Supercar maker bids for F1 team
Spyker and Midland to get it together?
 Spyker at Le Mans 2006 |
Dutch supercar maker is bidding to buy the Midlands F1 team. The two companies have issued the following statement:
"In reaction to various rumours in the press, Spyker Cars N.V. and the M-Consortium headed by Michiel Mol make the following statement:
"Spyker Cars NV and the M-Consortium confirm that currently negotiations are taking place with the owner of Midland F1 with respect to a possible acquisition by Spyker of the Midland F1 team. The outcome of the negotiations is still depending on a number of conditions and circumstances.
"In the event that such acquisition would materialise, Spyker will consider a share issue to (partially) finance the transaction. M-Consortium has expressed its willingness to subscribe to this issue for a large part.
"At the appropriate time further announcements will be made. In any event the acquisition will be subject to Spyker Shareholders' and Supervisory Board approval."
Spyker has moving further towards motor racing in reecent years, including racing at Le Mans this year. That said, it's a surprising move for so small a company but shows huge ambition. It remains to be seen how Spyker manages in the F1 hothouse, as consistently good results are very hard to achieve no matter how big your budget, as the likes of Toyota, Honda and BMW have discovered.
We wish Spyker well and look forward to seeing some Spyker design touches on near-identical F1 cars...
See in my thread about this from earlier this week, last post - www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=302049&f=42&h=0
To add the Spyker-name can include carmaking or carrelated stuff interesting. Holland has a lot of F1 fans, so for investors it is has a commercial potential. F1 is international though, and we have 2 drivers doing reasonable well. I dunno if the two have to be the pick for the team though . . . I'd spread it a bit
As a factory Spyker does well, they about doubled production to an estimated 100 cars for this year.
There could be another plan: Mol buying Spyker . . . An F1 team (Midlands, Albers is already in) is worth about twice as much as Spyker.
Audi and F1
See in my thread about this from earlier this week, last post - www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=302049&f=42&h=0
Thanks.
I'd be surprised if Audi don't appear somewhere along the line. After all they supply them engines already and Audi's biggest bugbear with F1 has been the cost. Homologated engines arriving next year, Spyker buying Midland for next year and Midland just lost Toyota engines for next year.
Coincidence, I think not...
PS: If anyone cares the other halfs name is Spijker... Do a search!
As for Spyker, I see a manufacturer struggling on the edge of mainstream desperately looking for recognition, and F1 would probably boast they're image somewhat. This is the company that keeps showing its kit at motorshows and keeps having heaps of people go 'Who?' Peking to Paris Concept was fantastic in my opinion, though the anti-4wd set will no doubt question my taste.
If anything they want to make it to at least Pagani status, but I'm guessing they seek recognition and therefore can expand they're market size and then take advantage of my favourite business situation, my old friend economies of scale.
ALi.
Exactly! This is the last thing the Midland F1 team needs. Spyker are tiny and have NO experience at this level. This is financial suicide. If Toyota, Honda and BMW, with all their financial might, what chance Spyker? This will only serve to damage their repuation by letting the world see that they are tail-end charlies. How can this help their road cars????
This Spyker thing is just one big retro ego trip of its chairman who clearly thinks he is David Brown in the fifties. How many cars have they build to date? How many races have they lost? How much money did the loose? It will come to nothing.
Exactly! This is the last thing the Midland F1 team needs. Spyker are tiny and have NO experience at this level. This is financial suicide. If Toyota, Honda and BMW, with all their financial might, what chance Spyker? This will only serve to damage their repuation by letting the world see that they are tail-end charlies. How can this help their road cars????
Since when did Alex Schnaider have any experience of F1? Did that stop him?
One thing certain in all motorsport. Somebody has to come last. And it's how they do it that matters, and whether they enjoyed themselves doing it. If you don't enjoy it, it's time to leave the party! And I believe that Mr Schnaider called for his taxi long ago.
Spyker are tiny and have NO experience at this level.
But when a team is bought out they don't replace the people working there. There are people working at Midland who were there from the Jordan days and others from other teams so the experience is already there, they are just providing the financial stability which will be cheaper to do using the new regulations and onwards which are designed to allow even new teams to enter with smaller budgets.
As to why they are doing it :-
"The company sells 40% of the cars in America, 27% in Europe but only 14% in both the Middle East and in China. Thus promoting sales in these regions (the classic F1 new markets) is a key goal for the company. Spyker chairman Victor Muller says that F1 is now a much more interesting business because of the recent financial settlements and the new rules in 2008 as there will be more money available to the teams from TV rights and the teams will be able to buy cars and engines."
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