F1 to get eleventh team
Britain's Guardian newspaper said on Tuesday that the FIA was set to give Honda-backed 'Super Aguri' its official green light as early as this week.
The news follows the revelation that the Leafield-based Japanese team, run by former grand prix driver Aguri Suzuki, obtained the agreement of every other team to lodge a late entry, after hold-ups regarding the mandatory $48m start bond.
'Aguri' will start 2006 with defunct Arrows' four-year-old 'A23' (2002) car, but a bespoke racer should be ready to debut around the time of the Imola (April 23) or Nurburgring (May 7) races.
12/26/05 Ferrari's Jean Todt has added to a sense of growing anticipation that F1 will feature an eleventh team next year.
The French team boss, once thought opposed to the bid of 'Super Aguri' for a late 2006 entry, told a German newspaper that he believed the FIA would now grant the Honda linked 'b' team's application.
''A new team will race in the New Year,'' 59-year-old Todt said in Sport Bild.
It is expected, however, that the team run by former grand prix driver Aguri Suzuki will not be given the governing body's official green light until the first fortnight of January '06.