Super Aguri : buyout / collapse

[ben_watkins]

Well there seems to be much speculation about Super Aguri being bought out or even not starting the season!

What's up with Super Aguri?

Honda to pressure SA to keep Davidson

and

Possible Indian investment into SA - With return of Narain Karthikeyan?

Personally I think it would be a disaster if Davidson doesn't get a drive, as he has been a loyal, fast driver for Honda in test role and with SA in the race seat.. Damn groundhog in Canada ruined his best showing!

[HKS]

I would be more than happy, if Spice Group acquires Super Aguri.

Second Indian F1 team and this would open a window for Narain

[waynes]

Second Indian F1 team and this would open a window for Narain

you must be joking, he was crap

[ben_watkins]

you must be joking, he was crap

[crisis641]

I think honda should just provide what ever money that team needs to get through 2008, then they could have 2 development teams in 2009. Could be a way around the budget cap?

[freedom_honda]

i dont understand why they couldnt get any sponsors i mean they did a wonderful job in 2007 despite their situation

[Giblet]

I like Super Best Friends, but we all know the 2006 Honda was a well devolped fast car in the last half of 2006, and the 2007 Honda was a dog.

Pretty much any management and drivers in the 2006 Hondas could have beaten the factory teams' 2007 cars.

It can be hard to get solid sponsors on board when you don't build anything. A team like BMW has Intel, and S.A. has Samantha Kings clothing.

I think S.A.'s current image problem is that they are a bunch of underdogs trying really hard, and corporate parteners want a constructor who is less "fly by night" and more established, not being thrown table scraps by Honda.

[mx_tifoso]

As I understand SA's financial problems, it's not that they are not able to acquire sponsors, but that sponsors have not paid their share. There may be more to the whole story, but thats the main issue they're facing.

Although they definately could use more sponsors.

Maybe their "only Japanese" image is limiting their ability to attract other sponsors from different nationalities (?).

[m3_lover]

Since then, however, the team has had difficulty putting together the enormous budget required of a modern F1 team, falling into debt to the tune of $47 million, despite getting support from Honda and running old cars.

Now, following the emergence of Force India and the confirmation of an Indian Grand Prix in two years, another Indian business consortium is looking at buying its way into the sport. The Spice Group telecommunications company, which already sponsors Indian former F1 driver Narain Karthikeyan's Team India A1GP car, is reported to be negotiating to acquire Super Aguri. Tata, which is inching closer to its acquisition of Land Rover and Jaguar (which itself once had its own F1 team), is reported to be possibly supporting the bid. The price: $1, plus the coverage of the team's debts. The deal hasn't been finalized, but would involve bringing Karthikeyan back to the grid, and leaving Aguri Suzuki in charge. Spice confirms that it is talking with Aguri and a second team.

[checkered]

There's also been

talk of Lakshmi Mittal (the wealth of whom looms pretty large in comparison to Vijay Mallya's) exploring the possibility of buying a significant minority share in Super Aguri. The linkages are intriguing ... Honda and Arcelor Mittal certainly have their roles in the metals and alloys business. Mittal famously bought his stately residence in London from none other than our Bernie, so the two men are anything but strangers. Both men are also owners of Queen's Park Rangers along with our Flavio, a detail which might give a slight pause for Honda's management in giving the nod to this kind of an arrangement (unless Briatore retires from F1 at the end of this season if/when Alonso manages to leave his stay with Renault at one season only).

I guess some of it depends on just how much Honda's interest in supporting a B team hinges on the "Takuma factor" alone, but this will sooner than later be completely overshadowed by Honda's and Renault's designs on India - and how "nationalistic" the marketing approach has to be. As long as Force India is powered by Ferrari and with the first Indian GP rapidly approaching, there's an opening for a F1 manufacturer of more universally attainable motor vehicles making great inroads into the rapidly growing market. Renault and Honda will have to consider whether this is best achieved with their own brands or whether a joint venture with a local operator might serve their purposes better. If the latter is determined to be the better approach, Lakshmi Mittal is certainly very well positioned to accommodate such a deal. Meanwhile, an Indian company could also make a deal with Cosworth and "become" a F1 manufacturer in its own right.

Thus even if Aguri-san never intended to involve himself in F1 past the medium term, he could well find that even a minority share (possibly with an option or two) in the future of his team is valuable indeed. Hopefully he can explore this potential carefully enough to determine whether the gain is much greater even than the currently reported financial dilemma faced by the team. Of course Honda might just want to take a time out and straightforwardly provide sufficient but meager resources to keep things going. But in this global day and age, there might well be some more creative and intriguing opportunities within the grasp of those who dare to reach a bit further.

[mini696]

i dont understand why they couldnt get any sponsors i mean they did a wonderful job in 2007 despite their situation

I suggest it was because they aren't their own team... It is a half-arsed-honda, and the sponsers know that they will never go up the field without their own designed cars.

[jaho101]

I guess some of it depends on just how much Honda's interest in supporting a B team hinges on the "Takuma factor" alone, but this will sooner than later be completely overshadowed by Honda's and Renault's designs on India - and how "nationalistic" the marketing approach has to be. As long as Force India is powered by Ferrari and with the first Indian GP rapidly approaching, there's an opening for a F1 manufacturer of more universally attainable motor vehicles making great inroads into the rapidly growing market. Renault and Honda will have to consider whether this is best achieved with their own brands or whether a joint venture with a local operator might serve their purposes better. If the latter is determined to be the better approach, Lakshmi Mittal is certainly very well positioned to accommodate such a deal. Meanwhile, an Indian company could also make a deal with Cosworth and "become" a F1 manufacturer in its own right.

That'd be a great boost for Cosworth, I mean with engine development out the window they could focus on making a reliable one that's still up to speed. I mean, you couldn't have expected Williams to stay on Cossie power while there was still such a need for development, but now its possible to get an old name back into the fold, which would be nice for once.

[timbo]

F1 needs SuperAgury or Minardy or any other "outsider". Imagine if there would be only big teams from big manufacturers. Inevariably of their budgets somebody HAS to be a backmaker. And what if some big team would be in the back of a grid for several years in a row? Most likely it would drop off. Manufacturers are much less comitted to F1 than those small teams. I believe this is MM's rhetorics when he talks about budget cap and stuff and I agree with him on this. I just don't agree with his constant changing of tech regs that cost too much to adapt.

[checkered]

Today grandprix.com has

been reporting that "a successful bid is needed soon if the team is to make it in 2008". Apparently there are some pretty complicated scenarios playing out, with Russian "liquor baron" Rustam Tariko and Campos Grand Prix's Alejandro Agag (he's got Vitaly Petrov driving in his GP2 team) playing a part. Spain has recently been showing signs of developing into a racing knowhow powerhouse (some F1 teams considering setting up permanent second operations there) so perhaps they could come up with something viable as a Russian GP seems to be stuck in something of a permanent planning phase. And judging by the rows upon rows of idle Russian owned yachts on permanent standby crowding some southern Spanish harbours, perhaps that's just as well. On the other hand, if Mittal wants to put his foot down he can quite easily outbid anything Tariko alone has to offer ... but it's another thing if the likes of Lukoil or Gazprom get involved.

[ben_watkins]

More coverage here - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsp ... 236249.stm