Manor Racing closes down after no buyer was found

It was announced today that the Manor Formula One team faces closure ahead of the 2017 season after new investment could not be found to save the British outfit.

The team’s parent company Just Racing Services entered administration earlier this month, with a deadline of January 31 to find a new buyer. Despite talks with interested parties, administrator FRP Advisory released a statement on Friday saying the Formula One team had ceased trading.

However, Manor Grand Prix Racing Ltd, which holds the rights for the team’s participation in F1, is not in administration. In a statement to the media yesterday, it confirmed the sad news despite several attempts to try and secure the future of the team.

“During recent months, the senior management team have worked tirelessly to bring new investment to the team to secure its long term future, but regrettably were been unable to do so within the time available and were left with no alternative but to place JRSL into administration to protect the best interests of the underlying businesses and in order to continue a search for a buyer,” the statement said.

“Since their appointment earlier this month the joint administrators at FRP Advisory have continued to work, with the support of senior management, to try and secure new investment into the business resulting in negotiations with a number of interested parties. During that period funding was secured to ensure payment of all staff salaries until 31 January 2017.

“Regrettably since the appointment of administrators no investment has been secured in the limited time available to continue the Group in its present form. With no sustainable operational or financial structure in place to maintain the Group as a going concern, the joint administrators have now ceased trading JRSL and unfortunately have had to send all staff home from work today Friday 27 January. While all 212 staff will be paid on Tuesday 31 January, all but a small handful of staff are expected be made redundant by the end of January.”

In his own statement to the media yesterday, FRP administrator Geoff Rowley said the administrators had faced a “very limited timeframe” to find a buyer.

“It is deeply regrettable that the team has had cease trading and close its doors,” he said. “Manor is a great name in British Motorsport and the team has achieved a great deal over the past two years, invigorated under new ownership.

“Operating and running a F1 team to the high standards demanded however requires significant ongoing investment. Just Racing Services Limited was put into administration at the start of January shortly after attempts to sell the business fell through at the last hurdle.

“The administration process provided a moratorium to allow for attempts to secure a long term viable solution for the team within in a very limited time-frame but sadly no solution could be achieved to allow for the business to continue in its current form within what was a very tight time-frame.

“We would like to thank all the staff for their support and professionalism during this difficult process. We shall initiate a formal redundancy process for all staff on Tuesday, once they have been paid for the full month of January. As joint administrators our immediate focus will be to assist staff who will have lost their jobs and to provide them with the necessary support to submit timely claims to the Redundancy Payments Service.”

The team’s last incarnation Marussi waent into administration at the end of 2014 when it collapsed with £35 million worth of debts and was forced to skip the final three races of the season. It successfully exited administration in early 2015 and returned to the grid under the rebranded Manor name.

Manor suffered a huge blow at last year’s Brazilian Grand Prix, when Sauber scored two points to jump Manor in the constructors’ championship standings — costing it millions of pounds in prize money. At the time, owner Stephen Fitzpatrick revealed he was looking to sell the team and was in talks with potential buyers.

All I can say is that it is a great shame for everyone who is associated with the Manor Racing team especially the staff who give everything to make sure that the team could race as best as possible last season. Personally, It will be sad not to see the team on the grid for Melbourne in March and live to fight another day and they will be fondly missed and remembered by the F1 community always.

Manor Racing areo staff reveal first pictures of the 2017 car

It was revealed that Formula 1 fans have been offered a first look at a 2017 Formula 1 car design, after a farewell image from Manor staff revealed its windtunnel model.

Administrators for the Manor team announced on Friday that there was little hope of a buyer to be found and it was being shut down.

In a bid to say goodbye, the Manor Racing staff that had worked on the aerodynamics (including windtunnel technicians, chief designer Luca Furbatto and head of aerodynamics Nikolas Tombazis) posed with a 50% scale model of the MRT07 in a picture that was released by Autosport.

Their 2017 car has been used as part of the team’s development programme in the Mercedes windtunnel. It is believed to be understood that the version on display was not the 2016 car adapted to the new 2017 rules, as the team could have entered had it found a last-minute buyer, but was instead the project it was planning to compete with before it hit financial trouble.

Although interpretations of the 2017 regulations have been made since the regulations were published, the Manor model is the first actual evidence of the direction teams are taking.

The new front wing for 2017 clearly features the deltoid shaping required of the regulations, but also shows how Manor was trying a more aggressive outwash tunnel and cascade arrangement to displace airflow across and around the front face of the tyre.

The innermost inverted L-shaped cascades work the much talked about Y250 vortex which directs airflow around the front of the car, to prevent interference from the tyres.

The nose is broad like it was on the 2016 Manor, but it does terminates above the front wing’s neutral section rather than beyond it, as the team looks to improve how the air moves down the car by reducing the blockage caused by the longer nose.

The airflow conditioners that flank the sidepods are retained and may have helped to improve flow around the now wider sidepod shoulder.

The image also clearly shows the new rear wing shape, as hinted at previously by Ferrari’s modified 2015 car used for Pirelli testing last year.

Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa

Photo From Autosport