mySAP McLaren team goes West.
As first rumoured following the departure of team boss David Brown to Jordan, McLaren has decided to call time on its F3000 Junior team.
Brown's hankering to get back into grands prix resulted in him parting company with both the mySAP.com-backed F3000 operation, as well as its McLaren parent company, and eventually led to the decision to close the team that ran Nick Heidfeld - with West backing - to the 1999 FIA title and Tomas Enge to a solitary win in the Y2K campaign.
As first rumoured following the departure of team boss David Brown to Jordan, McLaren has decided to call time on its F3000 Junior team.
Brown's hankering to get back into grands prix resulted in him parting company with both the mySAP.com-backed F3000 operation, as well as its McLaren parent company, and eventually led to the decision to close the team that ran Nick Heidfeld - with West backing - to the 1999 FIA title and Tomas Enge to a solitary win in the Y2K campaign.
The Czech's move to British rival Nordic Racing last month initially signalled the possible demise of the McLaren outfit, an outcome confirmed in recent days despite plans for the team to test several potential candidates for 2001 - including British F3 champion Antonio Pizzonia. The Brazilian's title rival, Tomas Scheckter, who ran with mySAP.com in 2000, has signed to test for Jaguar and had ruled himself out of contention for a drive.
The situation regarding the team's place in the 2001 field remains unsolved, as a deal to sell its entry to British F3 operation Carlin Motorsport fell through earlier this week. A recent FIA ruling preventing teams from selling their entries has also clouded the matter, but mySAP's withdrawal from the international series should raise hopes among the three teams facing 'relegation' that they may be allowed to retain their FIA championship status next year.
