7 Mar 2009

Brawn says his F1 team are over the biggest hurdle

8:45 am on 7 March 2009

The former Honda Formula One motor racing team have become Brawn GP after being bought by new owner Ross Brawn.

Brawn says they've already overcome their biggest challenge in securing their survival and can hope for a "respectable" start to the Formula One season.

The first race in Australia is on March 29 and the team, whose change of ownership was announced only after months of uncertainty that could have left the sport with just nine entrants, have plenty of catching up to do.

The 700-strong British-based team's future had hung in the balance since Honda announced in December that they were pulling out due to the credit crunch.