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Former BAR boss Craig Pollock has said that present incumbent Dave
Richards was right to axe around 15% of the BAR team - and says that
he wished he could have made a similar move last year.
Pollock, who remains Jacques Villeneuve's manager, was replaced by
Richards as BAR's team boss at the end of 2001.
It was just before the Brazilian Grand Prix that Richards stamped
his authority on the team for the first time, with engineering
director Malcolm Oastler and chief designer Andy Green among those
told that their services were no longer required.
And now Pollock has backed those decisions, saying that he would
have acted in a similar way when he was boss if he had been allowed
to.
"I think Dave Richards has made some pretty rational decisions,
things that should have happened in reality 18 months to a year
ago," he was quoted as saying by Formula1.com. "Eighteen
months ago I wasn't in a position to do that.
"Anything to do with the technical side was covered by a
shareholder's agreement we had, and it didn't come under my
shareholding. It came under Adrian's [Reynard].
"That has been changed and he has the free hand to do it, what
he has basically done, the basics. The start is right we just have
to wait and see how strongly he can put it all together
thereafter."
The Scot says it was an extremely frustrating time for him.
"It was hugely frustrating when I was in there but now it is a
relief because I can sit back on the outside take some time for
myself," he said.
"I'm coming from a huge knowledge of the inner workings of the
team and knowing what, in my mind, should have been changed a long
time ago."
Not only does Pollock remain JV's manager but he also still holds a
significant shareholding in BAR and as such remains a very
interested observer in proceedings at the Brackley-based team.
"So I'm very well suited to have a logical opinion but at the
same time I have a shareholding in a business that I want to
appreciate, not depreciate. So there is a huge interest in
that," he said.
"At the same time I want to see the team performing and Jacques
winning. I am very positive about the changes that have been made. I
am not negative about it at all. I just want to see how it evolves
from here."
Meanwhile, Pollock has denied that he has bought the Phoenix team.
However, he has admitted to holding talks with Arrows boss Tom
Walkinshaw who is involved with British businessman Charles
Nickerson, the current owner of the now insolvent Prost team.
"It is absolute rubbish," Craig told the website.
"There is no reality in reports I have acquired the team."
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