Spyker Sale
Spyker Cars NV have confirmed that they are selling the F1 arm of their business to Indian businessman Vijay Mallya for 88 million Euros (£123 million).
The statement from Spyker said, “With the sale of the Formula One Team now agreed in principle, Spyker Cars N.V. will return to the task of finalizing the internal strategic review and associated refinancing which has been ongoing since May,”
Spyker shareholders will be voting on the sale on 29 September. Spyker bought the Midland team for $106.6 million last year. However the F1 team made a loss of 13 million euros in the first half of the year.
New Spyker Driver
Spyker are putting news on the sale to the backs of their minds and have signed GP2 driver Roldan Rodriguez as test and development driver for the 07/08 winter period. The Spanish driver tested for Spyker last week at Silverstone and will join the team this winter to help develop next season s car. Rodriguez is currently in 15th place in the GP2 standings.
“This test drive is a good opportunity for me to get more F1 experience,†Rodriguez explained. “I enjoyed the shakedown at Silverstone but as we could only do 50 km, I am pleased that I can now get more mileage under my belt. I know the team has high expectations for next year and I really want to help it achieve its aims by contributing to the development programme over the winter.”
“I am pleased to welcome Roldan to the team as a test driver,†team boss Colin Kolles said. “Despite only having limited time in the car last week at Silversont, he applied himself well. W ith this experience and his good knowledge of the circuits we go to over the winter, I believe he will make a strong contribution to the team’s progress.”
Arbitration Continues
Despite their finances being boosted as a result of the espionage saga, Spyker will go ahead with their arbitration action of customer cars.
Spyker are questioning whether rival teams Super Aguri and Toro Rosso are eligible for a share of television rights money this year as there are questions over whether they are running customer cars or not.
Following McLaren s exclusion from the constructors championship, Spyker have moved into the top ten – only the top ten teams are eligible for television rights and travel money. Many believed that because of this development, Spyker would call off the legal action, but it appears that is not the case.
It is expected that arbitration hearings will begin in the near future.
