Ecclestone increases share in QPR

Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone has become the majority shareholder of Championship outfit Queens Park Rangers.

Ecclestone, 80, bought a share in the club with colourful Formula One identity Flavio Briatore in September 2007, but on Friday it was announced that he has purchased Briatore’s stake in the club.

This means Ecclestone, a Chelsea supporter, owns just over 60 percent of the club.

“We’re not changing anything, just tidying a few things up,” Ecclestone said on Friday.

“We need to be ready in case we get promoted.”

QPR – managed by Neil Warnock – currently sit on top of the Championship, England’s second-tier football competition.

They are four points ahead of second-placed Cardiff and six points clear of third, with the top two sides being automatically promoted at the end of the season.

If promoted, they would return to the Premier League for the first time since 1996.

QPR’s other major shareholder is Indian steel billionaire Lakshmi Mittal, who is said to be one of the five richest men in the world. Mittal owns 20 percent of QPR.