2005 LMES Taurus Lola Caterpillar Entry - Help !!!

[johnyardley]

Hi,

Please help - does anyone know if Taurus Sports of Watton, Norfolk will be entering their amazing diesel v10 5.0 vag engined lola ineither 2005 le mans or the lmes races.

I would appreciate your comments

Thank-you

John
johnyardley@bigfoot.com

[jhansen]

I recall someone from the forum posting that they were working for Taurus and preparing the car. But I don't know if there has been a formal announcement for their 2005 program.

[jhansen]

Try this thread:

http://tentenths.com/forum/showthrea...threadid=61945

Or this:

http://tentenths.com/forum/showthrea...threadid=53321


Amazing what you can find if you take the time to look.

[500mm]

Taurus Sports Limited were placed into Administration by a High Court Order on 7th September.

Rothman Pantall, Chartered Accountants, were appointed Administrators by the Court with an objective of realising the maximum value of the company's assets for the creditors.......at present the strategy is to try and sell the enterprise as a going concern, this was confirmed at a creditors' meeting last month.

One can only hope that this strategy succeeds but from what I hear this is not the only racing team in the sportscar arena that is struggling with severe financial difficulties.

[marcush.]

thats bad news ,funny tto hear this happened early in september and it was mentioned anywhere...

[eddsc]

Sometimes a little tact and diplomacy are required. Does everything have to turn up o the web?

[johnyardley]

Regarding Taurus Sports being placed in administration - This must be a terrible xmas present for Ian, Simon and the team and I would like to express my commiserations.
- long may they be raised from the ashes !!

Good luck to them,

John Yardley

[SALEEN S7R]

Originally posted by eddsc
Sometimes a little tact and diplomacy are required. Does everything have to turn up o the web?

Why shoudnt we hear about it? No doubt u have done Malcom, this is what forums are for, to discuss relevent topics. And like it or not the fact Tarus sport have gone into administration is very relevent to most people here as they are of course potential entries for the LMES/ALMS. I dont see anything wrong in what "500mm" posted to be honest, he wasnt bagging the team or saying anything untrue. Just reporting the facts. Thanks 500mm for the information.

[MikeHoyer]

Damn, that's a shame. Good luck to them for the future, I hope we will see them on the grid again soon.

[MulsanneMike]

Tact in the sense that perhaps Taurus were hoping to work their way out of the situation before it went public? It's no stretch that their chances to recover could be dampered if information like that went out into the public domain (even though I imagine it is publicly available information-- but one has to seek it). No sense in sinking one's chances just simply to dully report the "facts".

[SALEEN S7R]

No Mike it is a "fact" that the company has gone into Administration. Thats all 500mm was reporting, he didnt say receivership. The 2 things are entirely differnt, if Tarus didnt want anyone to know Im sure theres a way they could have done it privately. This situation happens all the time in other sports and the fans know about it in those sports too, no big deal. This is a discussion forum to discuss relevent matters, thats all we are doing.

With any luck Tarus can manage somehow to get themselves out of the situation they are in at the moment. Who knows, now that people know they might even get a helping hand from someone, a new investor perhaps. Had nobody found out they might go into receivership and be gone completly...

[eddsc]

Timing can be quite important, you know. Now Taurus doesn't have the chance to let the wider world know at the most suitable time, perhaps when all the new balls are in place. Every team deserves the best chance going.
So are you arguing Chris that we should all post everything we know to be a fact here? What about if there's a legal issue? Still post it? What about C6.R images - post them, just because they're available? It's all about responsibility, isn't it?

[johnyardley]

Hi,
can I agree with both points of view.
I terms of Taurus Supporters we are thinking about the first lmes race at spa (and le mans in june) and booking time off work to go and support them.
In terms of the team they have commitments not just to their lmes project but porshe carrrera cup project called beast, standing for business in the east. So they don't want to let their sponsors down.

However, i think a healthy debate is good, Lets not be too harsh.

Cheers

John
johnyardley@bigfoot.com
N.B does anybody think if they had entered the lg super racing series they would have had more success both in terms of the cars performance but sponsorship support?

[SALEEN S7R]

No Malcom im not saying that at all. the C6.R testing was conducted behind closed doors and was intended on being private so its not the same, when Tarus went into Administration they obviously decided not to hide this fact, as Ive said Im sure if they wanted to there was some way they could have done so. This information has obviously been made available to the public, so therefore it is common knowledge and is therefore allowed to be discussed legally. 500mm when u heard about Tarus going into into administration was the information titled "Private and confidental"? or "Classifed"? If so then obviously nothing should have been said, but otherwise it can be discussed by anyone, any time anywhere.

All im saying Malcom is that we "can" not "should" post everything we know as fact, if what we know is a fact and not a rumor. Thats all 500mm has done, Tarus has gone into administration, as he has said. Fact. Not rumor.

