New Super Aguri Bid

[cosworth151]

Autosport.com reports that Weigl Group boss Franz Josef Weigl was present at this past weekend's Spanish Grand Prix for talks with Super Aguri, who have a Wednesday deadline to find new investors before Honda pulls its support altogether.

It is believed that he has been offered a deal to get involved in the outfit as long as he is willing to bankroll the team for the rest of the season, a figure believed to be around £6.5 million.

Meanwhile, Honda will no longer provide emergency financial help to Japan's cash-strapped Formula One team Super Aguri, a report said Tuesday.

Honda, which provides engines and technical support to the team, spent around three million dollars to ensure Super Aguri participated in the Spanish Grand Prix last Sunday, the Sankei Sports daily said.

"We will not provide relief on a race-by-race basis any longer," a Honda official was quoted as saying.

ONe might speculate that Honda's actions are a response to the low budget SAF1 out racing the big buck factory team for most of last season.

[cosworth151]

This from Reuters:

The team will have to wait until a Honda board meeting next week to find out what will happen. The team said talks were continuing and that founder and principal Aguri Suzuki would meet the full Honda board in Tokyo early next week after some members were absent due to national Golden Week holidays.

Other teams sent their cars direct from the Circuit de Catalunya to Trieste in northern Italy where they were to board a ferry for Istanbul en route to the Turkish Grand Prix on May 11.

The sea journey takes three days, with the cars then having to be overhauled and presented for scrutineering by the governing FIA at the Istanbul Park on May 8.

Other Formula One sources said Super Aguri's transporters had gone to Trieste from Barcelona, and a witness in the Italian port said they were there, but without the cars.

They said there could still be time to catch a later ferry or, at considerable cost, to fly the cars to Istanbul if a rescue deal emerged in the next few days.

[Andy B]

Strange goings on with Honda!!
If the reports are correct then why take the cars to Brackley unless Honda are preparing the cars for them?

[Alianora La Canta]

To claim them as collateral on loans?

[gets very scared and hides behind the sofa]

[John S]

Weigl group denies rescue bid for SA

http://www.crash.net/motorsport/f1/news/162720-0/suitor_denies_aguri_interest.html

[Alianora La Canta]

This is seriously bad news...

[Scott]

Weigl has put out a statement saying they are in talks with SA and that they are positive. 

[Alianora La Canta]

Weigl, please make your minds up. Super Aguri are suffering enough uncertainty as it is!

[romephius]

This is straight from the www.formula1.com website....

Super Aguri have revealed they are in final discussions with the Weigl Group concerning a deal that would secure the troubled team’s racing future. If the deal is approved it will see the German automotive company acquire a substantial shareholding in the Japanese squad.

“We are happy that we have been able to resurrect talks between Super Aguri F1 Team and Franz Weigl at such short notice and to have the opportunity of presenting the Weigl Group to the Honda Board once again,” said team founder Aguri Suzuki.

“Such a partnership as the one proposed by Weigl Group will allow us to race for the foreseeable future and I am hopeful that all parties will find the Group’s offer a realistic package.”

The renewed discussions with Weigl follow the collapse last month of a planned takeover by the Magma Group, which forced Suzuki to resume his search for new backers for his Honda-powered team.

“Weigl Group has decided to speak out openly at this decisive time for Super Aguri F1 Team,” said Weigl Group CEO Franz-Josef Weigl, who attended last weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix. “We would like to express sincere support for the team’s participation in the Formula One World Championship and the Group’s, together with its sponsors and Partners, earnest intention to provide ongoing investment to secure the team’s future.”

The deal is now thought to require the backing of the Honda Board if it is to gain approval prior to next weekend’s Turkish Grand Prix in Istanbul.


Hopefully that puts a bit more certainty to it..... being on the official site.

Rom

[Scott]

The SA Roller Coaster continues...

Thanks for the support, Nick!  Maybe Honda should boot you and use the money to support SA instead.  What exactly is your job, and why do you have it?  Seriously, why is he even making a comment when Honda hasn't yet met to discuss it?? 

From F1 Live:

Honda's F1 Chief Executive Nick Fry has poured cold water on hopes that the struggling satellite team Super Aguri is nearing a deal that will secure its future.

Leafield-based Super Aguri on Friday said it hoped serious talks with the German company Weigl Group would win the backing of the Honda board, which is understood to be due to meet about the issue next week.

We previously reported that Honda - the struggling team's creditor, sponsor and technical supplier - was reluctant to accept the Weigl deal because it is neither a complete takeover nor financed in the longer term.

Late on Friday, Fry was quoted as saying by the British news agency Reuters that he is not optimistic about the proposed partial Weigl buyout.

"Since we have been looking for a partner for over a year... it would seem unlikely that someone appropriate is going to appear in the next 48 hours," he said.   
 
Fry added: "It would appear unlikely that a company the size of Weigl is able to support a competitive Formula One team, unless of course there are other partners of which we have not been made aware."

Weigl CEO Franz Josef Weigl on Friday commented that his company's bid is backed by 'sponsors and partners', but did not provide further details.

As well as the race for money, Super Aguri also faces a race against the clock to get its cars to Istanbul's Otodrom venue ahead of scrutineering for the Turkish Grand Prix.

