JANUARY 6, 2002

What is happening with Arrows?

ONE of the teams which will be missing from testing for the next few weeks will be Orange Arrows which has been waiting for the delivery of its first Cosworth V10 engines. The delays have apparently been caused by the fact that the two parties have yet to sort out the details of their financial arrangements. Arrows had been hoping to hand over its Bedford windtunnel to Jaguar Racing in exchange for a large chunk of the engine bills but before Christmas that deal was called off, leaving Arrows with the unenviable task of finding at least $10m to make ends meet.

In the current economic climate that was never going to be an easy task although Arrows boss Tom Walkinshaw has a very trusting relationship with money-lending organizations (presumably banks) as they have already granted him unsecured loans of at least $95m most of which does not have to be paid back until 2006).

Walkinshaw is a man who should never be underestimated although in recent years his efforts to make Arrows successful have been more about survival than about making progress. Do not forget however that he was the man who put together a deal with Danka, Damon Hill and Yamaha and that the team almost won the Hungarian GP back in 1997.