May 29th
CANADIAN GRAND PRIX
1997: interview with Guy Audoux Engine Operations
Manager Peugeot Sport
The circuit at
Montreal used to be famous for its high consumption,
of fuel. Refuelling has made the problem disappear.
But does this gas-guzzling track have any effect on
race strategies?
"Like Imola the
track in Montreal is one of the hardest in terms of
fuel consumption. The possibility to refuel has
certainly got rid of this, although we must carry 70
kgs of fuel rather than the usual 60Kgs. That is the
same for everyone and so it is not a problem. In this
respect it really has become a circuit just like all
the others - and so we have forgotten the terror of
running out of gas."
Without the
worry of running out of fuel. Life must be easier for
the team?
"lt certainly is.
When there were turbo engines and big restrictions on
fuel consumption, the engine builders were forced to
run the engines with so lean a fuel mixture, that it
spoiled the reliability. Today there are no such
restrictions on our fuel mixture settings."
Do you rank
Montreal as one of the difficult circuits in the
World Championships?
"No not really.
The difficulties of Montreal are pretty much the same
as we encounter throughout the season and which we
can overcome easily enough. I don't know about the
other manufacturers but at Peugeot we have an
all-purpose engine, without special set-ups. This
engine suits a circuit like Monaco as much as it does
Silverstone or Monza. This year we no longer do any
particular changes for individual circuits. We used
to do that by altering the lengths of the inlet
trumpets but this year we have managed to master this
with engine-mapping to suit all types of circuit.
"Our engine has
the advantage of Being flexible in terms of revs and
power output. We have now developed the torque so
that we are able to supply drivers with an engine
which is never brutal. No matter whether it is
running high or low revs, with high or low loadings.
In other words at any circuit. Perhaps we will learn
more in the future which will give us new ideas but
at the moment I cannot see what we can do to make it
better.''
Barcelona marked
the end of the first third of the world championship.
How does one analyse the progress the engine has
brought to the first part of the year and can one
distinguish that from the progress from the Jordan
chassis?
"Right now a lot
of engines are competitive and the advantage of one
engine over another depends on whether it is in a
good or a bad chassis. That is where an engine
advantage comes from. It is as simple as that. This
year Peugeot Sport is powering a Jordan chassis which
is markedly better than that of last year. That is
one factor. If one was doing a comparative study with
last year's package one would see that the
combination is much quicker, for example, in the slow
corners. This improvement is in the order of 10% and
so one can say that the same corner which used to be
taken at 100kph can now be taken at 110kph. This
improvement in the chassis has certainly influenced
the way the engine is used. It is easy to see the
repercussions of this faster exit speed all the way
to the next corner. We no longer find ourselves
having to use the engine in critical or uncomfortabIe
rev ranges. These gains in the slow corners are
really down to the chassis.
But what if you
put a Peugeot A12 engine from19960 into a 1997 Jordan
chassis, how much performance would you lose?
"I think this
loss would be pretty noticeable. We have made a lot
of progress in performance terms with the 1997
engine. A little in maximum horsepower but mainly in
mid range power where the engine is most frequently
being used. That if you compare acceleration and
power, the average power output has gone up several
dozen horsepower. I think that such a gain is worth
close to half a second a lap compared to last years
enqine."
Would it be true
to say that working with relatively inexperienced
drivers has slowed down your progress?
"No, not at all.
Of all the drivers we have known in the past only
Martin Brundle had sufficient technical knowledge to
help us understand and use the engine better. Our two
young drivers are in any case supported by the
telemetry. We are working with them, but given that
the engine is working well in 98% of cases, there is
no reason for them to worry about it. At this stage
of the careers both Ralf Schumacher and
Giancarlo Fisichella are very concentrated and
preoccupied with the set-up of their chassis.''
Returning to the
Peugeot A 14 engine, in what direction do you want to
evolve the engine now?
"There is one
constant factor. We are always trying to get more
horsepower, But also horsepower in the lower rev
ranges. To underline what I said, I think we have a
Very satisfactory package and now we can only
progress in small amounts. It will certainly not be
like the spectacular progress we were making in 1994
when we had to make up a disadvantage of 50
horsepower. Three years have passed and we are now at
the same level as everyone else and we must chip away
in all areas to gain more"
Engine builders
sometimes talk about barriers that must be passed
through in order to find new areas in which to
develop freely Can you see where you are going? ?
