JANUARY 24, 2006

Super Aguri's future headquarters?

We hear from our spies that Super Aguri F1's headquarters will not be at Leafield for very long and that the long-term plan is for the team to move to Brackley, just up the road from the Honda Racing F1 factory.

We hear from our spies that Super Aguri F1's headquarters will not be at Leafield for very long and that the long-term plan is for the team to move to Brackley, just up the road from the Honda Racing F1 factory. We also hear that Honda Racing Developments in Bracknell, Berkshire, will eventually be relocated to Brackley as well so that everything is in the same basic location. The Bracknell facility was opened when it was thought that Honda would run its own team, back in 1998.

Our spies tell us that the plan is for the engine operation to be housed next to the existing Honda Racing F1 factory while Super Aguri F1 would find a new home in a new development which is being planned at Brackley Sawmills, at the northern end of the town. A property development company has already applied for permission to demolish the existing buildings on the site and construct a business park which would include light industrial facilities, research and development and offices. According to the local newspaper, the site might also include a leisure and conference centre, a creche and parkland. The application said that the park could create up to 1000 jobs.

We hear, incidentally, that the Menard facility in Leafield does not belong to Menard but was leased on a longterm deal.