APRIL 6, 2007

In the background at Spyker

Dutch investor Marcel Boekhoorn has bought a 5.7% interest in Spyker Cars for a reported $10m. This may not seem to be a very significant move unless one puts it into the F1 scenario. Boekhoorn's daughter happens to be the girlfriend of Giedo Van der Garde, the Dutch youngster who recently walked out of a deal with Super Aguri in order to become a test driver with Spyker. The implication is that Van der Garde's claim to a race seat is going to be rather stronger now that he has some support from a shareholder. Christijan Albers is in a similar position with the team but it seems that his shareholder is not as big as Van der Garde's shareholder.

For the timebeing this is all irrelevant as Van der Garde does not have a superlicence as Super Aguri is refujsing to let him go and not settlement has been agreed. Money may help matters but as Spyker has launched an arbitration case against Super Aguri and there is no reason why the Japanese team would be helpful to the Dutch.

Spyker yesterday launched a protest against Scuderia Toro Rosso on the grounds that the car uses parts designed by another team.