Phoenix Finance
Phoenix Finance Ltd.. , Later DART Grand Prix, was a British company that sought to take part in the Formula 1 World Championship in 2002, but ultimately participated in any races.
History
Basis of the project was the French team Prost Grand Prix, over its assets in November 2001, the insolvency proceedings had been opened. In February 2002, the British company Phoenix Finance Ltd.. , Represented by the investor Charles J. Nickerson, the rights of cheers from the Concorde Agreement, the Prost AP04 - models from 2001 as well as the rights to the planned but never completed model AP05 in fact, for 2002. was a close proximity of the project to the financially troubled team Arrows. So said Tom Walkinshaw, owner of Arrows to want to support Phoenix with the material resources of his company TWR. In the first race of the new season Arrows also did the press work for Phoenix. The role Walkinshaws remained opaque; the speculation in the media were mostly meaning that Nickerson a straw man Walkinshaws is that given the financial problems of his Arrows team wanted to form from the remains of Prost Grand Prix a new team, while Arrows should be resolved by way of insolvency.
Immediately before the Australian Grand Prix 2002 Nickerson announced his intention to run in the beginning with Malaysia to participate in the 2002 Formula 1 season. Before the Grand Prix of Malaysia, the company in DART Grand Prix Ltd. was. renamed; similar names had been used already in the 1980s by a company Tom Walkinshaws.
Phoenix had several containers of equipment transported to Malaysia. The team for this race, the appearance of two Prost AP04 models in view. As for the drive, there were different Information: In places, it was assumed that Phoenix should first be driven by developed by Brian Hart Arrows- Ten cylinders; other sources report that TWR negotiated the terms of going back to the 1998 Cosworth ten-cylinder, which had been used until 2001 by Minardi. As a driver Tarso Marques and Gastón Mazzacane were talking.
The FIA rejected the message of Phoenix Grand Prix just before the Malaysian Grand Prix. She was of the view that neither the Phoenix Prost team 've taken over the enrollment, and not allowed the company therefore participating in the race. Nickerson then tried to reach the participation in the Formula 1 on civil judicial process. An action against the FIA was rejected by the High Court in London in May 2002.
The short-term occurrence of Phoenix became a political issue in particular among small teams. Minardi team boss Paul Stoddart saw the position of his company at risk and announced a lawsuit against Phoenix and Walkinshaw on. This revealed that previously also Minardi had tried to take over the Prost- material, but was failed due to a too low bid. The FIA President Max Mosley described the occurrence of Phoenix Finance in a press statement as a " nuisance. You have wasted our time, and it has cost a fortune the case. "
Ultimately, Phoenix or Dart took no part in the race of the Formula 1 World Championship. Arrows was insolvent in the summer of 2002 and placed a full-on racing. Minardi later took some Arrows vehicles of model year 2002 and tried unsuccessfully to derive your own type vehicles PS04.