"We are focusing
on maximum engine revs. We are using the same maximum
revs as last year but now we are working with less of
a safety margin. Last year we fixed the maximum revs
and worked slightly below that level to see clearly
what was happening beneath that level. This year we
are trying to develop the engine at this higher revs.
We are Beginning to run into problems with the
existing engine because the running temperatures -
which are secret — are fixed because of the
demands of the aerodynamicists. We cannot go
higher."
The French GP is
approaching and with it the mid-season. Every year
V10 French engine builders use this to reveal an
evolution engine We do not see anything coming from
Peugeot this year?
''There is no question
of presenting an evolution of our F1 engine. We are
busy for the moment working on small reliability
problems with our evolution. Our policy is never to
put an engine on the track unless we are 100% sure of
it. The evolution engine will arrive, perhaps at the
end of the year -in qualifying form or in racing form
- but it is not definite. We are not running to a
specific timetable. When you take into account the
current performance of 3-litre F1 engines, it is no
longer easy to gain more horsepower."
Hill debunks
steering column theory in Senna trial
(June 2, 1997) For
over three hours, Damon Hill, testified at the
trial over the death of his former Williams team-mate
Ayerton Senna, at Imola in 1994. He rejected
the prosecution's main charge that Senna had died
after the steering column on his Williams FW16 broke
after modifications had been made prior to the race.
Having studied the video footage with his race
engineers at the time he could not agree with the
court’s findings. "there must have been
another reason for the accident other than there had
been a failure in the steering." He said. "It
did not seem to me that there was anything to suggest
that the steering column broke." Having
examined the steering column, on-board telemetry and
aerodynamics, he had left the meeting convinced that
modifications to the steering had not been the cause
of the accident. He told the court, "There
had to be something else." Asked if if Senna
had complained to him about his steering or the
handling of his car, he said, "I can't
remember. It was too long ago,"
The lawyer for
William’s, Orieste Dominioni, has already
claimed that anomalies in the track surface were to
blame and Hill’s conclusions, that Senna lost
control of his car after hitting mid-corner bumps
whilst his tyre pressures were low- having been
forced to run slow behind the safety car- echo those
of the Williams team. After studying the video
footage again in court, Hill noted that there were
two occasions when he thought that Senna’s car
overstepped through the mid part of the corner where
there were some marks on the track. "There
are two distinct times when the car looks to be
oversteering and the steering wheel is exactly the
way that I would expect to see to correct a
slide." low tyre pressure and the state of
the Imola track surface ‘could not be ruled
out’ said Hill, "You can’t separate
the two."
Hill, accompanied by
his lawyer Michael Breen, remained impassive
throughout the lengthy questioning by state
prosecutor Maurizio Passarini and was vague on
several points that he could not remember, especially
on the modifications to his own steering. Hill said, "I
don't remember the exact date but I seem to remember
that it was before the start of the
championship."
Hill also stated that
Tamburello was a corner that would not cause a
problem in an F1 car, "It's not normally a
difficult corner for a Formula One driver,"
he said, "You'd have to lose an awful lot of
concentration to get it wrong." He was also
asked about the warning lights that showed in his
cockpit after the pace car left the track. "It's
quite normal for lights to come on when you're
driving at that speed." He replied,
"The cars are not designed to run slowly."
The case will continue
later this month with a possible appearance by
Michael Schumacher although this is being denied
bysources in Germany.
Hill in ‘Happy
families’ shock at Leafield
(May 30th 1997)
Damon Hill is happy and content to stay at TWR.
Having witnessed his racing career slip from the top
to the bottom of the heap in three short months, he
spoke candidly and optimistically at a recent open
day at Tom Walkinshaw’s headquarters that
drew a crowd of 18,000 Hill fanatics. "I read
a lot of reports from the races for my own amusement
and they seem to give the impression that I am
despondent, I'm unhappy, I'm dejected and I'm cross.
But it couldn't be further from the truth,"
Having been linked to
practically every team on the grid, he was not being
drawn as to any future plans he may have. "I
am very happy, I have got a lot of faith in Tom and
the Arrows team." He said "It is a
tough season, but I have been through tough seasons
before and this car is in it’s early stages of
development." He inferred that the teams
potential would not be realised until at least the
beginning of next season. "These things are
not going to happen overnight." He went on, "The
car is intrinsically not that bad and now we’ve
got John Barnard on board, he is
going to provide the leadership to the design side
that we have needed." Walkinshaw added, what
a few million Hill fans already knew, "Our
design team did not do a good enough job over the
winter, but we've rectified that,"
What is also needed,
even the most ardent Arrows fan would agree,
is a decent engine and gives the lie to
Walkinshaw’s lack of foresight in deciding to
run with Yamaha in the first place knowing its
dubious history with the Tyrrell team.
