Any aces up Mallya's sleeve?

Just when we thought that VJM was satisfied with acquiring serious racing machines he goes and buys a stake in an aeronautical (these air machines do fly pretty fast) company! What will it take to quench this man's thirst? Not the stuff that he brews is becoming obvious.
His foray into F1 began with part sponsoring the Benetton team of yesteryears, co-branding with the current Toyota F1 team and now his joint ownership of the Spyker team, with Mol from The Netherlands.The investment pattern is Dutch all the way - 50:50. VJMs sponsorship of Team Toyota may not have worked out the way he imagined as Toyota performed miserably this season. His contract with them is until 2008. Hence in effect, unless he terminates his agreement with Toyota prematurely, Mallya will be involved financially with 4 of the 22 F1 cars on the start line next year!
Now, what has to be clarified is if the $123 million paid for acquiring the Spyker outfit included the $50 million deposit that remains with the FOM as long as the team remains in F1. Should the team for any reason be unable to participate abruptly without a very good reason - bankruptcy is not a good reason - then the amount is forfeited.
Moreover, the acquisition cannot be abrupt. There is a gradual takeover and the name of the team cannot go through an immediate change. If it does then it is construed as if the team has shut shop and a new owner/team has entered the F1 circus. To put it simply, the $50m is forfeited and Mallya/MOL pay $50 million as a fresh deposit. Hence it would appear that the amount paid would be only $73 million as the balance $50m is in the bank - in the FOMs maybe.
Considering that McLaren paid $100m as a penalty, this suddenly looks like loose change. But, then, again the low capital cost will pale in comparison to the revenue overhead. Depending on where the new owners want to take this team to they could wind up spending anything over $100m annually to keep the engines idling. This burn rate is nothing if the business plan is to hive it off eventually.
Should the F1 race in India take place then it would be obvious that VJM will keep his stakes until then at the least. He spoke about his desire to put India on the map by putting the flag on the car but he was not entirely convincing when he spoke about putting in an Indian in the car. He certainly will have to when and if it comes to the Indian chapter but what will be his stance for the rest of the circuits is anyone's guess.
Mallya is a businessman first and an emotional rich man next. If he was the latter he would have sponsored an Indian already. He didn't have to buy these expensive toys for them. Even the serious money that he invested in Team Toyota could have gone to an Indian aspirant.
Moreover, he is a 50-50 partner and I don't see his Dutch partner letting just anyone drive on a whim and fancy. Spyker has been the weakest team so far and knowing VJM and the way he thinks, he will take some measures to turn it around. After all he has bought the Deccan Airlines of F1 and see how he is transforming it (Deccan)!
A good chief engineer, a seasoned and thinking driver plus a dash of money could move his team up a few notches right away. The cars that he has acquired are not worth much money in any case. They would further lose their value as all drivers' aids and controls are banned next year on. So all he has is a couple of chassis and a contract from Ferrari to supply him engines.
Now if he were to be really serious about getting Indians to make the cut in the long run he should invest a measly $2m and buy a few racing cars such as the Renault FF 2000 and place them in India. Let our drivers get the hang of driving some quick machines instead of having to spend obscene amounts just to see if they are capable of getting anywhere.
Not only will this help but the identification and selection process of the next Indian champion can begin early. Once identified then the grooming can take place etc. All this is rhetoric until VJM throws some light on his grand plans!
Meanwhile, here's a tip on how to recover some of his investment. Since he is going to relinquish the name of team, he could sell it to McLaren. After all they are the original spy-kars!