Spain driver Diego Botin has revealed that team ownership conversations are underway with ‘a group of investors’ amid rumors of an increased F50 fleet in Season 5.
Spain is one of the five remaining league-owned teams in the fleet alongside New Zealand, Australia, France and Canada. Botin was quizzed about ‘strong rumors’ that ‘two new teams with new owners will enter the league in Season 5’ at the pre-racing press conference in Bermuda and confronted with the suggestion that ‘one of the league-owned teams’ will be ‘dropped’.
But Botin seemed confident this wouldn’t be Spain, revealing the team is ‘working very hard in achieving the financial part’ in order to ‘stay in the league’.
“We have a group of investors who are willing to join the team and go forward with us,” he said, adding that conversations are ‘going really well’.
“It’s going to depend on the other teams that are trying to join, and on SailGP, but I think we are putting our best foot forward in that regard,” he added.
It comes after former United States driver Jimmy Spithill announced his intention to launch an Italian team on the start line of Season 5.
Botin's comments came ahead of Spain’s stunning victory over Season 4 leaders New Zealand and three-time champions Australia on Bermuda’s Great Sound.
The victory bolstered Spain’s Season 4 score, pushing the team closer than ever to potential qualification for the Championship-deciding Grand Final at the end of the season. Currently in third with 65 points, Spain is just two points away from Australia in second, while the Kiwis definitively lead the fleet with 77 points.
Looking back on a difficult Season 3, which saw the team finish the Championship in last place, Botin admitted he didn’t expect Spain to be sitting so high up the leaderboard at this point of the season.
“When we started the season, we were coming in from finishing last in the last two events in the new configuration,” he said. “Our goal was to be fighting with all the top teams at the end of the season and we are doing that now.”
However he added that the team cannot afford to lose its intensity as Season 4 speeds towards its San Francisco conclusion. “If we do that the best teams will just get better and better, and we need to progress also and stay focused.”
