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05/05/2008 18:12
Tokyo - The head of Japan's Formula One stable Super Aguri said his team were denied access to the paddock for the Turkish Grand Prix this weekend amid ongoing financial troubles, a report said on Monday.
The team's trucks and motor home were not allowed to enter the track ahead of the next F1 round at Istanbul Park on Sunday, while other teams began setting up their bases with equipment there.
"I cannot believe it but it is true that they could not enter the circuit," Aguri Suzuki was quoted by the daily Tokyo Chunichi Sports as saying.
"I don't know at all what has happened. I don't understand the reason why the team, which normally raced at the Spanish Grand Prix (in the last round) cannot be admitted," the former Japanese F1 racer added.
On Friday, the cash-strapped team announced they were about to meet the board of their backers Honda to discuss a rescue package offered by the German automotive firm Weigl Group ahead of the Turkish Grand Prix.
Super Aguri, who have been struggling since their debut in 2006, suffered a major blow three weeks ago when Britain's Magma Group backed out of plans to acquire them, throwing their future into doubt.
The daily said Nick Fry, chief executive officer of Honda's wholly-owned F1 team Honda Racing, had informed Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone that Super Aguri would not be racing in Turkey - resulting in the denial of track access.
Emergency financial injection
Honda, who supply engines and other technical support to Super Aguri, reportedly provided an emergency financial injection to help them through the Spanish GP on April 27.
According to autosport.com, Fry does not want Super Aguri to continue being a drain on the resources of the Honda Racing F1 team.
On Friday, Super Suzuki said in a statement that they were in "final" talks with Weigl Group on an unspecified "substantial shareholding" of the team, which could "secure its racing future."
Suzuki told the Tokyo daily they had spent precious time on extensive two-month long talks with Magma that led nowhere.
"There would have been no problem if we had been in talks with Weigl since February," he said. "We won't give up until the end. We will give 100% to what we can do."
In their debut year, the team, featuring former Honda driver and Japanese F1 icon Takuma Sato, scored no points. In 2007, Super Aguri won four points to finish second-last.
They have not scored any points after four races this season, with drivers Sato and Briton Anthony Davidson both failing to finish in the opening race in Australia.
Their best result was Sato's 13th place in Barcelona, where Davidson retired.
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