The continuing problems of A1GP are nearing an end with insolvency chiefs from Bridge Business Recovery being appointed as liquidators of A1GP’s parent company.
However the firm says it is extremely confident of finding a buyer for the A1 Grand Prix series by selling the assets as a whole package.
Tony Murphy and James Bradney have started selling the assets of the company’s operation ideally with a view of the buyer re-launching the A1 Grand Prix series in some form in the near future.
Assets, some listed below, include the intellectual property Rights to the A1 Grand Prix series logos and brands.
Grand Prix race cars powered By Ferrari
•Twenty Ferrari engined single seat race cars, built in 2008 based on the F2004 Formula One Ferrari designed by Rory Byrne, Ross Brawn and Aldo Costa.
•Spare engines, original body moulds, wind tunnel models and other miscellaneous spare parts.Lola-Zytek Grand Prix race cars
•Twelve single seat race cars, built 2005.
•Numerous spare parts.Maserati Quattroporte Sport GT Semi-Auto 4 Door and Ferrari 599GTB Semi-Auto Coupe safety and medical cars.
Miscellaneous support equipment including
•25 team shacks, tyre shack, spares shack, 80 flight cases, pit perches and car racks
•Wheels, tyres, support and transport racks
Murphy said:”Although it is still early days we are highly confident that a buyer can be found for the company’s assets and with it the prospect of the A1 Grand Prix series returning to our TV screens at some point in the near future. ”
A1 Grand Prix collapsed last summer following a winding Up order being made in the High Court against the operating company, which was subsequently placed into administration in October.
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I believe there were originally around 50 Lola chassis (tubs) built. Many have since been sold off and modified for other series such as AutoGP, Formula Nippon etc while others have become unusable so the 12 is all that is left with A1GP. Whether they may or may not be useable is another matter. Some teams like Ireland and Malaysia and probably others had their tubs replaced in season 3 because they were flexing beyond spec.
I think the only asset of value in the whole thing now is some of the commercial rights ie. the ‘nation vs nation’ concept.. maybe the “A1GP – World Cup of Motorsport” branding package as well. I don’t think there is any potential value in the fleet of cars as I think there will be no tech support for them and a new chassis and engine package would have to be created from scratch.
hold on 12 lola cars????? weren’t there 24 to start with? and now only 20 ferrari powered cars? did they give some away? it certainly is some mess but like all mess it can be cleaned away
I’m afraid the latest news now emerging is very discouraging. The combined losses of all the companies are now over $300 million!!! Arrest warrants for fraud are coming out for TT and Paul Cherry and allegedly this looks like one huge money laundering operation. To get the cars back going again and get everything sorted out is going to cost in excess of $54 million – so that is no reasonably sensible price. The administrators now have very very good evidence as to what has been going on and I am sure they will reveal that as and when. There is a huge amount still to do and I’m afraid a lot of big names that are going to topple. The only person or persons that are going to buy this series are unfortunately people that don’t know what they are doing and have been locked in a darkened room for the last 12 months with money that they want to throw away. This is a very very sad day.
There are no Sheikhs from India. Only in the middle east. The Sheikh left A1GP in season 2 and has had nothing to do with the series since. Great personality for the series nonetheless. I think A1GP will come back eventually but not this year. Everyone admits it was a brilliant concept but thanks to the huge mess left behind, quite a number of things need to happen for it to rise from the ashes. There certainly are parties that want to revive it properly. If it does comeback you can bet it will be much sounder in its fundamentals. So best to be patient let it run its course
I hope and pray that A1 can make a comeback. What happened to the first guy who kinda started the whole thing ? I think he was an indian sheik or at least a sheik`s son, he financed the start of the series.We have`nt heard anything from him.PLEASE LET A1 COME BACK ! ! !
good luck to us all,
Barry Theron
This series has great international appeal. Be incredible to see it come back. Yes F1 is back but it is sooooo boring. A1 had it all. Needed proper exposure, good TV coverage which is free to air, with good quality merchandise. Has to be a Winner. Fingers and toes crossed.
I can’t wait for A1GP to be back, I was at all the races in South Africa. I also hope for the screaming engines to come back, the Lola-Zytek combination was great, even thought the cars looked odd to most, they were unique, and bring back a lot of memories now. It’s interesting that they still have 12 Lolas, I thought Auto GP bought them all, maybe there were lots of spare ones? or Auto GP built some new ones?
It would be great to think something could come out of this. If someone was to buy it though, they are going to have one hell of a job finding backers for it. Not only teams and suppliers but also overseas as well. Maybe a change of name might help. I don’t think Australia would be too over welcome for instance. It will take a very brave individual or consortium. Fingers crossed. Meanwhile, putting TT away inside for fraud might go some way towards appeasing everyone. I understand that The Australian Government are just about to issue an International arrest warrant. Should be interesting.
i have the exact same feelings towards this searies, more hadcore then f1 in these sense that it is a drivers searies. ive been to all the a1 brans hatch races from start to finish, and have seen a1 born and now die, i think a phenoix series would be awsome, and i think it has a big enough fan base to servive
Hi, I’m a big fan of A1GP and have been to two races live. Both at Brands, one in 2007 the other in 2009. It’s a great series that deserves to keep going in my opinion and I really hope it comes back. I thought the Sky tv coverage was very good too and hope that Sky would agian have the coverage in future. I fully back over A1GP over F1 all day long. It has to be kept in the same format as before, but I would like to see the cars a bit faster and with a more screeching sound. It’s the fact every driver is in the same car that makes the series better than F1 for me, that’s real racing.
Best Regards
Mark Crossland