Walkinshaw pays up to save Arrows

Arrows roared back to life at the British Grand Prix on Saturday after team boss Tom Walkinshaw paid the bills to keep them in Formula One.

Walkinshaw told reporters that he had dipped into his own pocket to pay engine suppliers Cosworth, who had demanded payment of $4.7 million it was owed.

"We will be racing this weekend," said the Scot, before the orange and black cars got back on track for free practice at Silverstone after spending all of Friday in the team's garages.

"The money for the engines for this weekend I have paid myself."

The dispute had threatened financially-troubled Arrows's existence in the world championship, with any team that fails to compete in a grand prix due to insolvency losing their rights.

But the team boss, whose private worth has been estimated in the media as being in excess of $160 million, sounded confident for the future, saying: "I would think that I'd complete the season, yes."

Walkinshaw's team were damned in a High Court judgement against them this week, with their own lawyer agreeing that they were apparently 'doomed', barring a miracle.

FUTURE UNCLEAR

The team boss said the situation was extremely complicated and Arrows had been prevented from discussing a lot of details in court.

"If he (the judge) is blocked from having the full evidence, you can quite understand how we got the judgement we got," said Walkinshaw. "The company (Arrows) has never traded fraudulently, has never been insolvent."

Walkinshaw has a reputation as a survivor, a canny businessman who has proved capable of extricating himself from difficult situations, and he demonstrated that again.

"You're never dead until you're dead," he observed on Saturday to the throng of reporters.

The long-term future of Arrows remained uncertain, with Walkinshaw now given two weeks' respite until the next race in France and admitting that he might have to distance himself from the team.

He hoped for a more permanent solution by Magny-Cours and revealed that there were three parties interested either in buying the team or making a partial investment.

"We had 10 enquiries and we whittled them down to three with real substance," he said.

"I'm optimistic now that the future of Arrows is secure. Whether I play any part in that is a different matter.

"I certainly don't see any Doomsday scenario looming. Hopefully we can get it back on track in the next two weeks."

Walkinshaw said the background to Arrows's financial problems was massively complicated, with shareholder Morgan Grenfell Private Equity deeply involved, and some of the parties lacking deep awareness of the ways of motorsport.

"I don't think anyone outside this industry realises how quickly things go wrong in Formula One," he said. "Miss one event and you are out of the club.

"It's a very gladiatorial environment we have in Formula One, it's the survival of the fittest. If you make a mistake on or off the track, it's usually catastrophic."