*MH*

JV IN SPONSORSHIP CONTROVERSY
Last Updated: Friday, 26 March , 2004, 09:45

A bizarre row has broken out in Canada over allegations Jacques Villeneuve was paid $12m in federal sponsorship.

Former Olympic gold medalist Myriam Bedard made the accusations when she testified at the Commons public accounts committee earlier in the week.

But Villeneuve’s manager Craig Pollock quickly hit back to deny the reports.

He said: "Canada has never helped Jacques in any way.

"In all of his career, he has never gotten anything from the Canadian government.

"The only thing that Canada has done is to work to bring the Grand Prix to Montreal.

“If racing is doing well in Canada, it's thanks to the Villeneuve name. If he's wearing a Canadian flag on his uniform, it's only to indicate his nationality."

Bedard said her agent Jean-Marc St-Pierre had informed her of the payments to Villeneuve – but he promptly denied telling her any such thing.

Villeneuve, who is taking a year’s sabbatical after losing his BAR drive at the end of last season, is understood to be at a ski resort and blissfully unaware of the controversy.

WILSON COMPLETES CHAMPCAR MOVE
Last Updated: Friday, 26 March , 2004, 11:25

Justin Wilson has signed up to drive in ChampCars in 2004.

The Brit, who lost his Jaguar drive at the end of the season, is joining the Mi-Jack Conquest Racing team.

The move re-unites him with Chris Mower, who engineered Justin when he won the 2001 F3000 championship.

Wilson said: “I’m very excited about coming over to Champ Car. It’s something that I’ve been looking at, really since 2001 when I won the Formula 3000 championship.

“It’s something I’ve always admired and wanted to be a part of at the right time, and this is the right time. I think the racing is fantastic, and that’s what I’ve been brought up on. I’ve been brought up racing go-karts back home in England.

“The emphasis of the racing has been to go out there and compete against each other and do the best. That’s something I look forward to, and I want to be racing against quality drivers and enjoy the competition.”

Wilson will drive a Cosworth-powered Lola chassis shod with Bridgestone tyres. The identity of his team-mate is yet to be confirmed.

Team co-owner Eric Bachelart said Mower’s presence in the team had helped clinch the deal.

He said: “He won a major European championship in Formula 3000 in 2001. That year, he drove for Nordic Racing, where our team manager, Chris Mower, was the team manager and Justin’s engineer. That history helped us put this together.

“In addition to Justin, the team is getting the Lola chassis as well. We’re looking forward to the season and hope to be consistently competitive.”

ChampCar president Dick Eidswick said recruiting a driver of Wilson’s calibre was a major boost to the series.

He said: “Justin Wilson has an international racing pedigree and we are delighted to welcome him to the Champ Car World Series.

“He is highly regarded in racing circles worldwide, and we know he will be a great ambassador for Champ Car racing in Great Britain and throughout Europe. We anticipate he will be a front-runner from the drop of the green flag in Long Beach.”

Wilson was pipped to a Jaguar race drive by Austrian Christian Klien. His hopes of landing a test role with the Big Cat were ended when teams refused to scrap a rule dictating that third drivers must not have competed in more than six races over the past two seasons.

He returned to competitive action last weekend in the Sebring 12 Hour race but retired.


FIRMAN TAKES NISSAN DRIVE
Last Updated: Friday, 26 March , 2004, 09:31

Former Jordan driver Ralph Firman has signed to drive in the Nissan World Series this year.

Firman clinched a deal to join the crack Gabord Competicion team just days before the first race of the season at Jarama this weekend.

The Brit has much to live up to – Ricardo Zonta in 2002 and Franck Montagny last year both won the championship driving for Gabord.

Firman said: "I am delighted to join Gabord Competicion as the team aims to capture a third successive Formula Nissan World Series title.

“The team has clearly dominated the championship in previous seasons so although I have little preparation time before this weekend's opening events I know they have everything in place to give me the chance to do well.

"There are very few prestigious championships outside Formula 1 but the Nissan World Series is one of them and to have been offered this drive comes as a great boost to me.”