[SALEEN S7R]

Originally posted by johnyardley
N.B does anybody think if they had entered the lg super racing series they would have had more success both in terms of the cars performance but sponsorship support?

Quite possibly yes, its still a fair ammount cheaper to run a GT1/GT2 car than it is to run a LMP 1 machine. Then of course theres the fact that the LG SRW do get a lot more exposure than the LMES has had, sure LMES gets LIVE Motors TV coverage, but that channel unfortunatly isnt as widely available as Eurosport is, yet.

[MulsanneMike]

Originally posted by SALEEN S7R
With any luck Tarus can manage somehow to get themselves out of the situation they are in at the moment. Who knows, now that people know they might even get a helping hand from someone, a new investor perhaps. Had nobody found out they might go into receivership and be gone completly...

And now that people know, it may be even that more difficult for them to get out of their situation. I certainly haven't disputed the facts that they are in a situation, but have you ever thought that since this is just going public Dec 2, that maybe they didn't want it public and that it was supposed to be private? That's my point. Like I said, to simply dully report the facts isn't always the responsible thing to do.

[SALEEN S7R]

Well if they wanted it private Mike why has it gone public? Are u insinuating there might be someone at the team who has leaked this to the press? Perhaps the team has made the information public knowledge from the time they went into administration and its just nobody has picked up on it until now?

[someone]

you can find this info out for free on the uk companies house website.....

http://wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk/ed...9//compdetails

[500mm]

Mike,

the information regarding the company's status is a matter of public record both at the Courts and through the documents filed with the Registrar at Companies House since September.......a statutory requirement under UK law.

All creditors and other interested parties have been kept informed by the Administrators since the commencement of the Administration.

The whole purpose of the Administration is to arrange for the assets of the company to be disposed of in the manner that best meets the requirement of paying the creditors.

After an investigation by the Administrators it was considered that the best option was to try and dispose of the company as a going concern.

The Company's status is common knowledge in the motor racing community and any “White Knight” will have all the facts at their disposal. There is no big secret, this arrangement is similar to the Chapter 11 arrangements used by US companies in difficulties.

Discussion or disclosure on this forum will have no bearing on the eventual outcome.

[SALEEN S7R]

Originally posted by 500mm
Discussion or disclosure on this forum will have no bearing on the eventual outcome.

Agreed 100%. 500mm - please in future dont feel discouraged to post similar pieces of information as and when they become available to u.

[courageous]

Just so people that don't know too much about what happens when a company goes into administration, I work for a company that was placed into such a situation 3 years ago, granted it was a much larger size than Taurus, but we survived & buisiness continued as normal on the ground with NO redundancy or reduction in work (indeed we have actually INCREASED the amount of work we do in the past 2 years).
It would be a shame to see Taurus go (not so much for the diesel, but the way they rang the neck out of the outdated lola)
But the show ain't over 'till the fat lady sings.

[johnyardley]

* agree about reviving the company - lets hope!
* do not agree about disinterest in diesels, diesels are the future - approx 40% of cars driven are diesel - diesel has more potential to develop ?
Some people suffer from dieselphobia, do you ?
Long live Taurus Sports

John

[MulsanneMike]

Originally posted by 500mm
Mike,

Discussion or disclosure on this forum will have no bearing on the eventual outcome.

It was understood to be public...but such that one would have to seek the information. I certainly hope disclosure here would have no bearing, but because it was doesn't mean it is right. I have no motive, do you Brooks?

[johnyardley]

I emailed the editor of diesel car magazine today who recently ran a 3 page article on their le mans entry.
I understand they were a developing a top of the line website that will be interactive and user friendly, including not only full details of the development program, but a special “Diesel Club” for the many who drive diesel vehicles and those who are interested in promoting and discussing the technology of bio-diesel for the road-going car. For a small annual fee, Simon anticipates providing the club members with not only information and a place to “hang out”, but an opportunity to participate in contests and draws for merchandise and perhaps even the chance of a VIP pass to a race as guests of Taurus Motorsports! Future plans may include “diesel wear” that the enthusiast can wear to show his or her allegiance to the technology and the team.

[500mm]

Mike

This thread started with a simple request for information on the status of the Taurus project. The replies that were provided were incorrect and out of date as has been most of the information about Taurus that had been posted on this board since September.

I merely provided the facts that were known by most of the industry but not revealed by those in the know who regularly contribute to this forum.

There is a degree of naivety in thinking that if we ignore the situation it will go away or that by acknowledging the issue that we somehow add to the problem and prevent the solution that we hope for.

The Administration was brought about because the company could no longer trade while in an insolvent position, this would expose the directors to personal liability for corporate debts incurred. Sensibly they took professional advice and thus the Administrators were called in.

As for my position there are no agendas or motives, hidden or otherwise, just a little sadness that an interesting project is unlikely to see completion and also that yet again I have an outstanding receivable