Prost Sale Perfectly Legal, Claim Team

A spokesperson for the collapsed Prost Grand Prix team has revealed that the deal between their liquidators and British businessman Charles Nickerson is totally legal and cannot be overturned in a court of law.

Minardi team chief Paul Stoddart intends to take out an injunction against Walkinshaw over the deal before the Malaysian Grand Prix. But Prost spokeswoman Virginie Papin said: "I don't know whether he can do that. It is not a question of law. It is all absolutely within the rules of French law what the liquidator has done.

"The official receiver has agreed to sell to Mr Nickerson. He has bought the cars, the intellectual property and the right to participate in the Formula One World Championship."

According to Papin, Prost Grand Prix is no longer an official company, but it is still registered on the commerce list in France so Nickerson can buy in and get on the grid for a knockdown price.

Prost's survival deadline was passed in January because the interested parties could not offer a long-term plan. However, now that is no longer a consideration as all the team's assets must be sold to pay debts back to staff and creditors.

The team's Paris-based facilities were not part of the deal, and Papin revealed that the team will set up a base somewhere in England, possibly near the Arrows factory in Leafield. The new team are aiming to join the Grand Prix circus in Malaysia, in two weeks time, and although those plans may be slightly premature, Papin said members of the former Prost team are already offering their services.

"I don't think they have a race team right now but Tom would not have been involved if they were not planning to race," she said. "We are trying to give them a list of people who could go to England."

The complication now lies with the licence to run in the Formula One World Championship, currently held by Prost Grand Prix, because that company no longer exists.

However, the Ligier team was re-named Prost on February 14, 1997 and it has been revealed that the new team will be allowed to run under a different name because an FIA rule states the team name must have been in existence for five years before the name is changed.