Sponsor adds credence to Prodrive plans.

Further to denying - again - that he was looking to off-load Prodrive's Formula One entry for next season, David Richards is claiming that the team has already signed a title sponsor for its programme, details of which he hopes to unveil at the British Grand Prix this summer.

Richards this week revealed that 'the contract [with the sponsor] is signed', but stopped short of revealing any further details, pending a full announcement later in the season, when he also hopes to confirm the identity of his technical partners and, possibly, one or both of his drivers. Richards confirmed that he was still talking to three potential partners - cooling speculation that a deal with Mclaren was done and dusted - but that he wanted to secure a relationship as soon as possible in order to begin preparations for a winter test programme.

"We want to test together in the winter," he told Auto Motor und Sport, "and we will make use of their engineers, but there is no great hurry at the moment. It is, however, a decision that will be made sooner rather than later, and we have three options."

Despite denials on both sides, McLaren remains the most likely partner, with CEO Ron Dennis recently admitting that he sees advantages in links to a 'B' team. However, he insists that discussions with Prodrive have not gone as far as offering technical support.

"The only conversation I've had with David has been about the possibility of McLaren Marketing supporting him in his efforts to fund Prodrive's F1 programme," Dennis told F1 Racing magazine, "I'd never rule out having a partnership with another F1 team, but it would be somewhat premature to say it will be Prodrive."

On the driver front, Gary Paffett remains hotly tipped to join Prodrive, despite having returned to the DTM this season. Highly regarded by both McLaren and Mercedes, the Briton's presence on the rumour mill adds further fuel to the tie-up stories, and is understood to have agreed a temporary return to touring cars while he waits for an F1 seat to open up.

"I've always made my intentions clear - F1 is where I want to be in 2008," he reiterated recently.