Other interested parties in Honda are said to include a Swiss hedge fund and Greek shipping tycoon Achilleas Kallakis, and the Brackley-based concern's chief executive Nick Fry is quoted by F1SA as having contended that 'we have had a high level of interest in the team since Honda announced their withdrawal from Formula 1'.

“Work on the build of our 2009 car continues,” the Englishman added, “to ensure our objective of being on the grid at Melbourne in March will be achieved.”

Motorsport in Japan has been hit particularly hard of late not only by Honda's shock announcement, but also by both Subaru and Suzuki pulling out of the World Rally Championship.