A1 Grand Prix Hot News

Tires ‘on way’; A1GP seeks court reprieve

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MORE than 500 tires are en route to Australia and two new A1GP teams are set to line up on the grid at this month's SuperGP, according to event organizers.

Having overcome a series of hurdles to the race making the starting grid, series bosses have told The Bulletin that all of its race gear is on its way or about to be shipped to Australia.

A1 general manager Paul Cherry said seven sets of tires for each of the 20 teams lining up for the Gold Coast SuperGP were already headed our way.

"The tires are already on their way, they are coming directly from France," said Mr. Cherry from London.

"And I've just been out at Stansted Airport where half of our equipment is now in containers ready to be sent to the Gold Coast.

"We expect the other half to be delivered today or tomorrow."

It is understood teams from Spain and Russia will be the newest additions to the series, which kicks off on the Gold Coast on October 22.

Overnight, A1GP was expected to petition the High Court to take its collapsed company A1 Grand Prix Operations Ltd out of receivership.

The company, which is a subsidiary to A1 Holdings Ltd, was placed in receivership on June 24, owing millions to its creditors.

Consequently, freight company DOT has been holding all the A1 cars in its storage shed until such time as this is paid.

Your Say

"Well I guess it is hard to pay your bills when your trying to charge people to come watch the most boring form of motor sport the world has or is ever likely to see. Better if the event was help at a local football field, would make the crown look much better."
Ken

Mr. Cherry would not say if the debt to DOT would be paid in full by the time the cars needed to be shipped out next week but said it had an agreement with its main freighter to get the cars to Australia regardless.

He said A1 chairman Tony Teixeira had now secured funding to grow the series over the next three to five years.

"It's a group of investors who see a great value in moving forward," said Mr. Cherry.

"Now we have to go back to court to come out of administration.

"We need to prove that we have the funding to meet our financial obligations."

When Mr. Teixeira announced the new financial structure last week, he promised to repay all creditors by the October 6 hearing (London time).

"Our intention is to settle all our outstanding creditors prior to the administration hearing, and would like to thank them for their patience and support," he said.

"We at A1GP have been so lucky to have such loyal support from all our stake holders — management and staff, race promoters, team owners, partners, suppliers, TV rights holders, sponsors and last but not least our fans." Goldcoast.com.au