Spyker: The Little Team With Big Ambitions, and a Name

Colin Kolles: Although Colin's first profession as a dentist usually attracts most of the attention in media and paddock talk, it is often overlooked that before he became a dentist he took part in rally racing as a teenager. It was only in 2000 that the Romanian decided to return to racing. He started up an F3 team, which would become a great success in Germany. He then founded another team, with Alex Shnaider, the Canadian/Russian businessman who would later buy Jordan and rename it Midland. He hired Colin to run the team, and Colin remained in charge when Spyker bought the team in 2006.

Mike Gascoyne: Mike studied fluid mechanics at Cambridge University and began his career in aviation. He joined McLaren in 1989 as an aerodynamicist. His career flowered when he moved first to Tyrrell in 1991, becoming deputy technical director in 1993. He joined Jordan in 1998 and designed the car with which the team had its greatest success, in 1999. He was techical director at Benetton and then Renault, from 2000 to 2003, before Toyota hired him in 2004. There he was the best paid technical director in the sport at up to $8 million per year. After two years there, and a break, he joined Spyker at the end of 2006.

A Brief History: Spyker was founded on the base of the team that from 1991 to 2005 raced as Jordan, and won four races. Bought by a multinational company called Midland, it changed its name in 2006 to MF1 racing, but near the end of the season it was bought by Spyker. The team still operates from Jordan's factory near the Silverstone circuit, where the British Grand Prix takes place. Jordan was one of the most popular teams in the sport, and it rose to as high has third in the series in 1999. It always operated on a much smaller budget than the top teams, but ingenuity and team cohesion allowed it to perform above its level.

More Recent Times: During the two years that Midland operated the team, it looked to many outsiders to have lost its direction. Midland proclaimed big ambitions for the team and Formula 1 in general, but the team scraped along on a small budget and without investment into its future. After a year under Midland ownership, but still under the Jordan name, the team raced entirely under the Midland name in 2006. With the arrival of Spyker, the team appeared to have a future again. At the beginning of 2007 it again began to land important sponsors, such as Etihad Airways and Aldar Properties.

The Future: Spyker started its first full season with a car not designed by the new technical team led by Mike Gascoyne. So its poor results early in 2007 are not likely a sign of things to come. However, no Formula 1 team can count on only one man - no matter how talented - to make it a winner. The team will have to continue to invest and build over several seasons to return to its old level. It remains one of the smallest teams in the series, with far fewer than 300 employees.