06/07/2009
NEWS STORY
Before it announced it was applying for an F1 grid slot few people outside the sport had heard of Epsilon Euskadi. However, Pitpass has learned that it was very active in F1 long before then and was even bidding to buy Toro Rosso from Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz.
Epsilon team boss Joan Villadelprat approached an investor/sponsor regarding buying Toro Rosso but after initial negotiations Mateschitz said he was not able to commit to selling the team. After its race victory last year this is hardly surprising. Once this option was ruled out Epsilon decided to put together its own F1 entry and it is believed to have been recommended by the sport's boss Bernie Ecclestone.
However, this didn't help it get a grid slot in 2010 and this in itself is quite surprising. Most people will remember Villadelprat from his time at Benetton where, as operations director, he oversaw Michael Schumacher's two world championships. Although his achievements with Epsilon are not so well known they are equally impressive.
Villadelprat took over Epsilon in 2004 when it was just a World Series racing team with 2 cars. It has since launched some famous careers including that of Robert Kubica who won the World Series title under Epsilon's wing.
In 2007 it moved into Le Mans with a two-car LMP1 prototype project, a first in Spanish motorsport, whilst running a further eight cars in the World Series by Renault.
Epsilon now employs 75 people with a design team run by the renowned Sergio Rindland including a 60% scale windtunnel.
Given the quality of the teams which were selected to race in F1 in 2010 perhaps Epsilon's bid was just too credible.