After a long and virtually excitement-free winter of rumour, conjecture and very few solid offers, it looks like TAFKAHonda have finally found a way to make it on the grid in 2009, namely by securing a buyout funded by, um, Honda.
The current rumours seem to revolve around a buyout of the team led by former Honda team principal Ross Brawn, who has secured a financial package consisting of the TV money revenue, sponsorship from Bruno Senna, who would take the second seat alongside Jenson Button with the team, and apparently "finance from the Honda Motor Company". Which seems to indicate that the Honda team is so disliked, they even have to pay for their own buyouts.
Nick Fry's position in all this is unclear, and rumours abound that he may be handed a P45 as part of the ownership shakeup. Fry has spent the winter fending off rumours that him vetting potential buyout offers while also arranging his own bid for the team with Brawn somehow represented a conflict of interest. We can't think where they got that idea from.
The hope that some sort of deal has been reached to allow the team to race next year has been given credence by sources in the Brackley-based team that team members have been told to prepare for a full testing program with the new car ahead of racing in Melbourne.
The 2009 car has been ready for some time now, and the theory is that the team will complete a brief desperate lunge for any remaining Button fans, erm, sorry, I mean shakedown, at Silverstone, before heading for the group test at Jerez next week. Failing that, the team will certainly be present in Barcelona later on in the month.
The testing would take place with the new chassis powered by a Mercedes engine, after Brawn negotiated a deal with the German team earlier in the year. Possibly by getting on his hands and knees and begging. Possibly.
If they do make the grid in Melbourne, the team face a difficult year ahead of them, with the raft of new regulations and technical changes, coupled with the lack of testing and development time they will have had almost certainly ensuring a slow year for them. Still, at least they have an excuse this year.
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