UpdateF1 >> Formula 1 News > Mike Gascoyne joins MF1

Team complete technical coup

Continuing a week of major news stories, late on Saturday evening the Midland group announced the complete sale of the MF1 Racing team to the Spyker Cars group.

While most attention was on the team’s new owners, there was an important sideline to the announcement as well.

In the small print of the information released was the fact that the team had acquired the services of Mike Gascoyne as the chief technical officer for the new season.

Gascoyne, after starting out with Tyrell, is known for his success in moving both the Jordan and Renault teams up the grid before most recently joining Toyota.

It was an unceremonious move that saw him quit Renault on the verge of the team’s greatest success.

A lucrative pay packet was said to be the decisive factor, but with the money came demands that not even Gascoyne was able to meet.

Earlier this year the Briton’s contract was terminated by the team and he was left without a Formula One job.

He was linked with many teams however his deal with MF1, despite the rumours, was something of a surprise.

Commenting on his new role, Gascoyne said: "I have only recently met Victor Muller and Michiel Mol [the men behind the Spyker bid] and they impressed me enormously with their commitment to Formula One and performance program.

“Naturally I am delighted to come back to Formula One to a wonderfully challenging opportunity.

“I know and respect many of the people at Silverstone from my time there previously and I am confident that we will be able to deliver results."

Taking charge of midfield outfits became somewhat of a speciality for Gascoyne.

In 2007 he will go head-to-head with his technical rival Adrian Newey who took on a similar ‘challenge’ with Red Bull Racing.

Written: Sat, 09 Sep 2006 22:58:25