Caterham cars.....Is their future 'secure' ?

[Bailiff Advice]

Earlier this month there were some stories on SCOOP about Caterham cars (Formula One racing) after an huge amount of goods were seized and removed by The Sheriffs Office.

 

Another report on the front page of SCOOP today 'appears' to be saying that Caterham's future in Formula One appears to be safe.

 

From the report today it would seem that the Sheriffs Office may not be able to sell the goods seized (this would include the Caterham Formula One 'rig car' that is rumored to be worth a great deal of money.....

 

http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/11548896.Caterham_not_under_threat/

[Bailiff Advice]

 

From the report today it would seem that the Sheriffs Office may not be able to sell the goods seized (this would include the Caterham Formula One 'rig car' that is rumored to be worth a great deal of money.....

 

In fact as I now understand it the removed items included the following:

 

Caterham F1 test car (2013)

 

Caterham F1 car parts (due for Japan 2014)

 

I really do hope that they can survive.

[Conniff]

I hope so too BA a real part of British heritage. It's don't look too cosy though with administrators being in charge.

[ploddertom]

Part of my understanding of this is that once the Japanese GP finished the team & all equipment relocated to Sochi for the Russian GP instead of coming back here first therefore eluding the SO albeit temporarily. I believe there is an article about this on the SO website http://thesheriffsoffice.com/articles/breaking-news-impending-sale-of-a-formula-one-vehicle-and-equipment . Quite a few of the nationals are also carrying this story over the last day or so.

[DragonFly1967]

As there was only a week (in reality 3 days (due to weather)) between the end of the Japanese F1GP and the start (FP1) of the Russian F1GP, none of the teams came, or went (depending on where they're based) home. There simply wouldn't have been time. So that's not a situation that was peculiar to Caterham, and certainly wasn't done to avoid the bailiffs.

 

The Caterham F1 team (CF1) will be fine, in the short term at least, as they were never the targets of the Sheriffs Office, hence the return of all of the equipment. Which I don't think was actually removed from the premises anyway. Though they could have removed the memorabilia and wheels/tyres without too much trouble, moving an F1 car, if you didn't know EXACTLY what you were doing would be fraught with problems, it's not exactly a standard car, so you can't just have 'one man and his tow truck' turn up and tow it away.

 

And as for the Simulator, I've seen the simulators that they use in F1, it ain't no Playstation game that you can chuck in a box and throw into a van. To shut it down and take it away, you'd need software engineers, hydraulics engineers, electricians and a very big truck, and then, because (as it turns out) it was seized incorrectly, you'd be paying them all to come back again and put it back together. And by god, it had better work. I wouldn't want that bill!

[Bailiff Advice]

I have actually seen the entire list of goods which were seized a few weeks ago. There is lot of stuff indeed and I am sure the Sheriffs Office will be 'engaged' with the administrators. I would love to be a 'fly on the wall'.

 

The administration was inevitable given that Caterham Sports Ltd had a Winding Up petition lodged against them and this was due to be heard at Leeds County Court on 11th November.

 

Very sad times indeed....

[Conniff]

Caterham and Lotus, you can't say UK without them.

[Bailiff Advice]

Under the new regs the government introduced Part 85 'Third Party' Claims. I would thing that most Judges would run a mile if faced with such a claim as it would be impossible to try to unravel who the real owner is of the items seized by the Sheriffs Office.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motorsport/formulaone/caterham/11185109/Caterham-Formula-One-crisis-Bailiff-posts-pictures-on-Twitter-of-F1-car-parts-for-sale.html

[DragonFly1967]

Oh dear. That's bad news indeed. It'll be a great shame if they can't at least, see out the remainder of the season.

[lookinforinfo]

Is Twitter a recognised site to post items for disposal in Bankruptcy proceedings? Will the items have to end up at an Auction house and Twitter is just a means

to advertise the sale ?

[Bailiff Advice]

I am sure that Twitter can be used to notify the public of any forthcoming sale but the eventual sale must be by proper auction (which does include Ebay.

[Guest]

dont worry guys

admin c/b just another way of getting rid of debts.

after the 'cleaner' is taken to the cleaners , another foreign buyer/owner (current owner is foreign) will prob be just around the corner

[ploddertom]

I note the Caterham team are not the only ones.

[DragonFly1967]

I note the Caterham team are not the only ones.

 

Indeed. Marussia F1 have also gone into administration this week. And to be honest, and this is purely speculation on my part, I don't think Sauber F1 are going to be too far behind them. And even Lotus F1 seems to be struggling.

 

 

Perhaps what's needed is a redistribution of the wealth that F1 generates. The majority of the money seems to go to the top teams, and while that's somewhat understandable, I'd bet that a lot of the expenses are the same or similar, and maybe the percentages need to be adjusted a bit so that the teams lower down the order get a bigger slice of the pie to help to keep them afloat.

[Guest]

the 'Don' takes the blame for that inequality, 'probably'...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/29868355

[DragonFly1967]

F1 should go along the lines of the NFL (American Football) model.

 

Each of the teams in the NFL get an equal share of the pot, plus whatever they manage to earn from sponsorship and merchandise on top of that.

 

It's reported that F1 generates a yearly income of about $900 million (usd), which should be more than enough for all of the teams to survive if split equally.

 

Obviously the bigger teams would be able to raise more money [than smaller teams] with sponsorship and merchandising which would then allow them to spend more, but at least the smaller teams would be able to pay their bills and make a small (by comparison at least) profit each year.

 

The smaller teams would, if the trend continues, also be able to raise an income stream by having drivers that are willing to buy the seat, either by paying for it themselves or by way of personal sponsorship.

[Guest]

marussia 'folds'

but, 'Elements of Marussia management still hope to return to F1 next season and have applied for entry to next year's world championship under the name of Manor F1, the team's original guise'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/29954250

[Guest]

see eg, potential new buyer already

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/116463