Walkinshaw admitted to having had "very, very
serious' talks with ‘a team supplier’
which, it is thought, could only be Yamaha. "I’m
sure there will be a response" he said.
Referring to his decision, subject to successful
testing at Magny Cours, to run the
disappointing revised D-spec engine at Montreal on
June 15th, he said "We will have to wait a
while to see if it is good enough. I have every faith
that Yamaha will do everything that they possibly can
to improve the reliability and performance of the
engine."
Schumacher Jr flies
for Jordan in Silverstone test.
(May 27th-29th)
Williams driver Jacques Villeneuve was fastest
in the recent 3 day test at the Silverstone circuit
(27th-29th). With all teams present except TWR
Arrows and Minardi, the outcome was as
predicted, with the Canadian setting the benchmark
time of 1.22.39 on Wednesday. The surprise of the
session however, although it is now becoming more of
a regular event, was the speed of the two Jordan
Peugeot drivers. Team mates, Ralf Schumacher
and Giancarlo Fisichella led the pace on the
final day, despite Schumacher suffering from both oil
leaks and fuel pump problems, to finish second and
third overall respectively, the only other drivers to
stay within 1.22s. Jordan’s technical director, Gary
Anderson, said, "As long as the track has
quick corners and lacks grip, we should perform well.
Barcelona was simply a blip."
Michael Schumacher
ran moderately successfully in his Ferrari F 310B fitted
with the 046/2 engine on the Tuesday. The German
covered a total of 68 laps, in race trim, with a best
early time of 1m 25.703s. Testing was stopped on
Wednesday morning, when the right rear link broke at
the exit of Beckett’s. The session resumed the
following day, after inspection of the part was
returned to Maranello for inspection. His best time
of 1.23.40s, came on the final day’s test when
he drove all day in race configurations.
"It was
important to do this test session on a track which we
hardly ever visit," said Schumacher at the
end of the day. "The car was definitely good
on the quick sections of the track, but it was less
good aerodynamically in the slow to medium parts,
just as we had seen in Barcelona. We will have to
work hard to sort this out."
McLaren drivers
David Coulthard and Mika Hakkinen showed
that the quick times in Barcelona with the new Mercedes
F-spec ‘qualifying’ engine could be
maintained. The scot ended the session 9th fastest,
with Hakkinen two tenths down on Fisichella’s
time, in 4th.
Former ITTC
driver, Alexander Wurz, being groomed for
possible F1 stardom by Benetton boss Flavio
Briatore, drove a brilliant test session in the
absence of Jean Alesi and Gerhard Berger,
who is undergoing minor surgery for a glandular
infection. His time of 1.23.16 was barely 8 tenths of
a second down on Villeneuve and put him 5th fastest
overall.
The Sauber team
was happy to have its first opportunity of testing at
Silverstone prior to a British Grand Prix, in past
years having arrived quite unprepared and in poor
shape compared with the UK-based teams.
On Tuesday Johnny
Herbert did 36 laps with a best of 1m 25.53s,
then improved to 1m 23.35s after 69 laps despite a
spin into a gravel trap which damaged a front wing.
On Thursday recent replacement for Nicola Larini,
Gianno Morbidelli, took over and recorded a
best lap of 1m 23.55s.
Rubens Barrichello
and Jan Magnussen driving the Stewart-Fords,
had satisfactory tests, the former concentrating on
tyre assessment and the latter on the engine
development programme. Rubens's progress, punctuated
by a series of red flags and minor problems on
Thursday, meant he could only cover 22 laps, with a
best time of 1m 25.2s. Magnussen covered a total of
70 laps for a 12th place of 1m 24.4s. He commented; "I
could not feel an increase in power from the Spec 6
Ford engine, but it is certainly smoother and more
driveable."
Both Tyrrell
drivers were testing their cars with ED4 Cosworth
engines. Jos Verstappen was evaluating brakes,
exhausts and steering modifications and completed 42
laps with a best of 1m 25.7s. Mika Salo worked
on aerodynamics and suspension, covering 54 laps with
a best of 1m 25.5s. The team had no problems and left
Silverstone in a buoyant mood.
