Doornbos says he has three offers, no contract

[MDS]

In an interview with Formula 1 News Netherlands Doornbos said he had offers from three teams (NHL, HVM and probably KVRT). Offers that probably rely in some part on ING funding. He said that ING will support him in some fashion in 2009 and he really wants to be racing in America.

Of course one of the problems with the first race not being until early April sponsors can drag their feet in spending money and making decisions. I wonder if ING wants to see how the first quarter of is shaping up before committing any additional racing money.

[Dr. Krogshöj]

ING announced a couple of days ago that they will axe 7000 jobs and cut back their $100 million per year F1 sponsorship programme by 40%. It is also rumoured that Michel Tilmant will resign as a CEO. As a motorsports fan, he brought ING into F1 in the first place. I don't know if all this has anything to do with the Bobby D situation.

[MDS]

What a lot of people fail to realize is that not marketing during a down time is just going to make your problem bigger. If people aren't buy with the same regularity, reducing advertising means the you're less likely to get the buyers who are out there, hence making the downturn even worse for your company.

For ING I still think the math is pretty good. Doornbos at NHL, HVM or KVRT should be competitive and likely win a race. Broader exposure to the American market should cost them about 3.5 to 4 million euros, and if he does well at Indy and wins a street race they should recoup all of that and more.

One thing I am surprised by is in a downed economy more people are saving money, with an ING account you can have quick access to your cash while earning 3.2 percent intrest, that's better than most CDs. Unfortunatly I haven't seem them pitching that angle.

[EagleEye]

In an interview with Formula 1 News Netherlands Doornbos said he had offers from three teams (NHL, HVM and probably KVRT). Offers that probably rely in some part on ING funding. He said that ING will support him in some fashion in 2009 and he really wants to be racing in America.

Of course one of the problems with the first race not being until early April sponsors can drag their feet in spending money and making decisions. I wonder if ING wants to see how the first quarter of is shaping up before committing any additional racing money.

If we have learned one thing from Doornboos, is that his people continue to plant stories like this. The truth is, Doornbos has three offers out to three teams, not from three teams.

Depending on if and when his funding comes he could buy his way into a ride .

I'm not sure if it is in the water over there of not, but Jos "The Boss" and his people pulled the same stunt for years.