The Nissan World Series boasts a strong driver line-up this year, including Firman’s fellow F1 refugee Enrique Bernoldi and ITV-F1 columnist Heikki Kovalainen.




Zanardi makes full-time race return
At Monza this weekend

Alex Zanardi makes his full-time return to motor racing this weekend.

The Italian, former Formula One star for Lotus and Williams, lost both his legs and nearly his life in an horror Champ Car shunt at the Lausitzring in 2001.

He is to steer a BMW in the ETCC-opener at Monza this weekend.

HAND-CONTROLLED

Zanardi debuted a hand-controlled 320i at the circuit late last season.

'My expectations are totally different,' the Monaco-based star insisted.

He concluded: 'I surprised everybody, including myself, with my pace in the tests but I want to keep my feet on the ground - if I can say that.'

Renault has 'taken it easy' on V10-revs
But an engine evolution is on the way

Jarno Trulli has predicted a 'huge improvement' for his Renault F1 team.

The Enstone-based outfit has already confirmed a step on its new 72- degree F1-engine for the San Marino Grand Prix which takes-place at Imola next month.

But Trulli, the Italian driver, said Renault may also have been taking it easy.

'I think the [engine] evolution will be a huge improvement,' he said.

SPEED TRAPS

He and Spanish team-mate Fernando Alonso have been consistently mid- pack in the speed traps at the first two races of season-2004 in Australia and Malaysia.

The RS24 is an all-new architecture to combat single-powerplant rules.

It appears to be revving at about 1000rpm under pace-setters Ferrari and BMW, which a source predicts could translate to an around 30-40 horsepower deficit.

Trulli continued to Autosport magazine: 'At the moment, for the sake of reliability, we've maybe been prepared to take it a bit easier than normal.'

F1 cars are 'too fast': Jarno Trulli
not really the kind of opinion you normally hear from a driver

It's not really the kind of opinion you normally hear from a driver but Renault star Jarno Trulli has called on the rule-makers to curb the rising speeds of F1.

Trulli, from Italy, is a director of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association. He told Autosport: 'Normally, us racing drivers are happy to go faster ... but now the cars are too fast.'

F1 landed on the season-opening tracks at Albert Park (Australia) and Sepang (Malaysia) and demonstrated advances of multiple-seconds per- lap over last year.

The tyre-war and aerodynamic advances are most likely to blame. 'It's something the technical people have to sort out,' said Jarno Trulli.

The F1 Technical Working Group's latest speed-curbing changes were a single-engine formula and mainly minor-tweaks to the aerodynamic car- regulations

L i N d $ @ y

oh, its okay. i blame mclaren actually. it wasn't driver's error that makes him retire in the past 2 races.

marie: like i said before about JPM, i don't like his personality but on-track he's good. hopefully, jenson can get his seat with williams back but after that win in sepang for BAR...his future with the team looks bright. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

can't wait for bahrain! [img]smilies/hotpinkie.gif[/img]

*MH*

I think Jenson would be mad to leave BAR. why do i say that? answer: at the moment it looks like BAR and Honda are going in the right direction and if they keep progressing then they should be challenging for wins in the not too distant future. Surely it's better for Jenson to have continuity than to move to Williams. David Richards had faith in Jenson and has made Jenson seem to believe that he is world class and mayed Jense wants to repay DR for being one of the few who believed in him... ofcourse he may want to return to Williams because they were the team who brought him in to F1.

[ 03-27-2004: Message edited *MH* ]

L i N d $ @ y

well, at least jenson had the last laugh. i mean, when he was with renault, they had no podiums. and now with BAR, its manageable! he gets stronger in every race and hopefully he'll get P1's and a podium again. he looks right at home with BAR! [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

hitzi1

Hello! [img]smilies/wave.gif[/img]

Sorry, I've been lacking this place intentionally. I'm having a Formula 1 crises of some sort. [img]smilies/look.gif[/img] [img]smilies/crazy.gif[/img] <-- me.

