Bye bye BRAND?

[Lisboa]

Rumors that Brand Motorsport will stop F.3000 program.
Anybody knows anything about this (probably true) story?

[Conrod]

Brand Motorsports have confirmed that 2003's racing programme will include two Rounds of the 2003 CART FedEx Championship. Brand will use these European races as preparation for a full seasons campaign in the 2004 North American Indy Racing League.
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Maybe they are concentrating on this :-)

[Sato san]

i think there is also a dispute going on with Astromega ?

Brand dont seem to be happy bunnys !

[jondownunder]

This rumour (which Lisboa mentions) was posted on page 3 of the Minassian thread earlier:

http://tentenths.com/forum/showthrea...5&pagenumber=3

So is there any truth to this or is it just more paddock sniping after Martin Kendrick posted his comments here? What is the alleged dispute with Astromega about?

[Russfeld]

Im almost certain they arent running Brands.

[pit/boy]

Good

[sceptic]

Astromega put their cars and equipment up for sale before the start of the season, as they couldn't find a driver with enough sponsorship for the second car.

Brand agreed to buy the cars, and paid the money to Astromega.

Brand then lined up a sponsor for both their teams.

Then Astromega sent the money back to Brand and said they were keeping the cars.

Brand's sponsor pulled out because that deal was dependent on their being four cars. Brand also protested to the FIA that Astromega couldn't enter the cars itself as the deadline for entries to the championship had passed, and Astromega had not paid the entry fee before the deadline.

Martin Kendrick told Autosport that the chances of Brand completing the season were now 50/50.

...I think we'll probably see them at Barcelona - assuming there are enough drivers.

[DNQ]

Their CART program is dead I imagine, no mention of it since the initial announcement...

[jondownunder]

Originally posted by sceptic
Astromega put their cars and equipment up for sale before the start of the season, as they couldn't find a driver with enough sponsorship for the second car.

Brand agreed to buy the cars, and paid the money to Astromega.

Brand then lined up a sponsor for both their teams.

Then Astromega sent the money back to Brand and said they were keeping the cars.

Brand's sponsor pulled out because that deal was dependent on their being four cars. Brand also protested to the FIA that Astromega couldn't enter the cars itself as the deadline for entries to the championship had passed, and Astromega had not paid the entry fee before the deadline.

Martin Kendrick told Autosport that the chances of Brand completing the season were now 50/50.

...I think we'll probably see them at Barcelona - assuming there are enough drivers.

Thanks for all the info, sceptic

[BootsOntheSide]

Brand are starting to make Andrea Moda look like the epitome of professionalism. Surely they could've ran an extra 2 cars themselves? Or negotiated with the sponsor to simply recieve less cash because there were only 2 cars? They seem to have a reasonable case agaisnt Astromega, maybe this can be pursued.

[jondownunder]

I seem to remember the original intention was to run the two teams of 2 cars, both with a separate title sponsor (a bit like Coloni running Red Bull Jr as well as their own team). So surely they would have lined up different sponsors for each of the squads, not one sponsor for all four cars?

[Kicking-back]

Some people here are almost making out they hope Brand goes away.

Whatever the whys or wherefores of the situation, it would be best if they do the whole F3000 season to ensure twenty cars on the grid.

Less than that, things begin to look a bit thin.

[cds_uk]

I`m with Kicking-back on this, does it really matter if people like Brand or not, let`s hope they sort out the mess with Astromega and stay for the rest of the season, has anyone heard anything about who might replace Minassian?

[ensign14]

Brand has a decent enough record in the lower formulae, but there seem to be severe problems with F3000 in general - the minted drivers seem to be headed for Dallara Nissan.

[Russfeld]

Id never even heard of Brand before F3000, what have they done?

[lager]

Easy answer to that one 'Nothing' they are a bunch of dreamers who have no idea of how hard it is to run a successful pro- race team.

Sorry but the earlier comparison to Andrea-Moda was spot on.

TTFN

[Marcel ten Caat]

they run an old F3000 car in the EuroBOSS series and decided to planned into F3000 with 2 teams, big sponsors and a CART/IRL campaign later on.

For now they have 1 team, 1 driver and no sponsors.

[DanFlag]

Originally posted by sceptic
...I think we'll probably see them at Barcelona - assuming there are enough drivers.

I sure hope they will be there, with two cars!!

[bingman]

Originally posted by lager
Easy answer to that one 'Nothing' they are a bunch of dreamers who have no idea of how hard it is to run a successful pro- race team.

Sorry but the earlier comparison to Andrea-Moda was spot on.

