Phoenix Finance
Phoenix Finance Ltd. , later DART Grand Prix , was a British company that tried to take part in the 2002 Formula 1 World Championship , but ultimately did not take part in any race.
history
The basis of the project was the French racing team Prost Grand Prix , whose assets had been opened for insolvency in November 2001. In February 2002 the British Phoenix Finance Ltd., represented by the investor Charles J. Nickerson , took over the rights from Prost from the Concorde Agreement , the Prost AP04 models from 2001 as well as the rights to the planned but no longer realized model AP05 for 2002. In fact, the project was very close to the financially troubled Arrows Team . So said Tom Walkinshaw , owner of Arrows, Phoenix with the material resources of his company TWR to want to support. In the first races of the new season, Arrows also did the press work for Phoenix. Walkinshaw's role remained obscure; the speculation in the media was mainly that Nickerson was a straw man Walkinshaws, who, in view of the financial problems of his Arrows team, wanted to form a new racing team from the remains of Prost Grand Prix, while Arrows should be dissolved by way of bankruptcy.
Immediately before the 2002 Australian Grand Prix , Nickerson announced that he would participate in the 2002 Formula 1 season starting with the race in Malaysia . Before the Malaysian Grand Prix, the company was named DART Grand Prix Ltd. renamed; a similar name had already been used by a Tom Walkinshaw company in the 1980s.
Phoenix had several containers with equipment transported to Malaysia. The team announced the appearance of two Prost AP04 models for this race. With regard to the drive, there were different details: In places it was assumed that Phoenix should initially be driven by the Arrows ten-cylinder developed by Brian Hart ; Other sources report that TWR for the purchase of returning to 1998 Cosworth negotiated -Zehnzylinder, which until 2001 from Minardi had been used. Tarso Marques and Gastón Mazzacane were discussed as drivers .
The FIA declined to report the Phoenix Grand Prix just before the Malaysian Grand Prix. She believed that Phoenix had neither taken over the Prost team nor its enrollment and therefore did not allow the company to participate in the race. Nickerson then tried to obtain participation in Formula 1 through civil courts. A lawsuit against the FIA was dismissed by the High Court in London in May 2002.
The short-term appearance of Phoenix became a political issue, especially among the small teams. Minardi's team boss Paul Stoddart saw the position of his company in jeopardy and announced a lawsuit against Phoenix and Walkinshaw. It turned out that Minardi had previously tried to take over the Prost material, but had failed because of an insufficient bid. FIA President Max Mosley described Phoenix Finance's appearance in a press release as “a nuisance. They wasted our time and the case cost them a fortune ”.
Ultimately, Phoenix and Dart did not take part in any Formula 1 World Championship races. Arrows was insolvent in the summer of 2002 and stopped racing. Minardi later took over some Arrows vehicles of the 2002 model year and tried unsuccessfully to derive their own PS04 vehicles from them .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Motorsport aktuell, issue 11/2002, p. 4
- ↑ Motorsport aktuell, issue 13/2002, p. 5
- ↑ On the whole: cf. Motorsport aktuell, issue 13/2002, p. 4
- ↑ Reproduction of the FIA decision in Motorsport aktuell issue 13/2002, p. 5
- ↑ a b Motorsport aktuell, issue 23/2002, p. 20
- ↑ Motorsport aktuell, issue 11/2002, p. 5