The team were in court today, facing winding up orders thought to be valued at around $115,000. At the High Court today in London the team admitted that they had applied to be place into administration. This effectively means that the team cannot be pursued to owed moneys, securing the team in it’s present position whilst the German deal is being finalised.

One of the issues in this bold plan is that normally it takes a few weeks to appoint an administrator, and if the German deal is completed before that is done then the application is null and void. If, however, the appointment is made sooner, or the deal is not finalised in time, then the team will lose it’s rights to compete in the championship under the Concorde Agreement.

There is also the small point of having to get the application to compete in the 2003 season into the FIA by this Friday - an application that is sure to be carefully examined. Whispers have already started suggesting that a letter has been sent to all the team bosses asking whether Arrows should be allowed to automatically compete in 2003. Those whispers suggest that at least half have already sided against Arrows.

Today’s hearing was adjourned until December. “This request (for administration) was designed to protect the team while it finishes the deal,” a legal source was quoted as saying to Reuters.

On the plus side, we now have official comment from the team about the rescue deal, confirming that Arrows are still fighting despite the lack of news. “Arrows has agreed and signed contracts with German-based investors for the introduction of substantial new equity into the team,” said a statement released by the team. “Until we reach completion, the terms of the deal must remain confidential. However, in view of the various parties involved the process is taking some time to complete.”

“They have bought more than 51 percent of Arrows, but I cannot say how much in total,” Oliver Behring, owner of Asset Trust partners, the holding company of German Grand Prix Racing, was quoted as saying. “In any case, the acquisition comprises and now goes beyond the shareholding of the merchant bank Morgan Grenfell, which is now out of the picture.”

In light of today’s new news it appears that there is still a fair way to go, and no doubt the team staff hanging on out there will be biting their nails (what’s left of them) for the next weeks. In a way, today it is worse - we now know that something is going to happen, but it all hinges on a legal play that might just not go Arrows’ way. Assuming the team come through this unscathed there is still the question of entry into 2003, chassis, engine, sponsors, drivers, etc etc to overcome. It’s not over by a long shot, but we’re moving in the right direction.

P.S.

Grandprix.com are wrong. “Arrows is not, and has never been, a frontline team, nor does it have any decent heritage. It is of no value to the sport and it’s continued existence is just a reminder of what has happened, at a time when it would best for the team to be forgotten,” the site says at http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns07340.html. This site believes that the sport needs teams like Arrows (and Minardi, too) because they inject life into a sport otherwise dominated by ‘frontline’ teams. The 2002 season has been one of the most boring on record, and, if it weren’t for money, we would have seen Arrows mixing it with the top end of the mid field and beyond. Who can forget the British Grand Prix, where Frentzen made an inspired tyre decision and started to obliterate the opposition?

For those of you who do lower yourselves to read Grandprix.com’s article, you might like to know that there is a handy ‘Contact Us’ link on their home page. Perhaps visitors to this site would like to react to their version of events?

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