January 30, 2010
Published on tags: Superleague
As the first round of engine negotiations draws to a close, news about the first winners and losers of the 2010 season - albeit in a strictly non-track meaning - start spreading.

The award for the best deal goes to Draig Racing which, surprisingly, was the only one to bid for the highly-quoted Ferrari engine. The Welsh team sets itself as a very interesting prospect for the coming season thanks to the availability of those powerful engines.

Renault - one of the league's most prestigious engine manufacturers - was literally swamped with deal requests, with 5 teams out of 12 trying to secure a deal with the French company. In the end, two of the "rebadged" teams put pen to paper, with Red Archer and Red 5 Racing outbidding rivals Constant Racing, ST Racing and Argentina Racing Team.

Second on the teams' wishlist was Mercedes, with four team bidding for it. Last season's revelations CSG and stalwarts Synergetic were outbid by two of the GPVWC's most longeve teams, Nordsjoen Racing and Woods Racing - number 1 and 2 in the pecking order at the start of the next championship.

The two remaining teams, Williamson Grand Prix and Oz Racing, managed to sign deals with Toyota and BMW - and reportedly saved as much as 10 million pounds compared to some of their rivals, money they'll be able to invest into developing their 2010 competitors.

Teams which lost their bids will be advised in the next few minutes, via e-mail, on the process for Round 2.