Tom Walkinshaw is ook weer bezig met "zaken doen" op zijn manier:
Quote:
AUSTRALIAN motor racing legend Mark Skaife is living in a rented three bedroom flat less than 1km away from his former Toorak mansion with his wife and two daughters as he faces financial ruin.
In one of the saddest stories in Australian sport, the five-time Bathurst winner will walk away from his glittering 21-year touring car career at Oran Park this weekend in danger of losing everything.
A special investigation by The Daily Telegraph has uncovered details of a series of business transactions that have left Skaife's company - Skaife Sports - owing Scottish racing magnate Tom Walkinshaw $3.6 million.
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Documents obtained from the Australian Security and Investments Commission (ASIC) reveal the Holden icon risks losing all his Skaife Sports assets, including one of the country's greatest sporting brands HRT, should he default on the multi-million dollar loan to Walkinshaw.
Skaife, who won his first Bathurst in 1991, rose rapidly to the peak of the sport in Australia.
Enormously popular with fans and sponsors, the Melbourne-born driver is known for his aggression on the track and his outspoken attitude off it.
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Skaife last year sold his family home in the exclusive Melbourne suburb of Toorak about the time he traded "debt for equity" with one of Walkinshaw's Australian-based companies Real Racing.
Skaife and Walkinshaw agreed on a deal that would see 50 per cent of Skaife Sports transferred to Real Racing in exchange for debt relief.
Walkinshaw - himself a successful touring car driver and former owner of HRT - then obtained 1,750,000 shares in Skaife's company.
Walkinshaw Performance - formerly Holden Motorsport - is contracted to provide race services to HRT.
"Skaife Sport had a services agreement with Holden Motorsport when Skaife bought HRT," the source said.
"Everything was fine until Walkinshaw took control of Holden Motorsport in 2006.
"Under the arrangement with Holden Motorsport, prior to Walkinshaw owning the business, the team received favourable costing and monthly bills for all the services required to run a race team.
"But the accounting systems changed under Walkinshaw and Skaife Sports found itself in massive debt. Instead of monthly costings he got a yearly bill which took him by surprise and he could not pay it."
A 47-page contract between Skaife Sports and Walkinshaw Performance was then drawn up to address a "shortfall" relating to a $3.6 million debt. The document - obtained by The Daily Telegraph - shows that Skaife is at risk of losing Skaife Sports and control of HRT if the terms of the loan agreement are not met.
It is also alleged that Skaife's dire position was contributed to by his major sponsor, Holden Special Vehicles - also owned by Walkinshaw - not paying the sponsorship amount for two years. And it's also claimed the cost of parts and service for Skaife's team were raised after Walkinshaw took control of Holden Motorsport in 2007.
The added expense was allegedly a major contributor to the debts incurred by Skaife Sports - a claim Walkinshaw denies.
Another V8 Supercar team, John Kelly's HSVDT - which is also under a similar arrangement with Walkinshaw Performance - will break away from Walkinshaw at the end of the year.
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Bron:
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegrap...001021,00.html
Sommige personen zouden persona non grata moeten zijn in de autosport.
Overigens bestaat die Tom Walkinshaw Group (TWG), welke eerder genoemd is in dit topic, volgens mij niet meer.