TTFN

well thats better than sitting on your arse and saying "i could have done that if i tried".

your a bit of a wench if your slamming people for trying

[jondownunder]

Originally posted by bingman
well thats better than sitting on your arse and saying "i could have done that if i tried".

Well said.

[av8rirl]

Agreed

[DanFlag]

BRAND WITHDRAWS TEAM FROM FIA F3000 CHAMPIONSHIP!

Swindon , UK , Friday 25th April 2003 : Martin Kendrick, Team Principal of Brand Motorsports, has today announced that the team will not participate in the remainder of the FIA F3000 2003 championship.

Martin Kendrick stated “that the Brand F3000 team was put together to challenge and win the F3000 championship in it’s first year and that it had been a hard and soul- searching decision to withdraw. The F3000 championship has huge potential and given some reform could continue to be at the upper end of worId motorsport”.

Kendrick went on to say that he was concerned about motor racing in general. “This year there have been factors outside of the sport which have had influence such as the war in Iraq and now the additional factor of the SARS virus but that the root of the problems lie within. From F3 to Euro and FIA F3000, Nissan World Series, Nippon and F1 the sport is experiencing issues the likes of which it has never seen before in it’s history. Motor sport is making the mistake that many industries do when they become successful and that is forgetting who is the real customer is and failing to generate value for them and their sponsors or business partners. Teams can only reap the benefits for so long before there is nothing left in the pot. You have to give some returns otherwise you get the situation as now where drivers have no budgets, teams struggle to find sponsors and championships fail through lack of talented drivers.”

Brand Motorsports was founded on the same business ethics as other companies in the Brand Group and it tried to go forward in an honest, ethical and professional manner and with a fundamental goal of generating sponsorship value. It had ambitious marketing plans designed to change the face of the F3000 championship and make it approachable and accessible. It soon became clear that these ideals did not fit well at this level of the sport with much double-dealing and corruption being commonplace in driver management and resulting in the team’s decision to raise sponsorship on a team basis and take zero budget drivers. Brand was totally committed to the championship and did everything it could to try and foster success.

When it became common knowledge that Astromega was being sold for spares to another F3000 team, Brand discussed the matter with other teams and stepped in to purchase the cars and spares to keep them in the championship. The team had a four-car sponsorship package on the table and Robbie Kerr lined up for the vacant seat. The ethics of some in this championship then became clear for all to see as the goods were inspected, a price was agreed, Astromega sent over the bank details and Brand Motorsports, having confirmed again the details, wired the funds. Astromega then rang to confirm receipt of the funds and with the contract being complete, they said that they were happy for everything to be collected. Shortly later Brand received a call to say Astromega would not allow collection even though Astromega had the money and the deal was done. Brand then engaged lawyers and the matter is now proceeding through the extended legal processes that surround international transactions. Astromega subsequently returned the money but Brand is significantly out of pocket through transaction charges and legal fees. Kendrick said that he found it incomprehensible that one team could treat another in this way. The FIA then indirectly added to the problem by affording Astromega an illegal entry into the championship as the entry contravened rule 32 of the FIA sporting regulations and despite seven approaches to the FIA, they did not give any indication as to why this rule was being ignored. The FIA also compromised Brand’s attempt to purchase Nordic earlier in the year when they failed to adequately clarify critical questions raised by the team.

Martin Kendrick said that he had informed the FIA, FOM and selected teams in the championship prior to the Imola race that if Astromega were allowed to race in contradiction to rule 32, then he would strongly consider pulling the team. Kendrick said that the Minassian situation gave him further issues to consider before making this decision and that he was very disappointed that he afforded him so much loyalty prior to the season and was rewarded by malicious comments and a driving performance at Imola so full of mistakes that one USA commentator stated he thought Minassian had given up. “This is not the performance I expected from an experienced and professional driver and I wish I had given the seat to someone more genuine and deserving such as Robbie Kerr or Gimmi Bruni”.

Martin Kendrick went on to say “there are some great guys in F3000, Coloni, Arden, Durango, BCN and the guys at Zytek and I wish them the very best for the rest of the season. I feel very bad that this has left Gary Paffett without a drive. Gary is a brilliant guy with a superb personality and thinks about his colleagues before himself. If Jaguar F1 make a driver change after the next race, I hope they will seriously consider Gary for that seat, he would deliver immediately and exceed all their expectations”. There are some teams in this industry who share the same ethics as us like Manor Motorsport in the UK and Kendrick says he is going to spend the near term looking to see how he can work with such teams to help young talented drivers achieve the recognition they so badly need.

“The price of having principles can be high and I am sorry we will not be taking part in the rest of this years championship”.