involved for their help so far."

Police were called to the Milton Keynes factory at around 01:30 on 6 December after a group of six men used a vehicle to drive through the front entrance of the factory. They then stole more than 60 trophies belonging to the team.

[Jabberwocky]

Lol I wonder which F1 team is near Sandhurst.


Or even some Military training establishment who had a bit of hi jinxs

[stonemonkey]

That it's only some trophies dumped there might suggest they were after particular trophies. I still find it hard to believe they would have been stolen for some obsessed fan just to have but that could be the case depending which trophies weren't discarded.

[Jabberwocky]

Or the ones kept where made of more expensive metals

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[darwin dali]

Or the ones kept where made of more expensive metals

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Or the ones kept were considered to be rightfully FA's

[stonemonkey]

Or the ones kept where made of more expensive metals

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Possibly since it was 'gold' and 'silver' trophies that were spotted floating in the lake. Still not sure they'd really be worth much melted down.