The widely revered boss of Prodrive, David Richards, told reporters this weekend that he is seriously considering a bid to take control of Honda’s now defunct Formula One team. Richards has flown to Kuwait to discuss a potential deal with his business partners in the region, saying “there are a group of people in the Middle East who want to support a Formula One entry for me and have been very specific about it for a year now.”

Prodrive’s intentions are serious, and although Richards is staying very cautious about the prospect of a deal, he has emerged as the man most likely to save HondaF1.

This is great news for supporters of the team because the Japanese board of directors will supposedly cease all funding with immediate effect if no buyer is found before Christmas. There’s little doubting what Ross Brawn has asked Santa for this year.

There are a number of reasons why Prodrive would be a logical company to take over Honda’s Grand Prix assets and personnel.

The first is that Dave Richards has run the team before, and did so quite successfully. He already knows the people, how they operate, and what they have to operate with. Prodrive took control of BAR in 2002 thanks to Richard’s close connections with British American Tobacco. Under his guidance the team moved up from eighth to second in the Constructors Championship, and although they didn’t win a race in 2004 it was by far and away their best season.

It was also Dave’s last with the team. When Honda increased their stake in BAR they decided to oust Prodrive’s management and replace them with Nick Fry.

Didn’t that work out well.

If Dave Richards does end up at the helm of Honda once again, he won’t be going in cold.

Regardless of Prodrive’s previous history at Brackley, a deal would work out nicely for all concerned because Richard’s company is more than capable of supporting and building the team.

Prodrive’s website boasts that “no other business is involved in so many top level international motorsport series” and they’re right to make that claim. They have built racing cars for Subaru, Aston Martin, Ford, Porsche, and BMW and have won almost everything they’ve contested. Interestingly, Prodrive has also worked with Honda in the past and managed their BTCC program for a couple of years.

Prodrive has enjoyed monumental success on the international rally scene, and has claimed championships in touring cars, and class victories at Le Mans.

They are a racing organisation that knows how to win.

Prodrive is rather interesting since the organisation has never built its own car, but simply runs customer outfits for other manufacturers. It is that very philosophy that originally lured them towards Formula One two years ago.

In 2006 the FIA announced that customer cars would be legal once again in F1, and Prodrive jumped at the opportunity to get involved. They could apply their highly successful business model to a Formula One team and would be able to run competitively on a profitable budget.

The timing just wasn’t right though because the FIA back-flipped on customer cars and, as a result, Prodrive failed to secure the support they needed to leap into F1.

Until now.

Perhaps the best thing about the possibility of Prodrive entering F1 is that David Richards also owns Aston Martin, or at least a part of it.

An Aston Martin Formula One team would be something to get very excited about because it would bring one of the great names of motoring into Grand Prix racing.

Jaguar’s promise to fill the grandstands of Silverstone with British racing green was never fulfilled, but you would expect that Aston Martin would have a far greater chance of instilling more national pride into the sport. The awesome cars that Aston is producing at the moment have already given the manufacturer a cult following that Jaguar never enjoyed. That, combined with Jenson Button’s popularity, would give the team an unprecedented profile in the sport.

Aston Martin is similar to Ferrari in that its brand represents performance and luxury, something many companies would love to be associated with. I do not think that sponsorship would be a major problem should they find themselves on the F1 grid.

The famous British marque has been in Formula One before, and they’d likely do much better with Prodrive than they did fifty years ago.

Aston Martin enjoyed huge success in sportscar racing throughout the fifties, and thought they would try to do the same in F1. They spent years preparing for their Grand Prix campaign in 1959 but had actually spent so long building and testing their car before its debut that by the time it was ready to race it was already a few years old. This was at the start of the rear engined era and the progress of technology was fierce, which meant Aston Martin ended up on the back foot from the very start.

They only entered four races in their first season and did not score any constructors points. Their car simply wasn’t up to scratch.

Aston Martin’s second year in the sport was no better, and the F1 programme was quickly disbanded to restore a focus on sportscar racing. That was a shame because the DBR4 was quite possibly the most attractive Formula One car ever built.

Richards bought Aston Martin in 2007 and did so separate to his involvement with Prodrive. The two companies aren’t totally joined at the hip, they just happen to be part owned by the same guy, so if Prodrive does enter F1 it does not mean that Aston Martin will necessarily follow.

Richards has already said that an Aston Martin Grand Prix team is unlikely in the near future because “there is a long way to go before an involvement in F1 could benefit the Aston Martin brand.”

However, Prodrive is a company that does things for the passion of racing, such as running their cars at Le Mans this year in the old Gulf Oil colours for the sake of sentimentality. If that passion is harnessed into creating the ultimate British Grand Prix team, Aston Martin might just line up on the F1 grid.

That is of course assuming Prodrive end up buying Honda’s F1 team in the first place, which is a very long way from being certain.

Dave Richards has noted the hurdles he faces saying “When you sit down in the cold light of day and realise the liability you would be taking on, and the huge restructuring of staff and resources that will be needed, investors will have to think long and hard before taking a punt. You will have to bridge a big gap in finance, probably for three years, before balancing the accounts. I have not ruled out getting back into Formula One. It’s something I am very interested to do, but the big question remains. Is it too big a challenge at this moment in time? That’s what I need to determine.”

Ultimately it will come down to money. Does Prodrive have enough of it, and is there someone else out there with more? There have been rumours that another manufacturer like Peugeot or Hyundai could use Honda’s exit as an opportunity to enter F1, or that an existing GP2 team could make the step up instead. There is also talk of various billionaires lining up to place a bid, and even the suggestion that Vijay Mallya could buy a second Grand Prix franchise. There are all sorts of possibilities at the moment, and Prodrive is just one of them.

More than a few people will be hoping that Prodrive is successful in its attempt to break into Formula One. Their track record indicates they would be a valuable addition to the sport.

The death of one iconic F1 team will hopefully be the start of another.

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