Is Hispania Racing up for sale? Spanish newspaper AS believe so and report that owner Jose Ramón Carabante has no options but to sell the team and cut his losses.
Not much has gone right for the the Spanish outfit which struggled from start to finish in its maiden year, narrowly making the first race in Bahrain.
A lack of investment and funds led to the team using the same spec car throughout the entire year, even introducing different pay-drivers to fund the team.
Even the introduction of wealthy businessman Juan Villalonga has seemingly solved very little as their new chassis and aerodynamics partner, Toyota Motorsport GmbH, pulled out of a supply deal due to late payments.
The newspaper also reports that the team has contacted several U.S. and South American investors to try and prop up its 2011 involvement, however none of these deals are yet to materialise.
“So now Hispania is without a car, drivers, venue and sponsors. They only have Cosworth engines,” reports AS.
It will be difficult to sell the team with just a handful of months until the 2011 season as their current chassis will likely fall foul of the 107% qualifying rule. However, companies such as Epsilon Euskadi and Lola, both of which applied for 2010 but failed, may have the technical abilities to update the current car and make it competitive enough to compete.
Update: A Hispania spokesperson has told Reuters that the team isn’t up for sale, and Carabante is working hard for the 2011 season.
“The team is not on sale, we are working hard for 2011,” she said.
“Carabante is working on getting sponsors and investors. One Spanish group is interested in joining the team but things are not so easy nowadays in the world.”
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