Arrows statement leaves unanswered questions

Questions
By Huw Alban
July 17 2002

In a rare move the OrangeArrows team has attempted to quell media speculation with regard to the teams agreement with Cosworth. The team has issued a brief statement saying that Cosworth has been paid, and that this has nothing to do with the team’s participation in the French Grand Prix.

The official statement reads, “Arrows would like to clarify that, contrary to today’s press reports, our participation in the French Grand Prix has nothing to do with engine supply. All payments to Cosworth Racing are up to date and, as stated before, the terms of the agreement are confidential. The issues we have are nothing to do with Cosworth, they are to do with one of our shareholders. We are still in discussions and, as we said yesterday, will do all in our power to compete this weekend.”

So the team have their engines for this weekend, and presumably will make the scrutineering deadline tomorrow. What is unclear is that Arrows has still not committed to racing at Magny-Cours and, as such, hasn’t even published a pre-race preview for the race this weekend.

In this statement the team indicate that there is an issue with a shareholder, presumably Morgan Grenfell who recently blocked a move by the team to sell to a new owner. How this actually stops the team from racing is not known, unless it is a ploy by Tom Walkinshaw to force a settlement. As seems to be the case at the moment, all will become clear throughout the course of the weekend.