Jean-Christophe
Boullion was present all three days carrying out
Goodyear grooved tyre testing with the 1996/98
modified spec narrow track FW18 test car nicknamed ‘Skinny
Lizzie’. "We've improved the car by
using a different undertray and changing the weight
distribution," said the Frenchman. "The
real gain must come from the tyres." Boullion's
best lap, a 1m 30.41s, was over eight seconds adrift
of Jacques Villeneuve's best time.
The whole circus moves
to Magny Cours for final testing before the Canadian
Grand Prix on June 15th.
Arrows opt for
French testing
(June 3rd) The Arrows-Yamaha
team did not go to Silverstone, but will instead be
carrying out three days of aerodynamic tests at the Lurcy
Levis circuit in central France next week. Test
driver Jorg Muller will carry out this work on
Tuesday and Wednesday while Pedro Diniz will
carry on development running of the new D-spec Yamaha
engine at Magny-Cours next Friday.
Further testing at
Magny Cours
(June 2nd, 3rd,
4th, 5th) Williams, Benetton, McLaren, Jordan,
Prost, Arrows and Minardi took part in four days of
testing at the Magny Couyrs circuit in France prior
to leaving for Montreal this week (June 9th) for the
Canadian Grand Prix. Jean Alesi, running revised rear
suspension topped the overall times on Wednesday 4th
with a 1.15.14. He suffered gearbox problems on the
previous day and on Thursday a spin prevented him
from completing a full race distance. Brilliant
Benetton test driver Alexander Wurz participating in
his first ever test at the circuit, came in third
with 1.12.26s little more than a tenth of a second
behind the Frenchman. He worked on aerodynamic setups
and also managed to complete a full race distance
with Montreal downforce levels.
Giancarlo Fisichella
and Ralf Schumacher both completed two days of
testing for the Jordan Peugeot team, concentrating on
differential development, front and rear suspension
geometry programmes and general set-up work.
Fisichella ended the session over half a second
faster than his team mate in second overall with a
1.15.24s.
Olivier Panis
in the Prost Mugen-Honda, was the fastest man
on the track on the final day, with a time of 1m
15.34s. making him 4th over the four days. He
performed a Bridgestone long-run test. Heinz
Harald Frentzen finished 5th, with Villeneuve
falling down the order putting in times little better
than the top three drivers slowest laps. He ended the
sessions 6th, with a best lap of 1.15.88.
Italian testing for
Sauber/Ferrari’s
(June 4th 5th) Ferrari
and Sauber had a brief spell testing at Monza. Johnny
Herbert was fastest in the Sauber-Petronas on
both daysworking on new aerodynamic and mechanical
solutions for the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal. Eddie
Irvine, driving a Ferrari 310B fitted with the
046/2 engine and a hydraulic differential, was
hampered by a wet track on the second day but
completed a full race distance of 66 laps. His time
on the first day, was almost half a second slower
than Herbert’s 1.25.59.
Nicola Larini freshly
gazumped from the Sauber team, tested in exile at
Mugello and shook down the three F 310 B that Ferrari
will have at its disposal at Montreal. He completed,
partially on a wet track, 5 laps with Schumacher's
race car (chassis 177, engine 046/1), 10 with the
T-car (chassis 175, engine 46/2) and 27 (10 on the
shorter version of the track) with Irvine's race car
(chassis 173, engine 046/1) respectively.
World’s most
expensive Goodyear’s
According to US
sources, Management had to step in, working overtime,
to continue production of Goodyear Eagles when
a strike at the Akron factory prior to the Spanish
Grand Prix threatened supplies of tyres for the race.
The source confirms that quality was maintained and
that the blistering suffered by the majority of teams
running these tyres, was in no way connected to that
particular production run. It was probably, however,
the most costly run of tyres produced
Villeneuve called
to the Headmaster’s study (FIA)
(Jun 7th)
Jacques Villeneuve has had to disrupt his
preparations for the Canadian Grand Prix to return to
Paris on Wednesday (11th) to appear before the
Sport’s governing body, the FIA to explain his
outspoken criticism of the new rules for next season.
In an interview published in last Monday’s
German Publication ‘Der Spiegel’ he
claimed that the new rules designed to curb the ever
increasing speed of Formula one cars, as
‘crap’. "I think it's going to take
a lot away from the driver," he protested. "Instead
of still being the ultimate sport that it is, it's
going to become more of a show and a circus." Villeneuve
has always advocated the ‘fun’ aspect of
driving and ‘taking things to the edge’ and
firmly believes that the FIA is going in the wrong
direction with its rules regarding grooved tyres and
a narrower car width. "We need bigger tires
and 70% smaller wings," he said, "There's
no longer any difference between Monaco and a 160 kmh
bend at Barcelona -- no faster heart beat, no
adrenaline, nothing but disappointment,"
Whilst all that
Villeneuve has said had been widely reported over the
past few months, it came as a shock to him that the
German weekly magazine should publish it now. It is
not expected that Villeneuve will get any
disqualifications or fines for ‘bringing the
sport into disrepute’. He believed that
‘everyone should have the right to speak their
minds’. He also stated that he was only
‘saying in public what 90 percent of the drivers
say privately.’