While most other teams headed for the track directly from Barcelona via the Italian port city of Trieste, Super Aguri's cars ominously returned to Honda's Brackley factory, where they remain.

[cosworth151]

The official statement from SAF1:

http://www.saf1.co.jp/en/topics/2008/nws_080502.html

As far as Nick the *rick, I think he's still got them in a twist about Super Aguri taking them to school last season. I think it's about time for him to find another sport. Maybe he could go to the Olympics.....as a javelin catcher!

[cosworth151]

From Autosport:

Franz Josef Weigl, the German businessman launching a last-minute bid to rescue Super Aguri, is optimistic Honda will approve his deal to save the team as he brushed aside doubts from Nick Fry that his offer is good enough.

Super Aguri are to face a critical meeting with the Honda board in Japan next Tuesday, where the Japanese manufacturer will decide whether to accept the Weigl Group offer or to pull the plug completely on the team.

And although Fry, Honda Racing's CEO, has said he is sceptical of the new offer being strong enough, Weigl has insisted that he has the finances, backers and long-term ambition to make a success of his tie-up with Super Aguri.

"I am very optimistic for the meeting, because I believe Honda see the same as me - that it is necessary to keep private teams in the Formula One business," Weigl told autosport.com in an exclusive interview. "We want to find a consistent solution with Honda, because otherwise the team has no future."

[TheStig]

Honda's F1 chief executive Nick Fry has poured cold water on hopes that the struggling satellite team Super Aguri is nearing a deal that will secure its future.

Leafield based Super Aguri on Friday said it hoped serious talks with the German company Weigl Group would win the backing of the Honda board, which is understood to be due to meet about the issue next week.

We previously reported that Honda - the struggling team's creditor, sponsor and technical supplier - was reluctant to accept the Weigl deal because it is neither a complete takeover nor financed in the longer term.

Late on Friday, Fry was quoted as saying by the British news agency Reuters that he is not optimistic about the proposed partial Weigl buyout.

"Since we have been looking for a partner for over a year ... it would seem unlikely that someone appropriate is going to appear in the next 48 hours," he said.

Fry added: "It would appear unlikely that a company the size of Weigl is able to support a competitive formula one team, unless of course there are other partners of which we have not been made aware."

Weigl CEO Franz Josef Weigl on Friday commented that his company's bid is backed by "sponsors and partners", but did not provide further details.

As well as the race for money, Super Aguri also faces a race against the clock to get its cars to Istanbul's Otodrom venue ahead of scrutineering for the Turkish grand prix.

While most other teams headed for the track directly from Barcelona via the Italian port city of Trieste, Super Aguri's cars ominously returned to Honda's Brackley factory, where they remain.
http://www.f1complete.com/content/view/8548/900/
TheStig

[cosworth151]

It turns out that Nick the *rick is behind the efforts to sink Super Aguri.

Sources confirmed on Monday that Super Aguri team members were told by Otodrom officials that they had been instructed by Formula One Management (FOM), Ecclestone's company, to restrict their access to the paddock.

Upon contacting FOM, Super Aguri management were then told that Honda's F1 CEO Nick Fry had instructed Ecclestone that the struggling team would not be getting a green light to compete in Turkey.

Meanwhile, in spite of Fry's rantings, Weigl remains confident that the deal will happen. Weigl CEO Franz Josef Weigl has reassured Honda that his company is offering a long-term solution to Super Aguri's financial woes.

"Our prime mission and goal - with the help of Honda - is to bring Super Aguri to a superior technological level. Our company masters the technical know-how to bring this about," he said.

"I also strongly believe that to remain sound the F1 sport needs private teams and not only manufacturer's works teams.

"The Weigl group's offer is backed by strong business finance partners who along with the Weigl group would like to invest long term and not just short term."

The actions of Honda appear to be based solely on the drubbing the high dollar factory team got last season by it's plucky, upstart understudy.

[Scott]

Let me get this right.  Nick locked out SA from the Turkey paddock (with Bernie's help?  I thought Bernie didn't want to lose one of the teams?)....becauuuuse....he doesn't want Honda to be embarrassed 'when' they vote down the Weigli team takeover?  And SA owes Honda some $100m (that number just keeps coming up in F1, doesn't it?).

I once felt sorry for Honda with all the public laundry they went through with Villeneuve/Pollock/Richards/Button, but I've lost any sympathy when I see the behaviour of their current 'CEO'.

I hope the board in Japan sees the light at the end of the tunnel and figures it out for themselves.  They get two Honda branded teams for the price of one and a half (or less), and now that they have Ross on board, things are only going to get better for both (Ross will use SA for radical strategies, much like he used to use Sauber).  The bloodletting of a bankrupt SA, unemployed Ant and Japan's beloved Sato will not be a good thing for Honda's marketing department.

The smart move is to write off the debt, bring most of the team under Ross's wing (as much as the Concorde Agreement allows) and fire Fry - but not in that order.  Ross could run the team perfectly well...besides, I hear there is a guy who is just hanging out at Ferrari, but not really doing anything.  Maybe he could step into Fry's job.  I think his name is Mr. Todt.  It sure would make Frank happy, eh?