A1 GP set for management reshuffle

Having announced yesterday that the financial backing is being put in place for the company to go public and be listed on the London Stock Exchange, organisers have confirmed that a meeting in June will determine the exact nature of the company's board.

This season, Maktoum and South African businessman Tony Teixeira have jointly run the operation, however an executive board will now run the company.

Maktoum is currently the chairman of a recently-introduced, five-man management team, but autosport.com understands that Maktoum could be bought out of his ownership of the company in time for it to go public.

Autosport.com also understands Maktoum wasn't present at the recent 'think tank' meeting in South Africa, where plans were made for the second season of A1 GP.

Teixeira, however, insisted that nothing has been finalised yet, but the management structure of A1 GP will be very different for the 2006/07 season.

Teixeira told autosport.com: "This will not be the Sheikh and Tony show any more. He is involved as it stands - all we are saying is that the series is a lot bigger than Sheikh Maktoum's toy now. A1 has now grown and is much bigger than any one of us.

"Maktoum was a visionary, he wasn't necessarily a guy with the professional background. The concept now has become reality and we can see and expect proper management.

"Sheikh Maktoum could be an honorary president, or may focus on the technical aspect of the group. Him and I might to decide might to stay or whatever- it hasn't been decided."

Teixeira believes that by arranging the funds through an Initial Public Offering (IPO) to go public, any uncertainty regarding the future of the World Cup of Motorsport will be laid to rest.

"What this means is that there is no way that A1 GP can fail now," he added. "The banks have been convinced enough to put up the money.

"When we started A1 Grand Prix we didn't know what we were in for. Not because we were stupid but because we were inexperienced. We were totally underfunded. We had to sort out our accounts and now every single creditor been paid and we have secure financial backing. This gives us the confidence to go forward and plan for the long term.

"We aren't making any major changes on the track - just behind the scenes in terms of employing the right finance, marketing, PR companies and the right consultants."

The new executive board will have five non-executive directors - people not on the A1 GP payroll - to act as policeman to ensure transparency of the company.

"There will be a bigger non-executive board make up than an executive they will ensure that questions that need to be ask are asked," he said.