Motorsport: Sauber sells to BMW

Peter Sauber's decision to sell his team to BMW provides a happy ending to the cigar-smoking Swiss's Formula One adventure.

"The partnership with BMW is an ideal solution as it supports the two goals which have always been paramount for me," Sauber, 61, said yesterday as the takeover was announced in Munich.

"Firstly, to offer the team the possibility of improving their sporting performance and, secondly, to safeguard the site at Hinwil and the jobs of the 300-strong workforce."

BMW will acquire the majority shareholding, entering the championship for the first time as a team in its own right from 2006.

Sauber, whose Swiss-based team have not won a race in 206 starts since their debut in 1993, will step down from operational management while remaining as an adviser to the German carmaker.

BMW said it would increase the number of employees at the Swiss factory.

- REUTERS