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Brawn: Competitiveness our trump card

majbrawn wideweb 470x331,0Brawn makes his pitch as Honda crash out of from Formula One

Honda’s esteemed Technical Director Ross Brawn is adamant that the competitiveness of Honda Racing’s 2009 challenger, the RA109, relative to the leading Formula One teams, will help the team find a buyer after Honda withdrew from the sport on Friday and put its racing team up for sale.

Brawn, highly regarded after pioneering Ferrari’s turnaround in the early millennium, was drafted into the Brackley-based outfit as Technical Director at the end of 2007. And although he was unable to influence the design of the 2008 car and prevent another disappointing results tally the processes and structures he put in place in anticipation of 2009 and the debut of his car gave the team and Honda great cause for hope.

Indeed, according to Brawn the signs from testing suggest that the RA109 is more than a match for the front-runners: “Our information is that, relative to the other teams, we have a very strong car in development here at Brackley and we will continue to develop the RA109 to ensure a strong start to 2009 and improvement through the season.”

The team and staff are bank-rolled for the next three months, but a buyer must be found before March 2009 if the squad is to have two cars on the grid for the season-opening grand prix in Melbourne.

Brawn, however, is confident that the team will have little difficulty attracting interest given the facilities and assets up for grabs.

“This is a unique opportunity,” he said. “The facilities we have here are among the best in the sport as a result of multi-million pound investments over the past 24 months. We have a fantastic workforce and a car that could be one of the best.”

“Honda are keen to help us try to preserve the team and fortunately we have some time to react. If this had happened closer to the season it would have been much more difficult. It’s a fantastic opportunity for someone to step into what will be a very competitive team next year.”

“The facilities here are amongst the best in Formula One, the workforce is definitely one of the best in Formula One and we have a great car in progress for next year. We have aspirations to be at the front of the grid and we want to find investors who have the same ambitions.

“I would like to thank the staff here at Brackley for a fantastic demonstration of courage and fortitude today despite difficult circumstances. I am proud to be part of this team.”

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