HRT sold to a Japanese bank?
The sale reportedly took place on Friday, July 1, and is expected to be made public tomorrow by the Spanish team.
According to the daily AS, José Ramon Carabante is no longer the owner of the HRT team. Indeed, the Hispania Racing Team was reportedly sold on July 1st to the Japanese bank Nomura for an amount of 24 million euros. The sale is expected to be made official by tomorrow, Monday, July 4th, although it seems agreed that the team’s name will remain unchanged, at least for the time being.
Since its inception, the small Spanish team has never seemed spared from economic problems. Thus, in 2010, despite the involvement of Bruno Senna, who was expected to bring in fresh money with his name, the team, still owned by Adrian Campos, struggled to reassure about its chances of actually starting its first Grand Prix. It wasn’t until February 19, 2010, that José Ramòn Carabante, then the majority shareholder, took full control of the team, which would field Karun Chandhok, then Sakon Yamamoto and Christian Klien, in exchange for funding.
Despite an 11th place in the 2010 constructors’ standings, concerns about the economic health of the team based in Murcia remain as the 2011 season approaches. The return of Narain Karthikeyan, supported by Tata, and the presentation of an F111 with no sponsors’ logos are signs of the financial difficulties facing a team that does not hide the fact, even stating that they were looking to recruit a driver who could bring 10 million euros in budget before deciding to sign Vitantonio Liuzzi.
On July 1st, the presumed day of the sale of the team, the latter officially announced the replacement of Narain Karthikeyan by Daniel Ricciardo as part of an agreement with Red Bull, the details of which have yet to be clarified.
The sale of the HRT team would occur just a few days after the rumors surrounding the management of the team. Indeed, Colin Kolles, its current boss, is reportedly leaving while the site motorsport-total.com stated earlier this week that Gary Savage could soon join the technical management of the Spanish team, where he would reunite with Geoff Willis and Jacky Eeckelaert, with whom he collaborated during the BAR era.
Find more information about this sale in the coming days on Motorsinside.com
