Discussion
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72038
Mark Smith to be technical director - does that simply involve peeling off the Vodafone decals?
Mallya to assume more control of the team too....
Kolles off to be the new face of Burberry....
Scuffers said:
must say I am supprised at this.....
It would seem to fit with the tone of the interview here: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/71823. That piece seemed to be setting the scene for a showdown between Mallya and those in his team trying to develop everything in-house on a small budget. Presumably Gascoigne couldn't see a place for himself in such a set-up.
Mallya said : "I would like to thank Colin Kolles for his tireless efforts in keeping such a small team alive and to Mike Gascoyne for bringing his wealth of technical expertise. Both have played an instrumental part in making the team what it is today."
...a team contantly at the back of the grid, scoring 0 points in the entire season.
...a team contantly at the back of the grid, scoring 0 points in the entire season.
robmug said:
How does he get these jobs when he has little success to show for it?
Eh?He designed the Jordan EJ199 that won two grand pix in 1999 (and before that developed Gary Anderson's EJ198 into a competitive car in the latter half of the 1998 season). He turned around Benetton's dismal fortunes after their appaling 2001/02 seasons, designing the car that won in Hungary 2003 and putting in place the design structure that ultimately won Alonso two World Championships in 05/06.
At Toyota his hands were tied by the fact that every design decision had to be sent to the Toyota board in Japan for approval. Even with these constraints he managed to get toyota to the point where they turned in some repectable performances - performances that dropped off again after he was sacked for a "difference of opinion".
Spyker / Force India are about the only team(s) that qualify your remark about little success, being back of the grid teams. However, the Force India at the beginning of this season was generally acknowledged to be about a second a lap faster than the Spyker it replaced.
Honda should make a bid for him. However, given that they have the same organisational problems as Toyota (everything has to be approved by the Honda board in Japan) he would be very unlikely to take up any offer from them, were one to be made.
Edited by Teppic on Sunday 9th November 22:45
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