Fresh F1

David Richard’s bid for Aston Martin has been successful, sources report. It is expected that he makes the announcement in Geneva tomorrow. All reports to date indicated Richards hasn’t linked Prodrive in this business. One might ask oneself whether his expected F1 debut in 2008 won’t be under the name of Aston Martin. Even though Prodrive and Aston Martin are not connected to the point, David Richards could make the decision to brand the 2008 Prodrive car or at least its engine under the name of Aston Martin. It would be a marketing tool that would benefit both Prodrive and Aston Martin.

The main challenge would be to make the company supplying Prodrive’s 2008 customer chassis agree with the rebranding process. They might not want to do that as it would be a support to a rival car company. If Prodrive decided to start its own chassis design program, which it intends to do anyway eventually, then, with the support of Cosworth they might pull off the trick and we could see `Aston Martin` entering F1 next year. This would undoubtedly be supported by Aston Martin’s manager Ulrich Bez, who had connections with F1 in the past. It will all go down to money, and David Richards’ alliance with Naeem Capital, a privileged investment firm in the Middle East.

Source :Grandprix.com

~ by sorind on March 8, 2007.