BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — The Super Aguri team is on the brink of securing financial aid from Weigl, an automotive company based in Germany. But Nick Fry, CEO of Honda’s F-1 team, is not convinced it will be enough to save Super Aguri from folding.
“We are happy that we have been able to resurrect talks between Super Aguri F-1 Team and Franz Weigl at such short notice and to have the opportunity of presenting the Weigl Group to the Honda Board once again,” team principal Aguri Suzuki said in a statement May 2. “Such a partnership as the one proposed by Weigl Group will allow us to race for the foreseeable future, and I am hopeful that all parties will find the Group’s offer a realistic package.”
The team has desperately been seeking a new owner since the Magma Group withdrew its offer, but Weigl has pledged its backing.
“We would like to express sincere support for the team’s participation in the F-1 World Championship and the Group’s, together with its sponsors and partners, earnest intention to provide ongoing investment to secure the team’s future,” said CEO Franz-Josef Weigl.
Fry doesn’t think the Weigl Group has the financial clout to save the team, and Honda has reached the limit of its support.
“I am aware that Aguri Suzuki is continuing to look for an investor and we wish him well,” Fry told Reuters. “Since we have been looking for a partner for more than a year, unfortunately, it would seem unlikely that someone appropriate is going to appear in the next 48 hours.
“It would appear unlikely that a company the size of Weigl is able to support a competitive F-1 team, unless of course there are other partners of which we have not been made aware.”
Weigl and Suzuki were scheduled to meet with Honda this week to get final approval for the deal.
Despite Fry’s comments, Weigl was confident that Honda would support the offer.
Yet the Super Aguri’s transporters were denied access to the paddock in Turkey reportedly because Fry said the team would not be racing.