Um... so that was actually it. I just wanted to come and say it. [img]smilies/lol.gif[/img] Isn't it weird, Marie's seen the light and all I'm seeing is the darkness.

Ok ok. I'll go now. [img]smilies/lol.gif[/img]

²Jens

Hi Hitzi [img]smilies/wave.gif[/img]

You and Marie are like water and fire! [img]smilies/lol.gif[/img]

Maybe you have a Formula 1 crises because Schu wins every race and there is no changing colour in the box!? [img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img]

L i N d $ @ y

[img]smilies/crazy.gif[/img] but you make me laugh! [img]smilies/lol.gif[/img]

jens: i'm gonna just roll my eyes again if schumi wins in bahrain. i mean, i just hope its another driver who's not michael, you know. he can win in imola. bahrain should probably be for another driver. [img]smilies/lol.gif[/img]

foreva_99

I am going to scream if Michael wins the next race. Even if he is the fastest guy on the track I would love it if someone would bump him from behind or if there was some sort of failure.

Thanks for all the news Marie. [img]smilies/love.gif[/img] the whole part about JV and the fact that he is having a sabbatical year. A forced year off is more like it. Have my fingers crossed that he will have somewhere to race next year.

[img]smilies/party.gif[/img] awesome news about Alex Zanardi.

L i N d $ @ y

i'm gonna scream with you too, bel! i swear! [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img] maybe someone else other than the ferrari team can take the podium at bahrain? [img]smilies/look.gif[/img]

²Jens

Yup Jenson, Webber, Alonso or maybe Kimi? [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] But I have a feeling that the red nightmare strikes back and we have nothing to laugh this year. [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img] But in some weeks the MotoGP starts. And I think this year's championship will be a exciting one. Go Rossi Go! [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

Zanardi finished in Monza on 9th place in race One and 10th in race Two. Interesting is when you finish in race One on place 8 you can start from the Pool Position in race Two. It would be so great if he would win a race this year in the ETCC!

[ 03-29-2004: Message edited ²Jens ]

L i N d $ @ y

well, i'm not saying that i don't want ferrari to win ever. just not everytime. the other teams, i'm pretty sure, are always challenged by ferrari. like everytime ferrari wins, they strive better. so its kind of a good blessing that ferrari wins. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Mei Zhuo

[img]smilies/wave.gif[/img]

thanks for all the news marie [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

ok, i'm not really a fan of jpm, linds knows that [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] but i think he's a good driver but other than that, i don't like him, maybe it's because of his personality [img]smilies/look.gif[/img] but i admit i used to like him when i first watched f1.

re the bahrain race, i hope another person wins it aside from michael for a change. i like ferrari but i think it will also be good if some other teams give them some challenge [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

linds: 7 pm here? [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] can't wait! [img]smilies/blinkie.gif[/img]

[img]smilies/wave.gif[/img] marie, linds, bel, hitzi, jens

L i N d $ @ y

yup, 7pm here. like the european races. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] i'm sure you'll be at home that time? [img]smilies/look.gif[/img]

again regarding JPM, let's see next year. i hope he blends well with mclaren. i'm not too sure if ron dennis is fond of him.

foreva_99

It will be very interesting to see the relationship between Ron Denis and JPM. Denis is famous for the close relationship that he had with Mika Hakkinen and to a lesser extend the one that he has with David. We all know that he and Kimi are close as well. I am looking forward to seeing how well they work together. They might surprise us and get along really well.

I don't mind Ferrari winning the occasional race, not much anyway, but, it would be nice to see someone else up there so that we can have a close championship race. There is nothing worse then seeing the same team and driver winning all year. I want it to go down to the wire like it did last year. A battle between three or four of the drivers would be awesome.

BIG [img]smilies/wave.gif[/img] to everyone.

L i N d $ @ y

well, yeah, let's see if ron & JPM will get along fine. i'm sure in terms of work, they'd defnitely be talking to each other but off-track, will they still be? [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

finally, the weekend's almost here! [img]smilies/hotpinkie.gif[/img] i've seen some pics up already on f1-live but they're not much. i see some shieks. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]