Rumours of Midland’s sale were doing the rounds for a while, but it was confirmed only in September 2006 that Spyker had bought out the team for a little over $106 million. But they did not set about making too many changes and retained both Midland drivers, Christijan Albers and Tiago Monteiro for the 2006 season (from September to the conclusion). Mike Gascoyne has been recruited as the Chief Technology Officer for the team while Colin Kolles will be the team boss. Some of the changes by Spyker include dumping Toyota engines in favour of Ferrari ones and flying under the Dutch flag since Spyker Cars is a Dutch company. For the upcoming season, Spyker will employ Albers along with Adrian Sutil as the main drivers. Spyker are realistic about their chances and being part of a new team means there are many challenges to surmount. Gascoyne is an experienced hand and he has set out the short-term goals clearly. “Our aspirations are to start scoring points, and nick the odd podium when there’s a race once or twice a year where everything gets mixed up,” he says. It’s good to know where you stand and not make irresponsible proclamations about your chances! It is also reassuring to hear that Spyker are not shy of spending time and effort in addition to money in ensuring they have a strong foundation. “What’s important is no matter how much money you put into building the house, if you don’t dig the foundations properly, it falls down,” Gascoyne said. One could easily expect the team to be among the backmarkers through the initial races. But it’s how fast they can move up and how consistently they stay there that will prove whether they belong here or not.