Lloyds Bank Buys Share in Manor/Virgin F1 Team

Manor Grand Prix received another good news during the course of this weekend, as the British outfit managed to secure another important financial partner for their inaugural campaign in Formula One next season. Apart from the Virgin Group deal, which is yet to be made official this week, John Booth's team recently signed an agreement with British bank Lloyds.

It has been rumored in the media for quite some time about Lloyds' intentions of joining the Formula One championship in 2009, and most of those allegations regarded the Manor outfit. So the announcement doesn't come as a surprise to anyone, but it does give the British team a considerable boost in their preparations for the 2010 campaign.

“It's a new era in Formula One. There is a resource restriction but the revenue is the same. There is also a degree of stability,” LDC director Carl Wormald told the Financial Times, emphasizing the role of F1's cost reduction programme in his company's decision to join the series.

“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,” added John Booth, soon to be named managing director of the Virgin/Manor F1 team.

LDC is a private equity arm of Lloyds and will reportedly pump up around 15 million pounds sterling into the Virgin/Manor team during their partnership. In return, the British bank will own a considerable stake in the team, with the majority of it to be owned by Virgin Group.

As reported by several media last week, Sir Richard Branson is to confirm “the sport's worst kept secret” during the course of this week, namely his Virgin Group purchasing the majority stake in Manor team. The British outfit is already listed as Virgin Racing in the FIA entry list for the 2010 F1 championship.