The other 10% includes
World Champion Damon Hill who last month cautiously
embraced the rules (see Speed Motorsport news
last update) suggesting that it would make
racing more exciting.
Asking for the hearing
date to be rescheduled because of the disruption to
his press and public commitments in Canada, the FIA
declined his request, forcing Villeneuve to make a
further double crossing of the Atlantic to arrive in
Montreal in time for a press briefing on Thursday
evening.
Ecclestone the
highest earning company director in the known
Universe . . . .
According to a report
published on Sunday (8th) in The Independent, Bernie
Ecclestone, current boss of Formula 1 and
director of Formula One Promotions and
Administration, paid himself £54 million in salary
in the 1995/96 financial year. 66 year old
Ecclestone, looking to feather his nest further for
his retirement earns £147,945 per day or a little
over £102 per minute. This far exceeds the amount
Elvis Presley earned during his Las Vegas heydays and
Elton John currently the biggest earner, who made a
paltry £12.8 million last year.
A new company Formula
One Holdings is set to go public in July, against
a sea of criticism and lawsuits, to coincide with the
British Grand Prix on July 13th. This will
make Ecclestone worth between £750m and £1bn. He is
currently riding high with pay-TV deals worth over
£200m and a likely pre-tax profit of £85m.
The seven original
teams to have signed the most recent version of the
Concord Agreement are questioning the reduced amount
of TV revenue that they will get, should the
‘maverick’ three teams of Williams, McLaren
and Tyrrell -who, having recently settled their
dispute with the FIA, signed the document- get an
equal share of the payout. The seven teams at present
receive 47% of TV rights between them. This would
drop considerably should the payouts be divided even
further.
Confirmation was
provided by newly appointed finance director David
Wilson. "Bernie has always kept a tight reign
on all information to protect his position in
negotiating with broadcasters, teams and
promoters," he said. "Now the
company is going public that has to be balanced
against the need to be more transparent."
Meanwhile
Ecclestone’s company is being sued for $25m by
one Patrick Peter founder of the BPR Organisation and
representing several European TV companies.
Ecclestone is accused of ‘monopolising F1
Television’ This is against the European
constitution and he is in effect stealing customers
and viewers.
. . . but finds it
all a bit of a fag.
To add to
Ecclestone’s problems, the proposal of the
British government to ban tobacco sponsorship of all
sport, has come at a most inconvenient time.
Eccleston’e ‘hot under the coller’
reaction was to suggest that with the intended
inclusion of more Pacific rim races into the
calender, some European fixtures needed to be dropped
anyway. Realising the size of the motorsport industry
in this country and it’s value to the economy,
the British government, aware that Ecclestone could
sever manufacturing and development ties in the UK by
moving the F1 centre to Asia, insisted that as a
special dispensation for the time being at least, the
ban would not necessarily affect the livery of cars,
just the sponsorship of events. This would give teams
time to secure alternative sponsorship. Since the ban
on tobacco advertising in Britain, cars have been
allowed to keep their sponsor’s colours,
replacing the brand names with team associated
word’s often in the same type face. Hence the
Grands Prix of Britain, France, Germany and now
Canada, will have had cars dressed up as cigarette
packets with the names Marlboro, Rothmans, Mild Seven
and Benson & Hedges, replaced by ‘McLaren’,
‘Racing’, ‘Benetton’ and
‘Jordan’, respectively.
Engines . . .
Jordan could hold on
to their Peugeot engine deal despite having
been earmarked for Prost Grand Prix's use on a
five-year deal beginning in 1998. Jordan’s
improvement this year could extend the deal for a
further three years. As a fail safe measure, Jordan
have been courting Mugen-Honda as a possible
replacement and the deal has in part, been engineered
by Alain Prost who desires complete exclusivity of
the highly rated French V-10. Peugeot are likely to
announce their plans at the French Grand Prix.
In a recent dispute between Prost and Honda, it is
alleged that Prost gave Peugeot access to view the
Honda engines on a recent visit to the team factory.
