HRT eyes Spanish pilots, new HQ

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

In its first two seasons Hispania was based at Colin Kolles' headquarters in Greding, Germany, with no Spanish driversbut it was announced on Monday that the buyout would involve a "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".

SEARCH FOR SPANISH DRIVERS

According to the Spanish sports daily AS, Thesan is already developing some ideas along these lines for 2012. One name mentioned was 23-year-old Spaniard and former GP2 driver Javier Villa, who is racing in the 2011 World Touring Car series.

A "longer term" plan may involve 16-year-old Carlos Sainz, the Red Bull-backed son of World Rally champion, who has begun a very promising single-seater career.

AS said Thesan had "clear ideas" about a Spanish base for HRT, such as a state-of-the-art facility in northern Spain.

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