New owner eyes Spanish drivers and HQ after HRT buyout

Two Spanish drivers and a new headquarters could be among HRT’s plans after it emerged Thesan Capital has taken over the Spanish team.

In its first two seasons, Hispania has been effectively based at Colin Kolles’ Greding headquarters in Germany, with no Spanish drivers on the roster.

But it was announced on Monday that the buyout will involve the "search for opportunities to optimise and improve the performance of the team" as well as "progressively making the team more Spanish and definitively settling ... in Spain".

According to the Spanish sports daily AS, Thesan is already developing some ideas along these lines for 2012.

One name mentioned is 23-year-old Spaniard and former GP2 driver Javier Villa, who this year is contesting the World Touring Car series.

And a "longer term" plan may involve 16-year-old Carlos Sainz Jr, the Red Bull-backed son of the famous former world rally champion who has begun a very promising single seater career.

AS said Thesan has "clear ideas" about a Spanish base for HRT, such as the state-of-the-art Epsilon Euskadi facility in Basque Country, amid the Joan Villadelprat-led operation’s current financial difficulties.

"Another of (Thesan’s) priorities will be to have the greatest possible number of Spanish personnel, both technically and logistically," added the report.