Dec.14 (GMM) As was reported in October, the British bank Lloyds plans to enter formula one in 2010 by buying a share of the new Manor/Virgin team.
The earlier reports said the stake, to be taken up by Lloyds' private equity arm LDC, could be worth up to 15 million pounds sterling.LDS director Carl Wormald told the Financial Times (FT) that the decision to enter F1 is related to the sport's reduction of costs."It's a new era in formula one," he said. "There is a resource restriction but the revenue is the same. There is also a degree of stability."Nearly half of Lloyds is owned by the British taxpayer."The banks have had their share of bad publicity but it is great to see them investing in a young company like this that is creating jobs," said Manor boss John Booth, who the FT said would be Virgin Racing's sporting director.
