An interesting item of news this morning.

1. Ginger media ( i.e. Chris Evans ) has been sold to STV by it's backer APAX

2. APAX has 49% stake in PRODRIVE and is now £284 Million richer following 1.

3. Dave Richards has a lot of money following 2 above and want's to return to Formula One

4. Negotiations are taking place for Arrows ( rumoured to be Ken Tyrrel )

5. Have heard on the rumour mill that Prodrive have taken a lot of staff on lately ( judging by ads in AutoSport )

May be nothing in it but there again.

Something I posted a while ago...
Richards sold 49% of Prodrive to Apax for £30m+ (some say up to £37m). Apax had failed in bids for Jordan and possibly Lotus before that.
Prodrive have indicated they may float in 2 to 3 years, but Apax are also willing to invest a further £200m to get into motorsport big time.
F1 has 1 free slot which Toyota will surely take. Interestingly the FIA require a $48m bond from teams which, if you have a calculator, is about £30m with change. Surely a co-incidence?
Prodrive say the cash is for Prodrive branded vehicles and, first off, a venture with Subaru for a muscle car(what next, supersonic?). Great news.
Richards is rumoured to be talking with the Benetton boss about buying into this team and he may fill the gap left if Japan Tobacco pull out (they have a £25m investment).
And as if that were'nt enough, Pall Mall Capital Partners advised on the Prodrive deal and ... they are run by the ex Lola F1 family.
F1 here we go?

ChrisE = Chris Evans ??? http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/wink.gif

Only kidding.

Hopefully whatever Prodrive do, they will keep the Rally concern going for many years.