Brand Motorsports withdraws from series

Team boss Martin Kendrick has blamed the politics surrounding the series as the reason for his withdrawal, after a dispute with rival team Astromega.

"The Brand F3000 team was put together to challenge and win the F3000 championship in its first year and it has been a hard and soul-searching decision to withdraw," said Kendrick. "The F3000 championship has huge potential and given some reform could continue to be at the upper end of world motorsport."

The decision to withdraw came after a long-running dispute between Brand and Astromega, which had agreed to sell its cars and spares to the start-up outfit, but eventually decided to continue in the championship. The sport's governing body, the FIA, granted Astromega a late entry into the series. At that point, Kendrick informed the FIA that he would strongly consider pulling his team if Astromega were allowed to compete.

Kendrick said: "The price of having principles can be high and I am sorry we will not be taking part in the rest of this year's championship."

The decision leaves Briton Gary Paffett without a drive in the series. "I feel very bad that this has left Gary without a drive," said Kendrick. "Gary is a brilliant guy with a superb personality and thinks about his colleagues before himself."

Paffett is believed to be in contention for the second drive at Den Bla Avis. Fellow Briton Robbie Kerr, who raced for the team in the season-opener at Imola, will be replaced by American Philip Giebler for this weekend's race in Spain, although he could still regain his seat for the rest of the year.