Dream Manor memorabilia auction for F1 fans

If some pit lane equipment would make your motoring dreams come true, just wait until next month. Manor, the now-defunct British-based Formula One team, is to auction off over 4,000 redundant parts in May.

The team, which employed 200 staff and operated out of Banbury, Oxfordshire, ceased trading in January and while it was hoped that new investment would be found ahead, Manor’s employees were made redundant after Just Racing Services — the team’s operating company -— closed its doors. The items going under the hammer include a rolling chassis, pit lane equipment, and parts such as front and rear wings; they’ll be made available to the public over a four-day action in May.

Manor began in Formula One back in 2010 as Virgin Racing and was backed by British billionaire Richard Branson before later being renamed Marussia.

The team scored their first points at the 2014 Monaco Grand Prix when Jules Bianchi, the Frenchman who suffered an ultimately fatal crash in Japan later that year, finished ninth.

Russian owner Andrey Cheglakov ended his association with the team at the end of 2014 to leave the team facing an exit from the sport. But British businessman Sean Fitzpatrick rescued them and they competed under the guise of Manor.

Manor spent the ensuing two seasons as back-markers, finishing last in the most recent constructors’ championship, scoring only one point.

Fitzpatrick notified the FIA, the sport’s governing body, that they would be withdrawing after a new backer could not be found ahead of the new season, and their departure from the grid leaves just 10 teams competing this year.