Bar And Supertec To Part Company.

British American Racing has gone part way to admitting a tie-up with Honda next season by revealing that it is to split with Supertec at the end of the year.


The Brackley-based team has been linked to a supply of works Honda engines for 2000, despite having a year of its current Supertec contract to run. Although Supertec boss Flavio Briatore claimed that all contracts were unbreakable, it has now been revealed that the two parties will not be working together next season.


In a statement issued by BAR, the team claims to have been "pleased with the engine", but believed that the Supertec deal "did not allow [the development of] a long-term strategy". The split has been described as amicable by both sides, and Supertec will continue to supply BAR for the remainder of the season.


"Clearly, British American Racing and Supertec have very good synergy," admitted Briatore, "but we both found that our strategies for the future might be diverging at some point. We will continue to provide Supertec engines to the team this year - including scheduled upgrades - and hope that, together, we are able to achieve some good results in 1999."


Although BAR would only say that its future partner would be revealed in due course, Briatore was happy to admit that several teams are chasing a supply of his company's engines for next season.