Court boost for Phoenix F1 bid

Phoenix Finance, the company that bought up the assets of the defunct Prost Grand Prix team, has won an early victory in its court case to gain an entry to Formula 1

The company tried to enter this year's Malaysian GP with a pair of Prost AP04s run by a skeleton crew of mechanics from TWR. But it was blocked by motorsport's governing body, the FIA, which issued a statement declaring that Phoenix had not bought an entry.

The case between Phoenix and the FIA and Formula One Management began in the British High Court yesterday (Monday). And according to sources, Charles Nickerson's company has taken an early edge, with the FIA admitting that its pre-Malaysian GP statement was incorrect.

The statement read: "Having examined the judgement of the Tribunal de Commerce de Versailles the FIA's advisers have noted that the court has not transferred Prost Grand Prix itself nor made any attempt to transfer the Prost Grand Prix entry in the 2002 Formula 1 World Championship, either to Phoenix Finance Ltd, or to Mr Nickerson."

The case could be decided by the end of the week.