By Parminio
July 17 2002

Tom Walkinshaw is still in "heated" discussions with Arrows shareholders over outside investors that could save the team and secure their future...for the rest of 2002 at least. With the failure of Prost at the beginning of the season, it seems there is a very similar situation going on right now at Arrows. Tom Walkinshaw has stated that there are other investors willing to step in, but that the current shareholders are the only holdup. It would seem that this is the exact situation that led to the demise of Prost, as there were several bids to save the team, but the shareholders (and Alain Prost) wanted to much control of the team for the investors to make a go of it. When anyone invest in something, they want to have an active part in it. That much is common sense, but what of the shareholders already in place? If they are "left out in the cold" as far as input into the teams future, they may block the new investors and the team will go bankrupt. Some may say that it is stupid to allow that to happen as a shareholder, and I of course agree. 10% of a team that is still racing is better than 10% of a team in receivership. The only hope is that Tom Walkinshaw can convince his current shareholders that they will recieve a return on their investment, while promising the new investors that they will do the same. That is not an easy task, as one would wonder why the team is on the brink to begin with. The other X factor is Minardi. Rumoured to be in similar trouble, there has been little talk of Minardi's financial woes lately. If Tom Walkinshaw gets things worked out for Arrows, it will secure their future at least to the end of the 2002 season. What will happen in 2003 is still a mystery for Arrows and Minardi both.