This incident could
have given Mugen the leverage to keep Nakano at Prost
for the rest of the season. Current Williams test
driver Jean-Christophe Boullion and factory
Porsche GT driver Emmanuel Collard were tipped
as possible replacements. Prost was adamant if a
little down hearted in Barcelona when he stated
(probably through gritted teeth) "Shinji is
going to stay in the team, no problem." It
is understood that Mugen would be only too happy to
give Jordan their power units.
Second choice for
Honda would be Bennetton who despite rumours of
having signed with Renault suppliers Mecachrome,
are still on the prowl for a competitive engine. More
likely however, would be that Arrows, 99%
certain to ditch the dreadful Yamaha, would snap up
the opportunity of an alternative Japanese engine.
This could be regarded favourably, especially if Hill
signs for another term of office.
Cosworth Ford
meanwhile, are considering stopping development on
the aging Zetec V8 and concentrating their efforts
solely on the new V10. This would put at least two
teams out of the picture for next season.
. . . and engine
drivers.
There are currently
more driver rumours than you can shake a stick at.
Jordan Hot shots Fisichella and Schumacher are both
due to leave their hot seats for even hotter ones
according to one German Publication. As Flavio
Briatore has announced before, Fisichella is one
of the young italian drivers he fancies for further
grooming. With the success of Alexander Wurz in
testing, Flavio seems now to be going the way that Eddie
Jordan has paved so well and start employing
‘young guns’ who are both hungry for
success and cheaper. Jordan, king of the F1 talent
spotters, has seen a great many of his signings
wrested from their contractual obligations, Michael
Schumacher was filched by Briatore in 1994 and the
possibility of it happening again with the young
Italian is not beyond the bounds of impossibility.
However seeing as Jordan has the hotter of the two
cars right now, it would seem to be in
Giancarlo’s interests to stay put. Jarno
Trulli is another prospective Benetton driver who
would in fact probably benefit from a change. Seeing
as Briatore owns the Minardi team for whom
Trulli drives, that scenario looks more than likely.
Current driver, Alesi looks set to go to Prost if
boss Allan Preset can get rid of the Albatross
called Narkarno, or even back to his old home,
Jordan.
Ralf Schumacher is a
different kettle of sauerkraut however. It seems that
the young German’s contract is pretty solid with
Jordan and a move, Possibly to McLaren, would only
take place along with a large parcel of money.
Manager Willi Weber is still talking to Ron Dennis,
who looks to have two vacant seats at the end of the
season. West, McLaren’s major sponsor are
said to be interested in a German driver and again
the possibility of a move such as this cannot be
totally ruled out. Jörg Muller was a
consideration for Mercedes but having recently
signed as test driver for Arrows he is now out of the
frame.
Damon Hill, despite
his renewed vow of confidence in Tom Walkinshaw is
also linked with Jordan by way of McLaren in a deal
brokered by West that would effectively trade
Schumacher junior for the services of the current
World Champion. The penalty fees paid by West to
Jordan, would go a long way to pay Hill’s
probably high asking price.
This leaves Gerhard
Berger, David Coulthard and Mika Hakkinen with no
particular place to go but it is likely that, if no
suitable alternatives appear, they will stay put at
their team boss’ ‘pleasure’ until they
become redundant.
The Team from Hell
. . .
In a nightmare
scenario, an extremely frightening rumour that Toyota
may be entering into Formula 1 with Yamaha and Bridgestone,
is circulating the paddocks. If sponsors are
desperate enough to throw their money into the all
Japanese entry, a stone cold loser a best, the team
could surface in 1999. ‘Think tank’
meetings with former Yamaha users Tyrrell and
Walkinshaw have not so far been discussed.
Tyrrell considers
pension?
Further unfounded
rumours suggest that Ken Tyrrell is to sell
his team to Jacques Villeneuve’s manager, Craig
Pollock as a vehicle for the Canadian,
with the backing of Chassis manufacturers Reynard
and British American Tobacco.
Banbury-based
technical concern, Prodrive, which runs Subaru's
world rally team were also rumoured to be knocking on
Tyrrell’s door and again BAT are involved
sponsoring Prodrive with their ‘555’
cigarette brand. Having openly admitted to having a
five year plan to enter Formula 1, they have
purchased recently liquidated Lola’s telemetry
system.
Ken Tyrrell, 77 year
old Boss of the Ockham team, has categorically denied
that any deals have been struck, saying that they
enjoy their racing too much to even consider them.
Chris Richardson
June 9th 1997
