Michael Scott | May 19, 2018
Continued Turmoil at Marc VDS — The turmoil at the Marc VDS team continued on Saturday, when team principal Michael Bartholemy left the paddock, and issued a statement again denying any wrong-doing, and claiming the moral high ground in the dispute.
Continued Turmoil at Marc VDS
In press reports at Jerez, Bartholemy was alleged to have embezzled money from the team coffers, which he vehemently denied.
Then in the run up to the French GP, as reported yesterday, he issued a statement on team letterhead denying that he had received any official notification from the team, and therefore remained in position as team principal.
Today’s statement, issued independently, contradicted that, saying that: “On Tuesday 15th May I was notified by Mr. Marc van der Straten’s lawyers that the contract that exists between us was terminated with immediate effect.”
This, he continued, followed allegations mentioning “various amounts, ranging from 10 million to 15 million Euros. At the end were only required by Mr. van der Straten to explain invoices totalling less than 24.000 Euros, which we did immediately, providing full details of each payment.”
As a result, there were no legal grounds for termination, he said … but he remained “open to finding an agreement … that would allow us to end the collaboration between us amicably.” All his suggestions, however, had been rejected.
“For this reason I have made the decision to step back from the team for the duration of the French Grand Prix weekend in Le Mans … rather than exercise my right to halt racing activities this weekend, which is well within my power to do because of the legal situation.”