Team Japan hit by lack of funds
A lack of sponsorship funds is the reason why A1 Team Japan will miss this weekend's third round of the series at Estoril
The Japanese squad announced on Friday that due to "late notice to the team that sponsorship money was not going to be available" they will miss this weekend's race in Portugal.
The team also said that drivers Hideki Noda and Ryo Fukuda had prior commitments and could not race this weekend. Noda is racing in Formula Nippon at Motegi while Fukuda will compete at Monza in the World Series by Renault.
"Notice was given to the team at a very late stage and there was insufficient time to find a replacement driver to enable the team to run the car," said the team in a statement.
"A1 Team Japan hopes that sufficient funds will be made available and paid in good time before the next round in Australia, Eastern Creek by either the current drivers and their sponsors or any other eligible Japanese racing driver."
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments