JULY 29, 2004

Minardi and Wilux

As we reported last weekend, Minardi has terminated its title sponsorship agreement with Dutch company Wilux. Minardi signed a deal with the bathroom equipment manufacturer last year and Wilux became the team's title sponsor this year as part of a deal by which Wilux bought the space on the car and sold it on to other sponsors. The team said that the arrangement has broken down because of "irreconcilable differences" over the team's decision to take all sponsorship off the cars at Silverstone as a tribute to the team's sporting director John Walton, who died just before the event.

Wilux had a three-year deal with the team.

"Paul Stoddart decided to take off all sponsor stickers without asking me," Wilux boss Ruud Wildschut told F1Racing.net. "I was not too happy about that. I have paid for that place on the car and Paul took the right from me to show my own feelings."

Wildshut went on to make some fairly unpleasant remarks about Stoddart and driver Gianmaria Bruni.