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      The Electronic Formula 1 News Service for the Internet
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                  *** February 7th 1996 ***
                   ***  Issue Number 12 ***
                        5 Weeks To Go
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                        In This Issue


           *Inoue Signs For Minardi
           *Mika Is Back
           *French GP On The Move
           *Senna Enquiry Speculation
           *New Cars Due Soon
           *Ligier Pleased With JS43
           *Jordan Happier With 196
           *Benetton Confident In B196
           *Sospiri Gets Benetton Test Role
           *Arrows Past Crash Tests
           *Tyrrell Testing Well




Inoue Signs For Minardi

Taki Inoue has signed for Minardi for the 96 season. He will join Pedro
Lamy at the Italian based team. Inoue was with Arrows last season, but his
seat had been taken by Ricardo Rosset. Taki will start testing for the team
on February 14, when the new car is due to be launched at Estoril.




Mika Is Back

Mika Hakkinen has driven a GP car for the first time since his accident in
Australia. Mika managed 30 laps in the McLaren at the Paul Ricard circuit
in France. He was close to the times set by Rubens Barrichello on Sunday.
He was watched by Alain Prost, and his manager former World Champion Keke
Rosberg.
The new McLaren car is due to be unveiled this coming Sunday (10th Feb 1996).




French GP On The Move

The French federation of sport (FFSA) have announced plans to switch the
French GP from Magny Cours back to the Circuit Paul Ricard at Le Castellet
from 1997. The Circuit Paul Ricard has the famous mile long "Mistral"
straight. The last driver to win a GP at Paul Ricard was Alain Prost who
won in 88, 89 and 90. It is proposed that Le Castellet will host the French
GP until 2002 when the GP venue will again be reconsidered. The change has
to be approved by the FIA before the move can be confirmed.




Senna Enquiry Speculation

Despite many reports in Newspapers last week that claimed the Williams team
and Imola management had been charged with manslaughter, the Italian
authorities have said that the technical report is still being considered
by prosecutor Maurizio Passarini and no charges have been brought yet. It
has been suggested that Frank Williams, Patrick Head, David Brown (Senna's
mechanic) a number of other Williams mechanics, the Imola race director
Giorgio Poggi and the director of SAGIS (the company that promotes the
Imola race) Federico Bendenelli could all face charges.
It is understood that Williams, and FIA president Max Mosley have seen a
copy of the technical report. Williams are said to be deeply opposed to the
reports findings, they have not had a chance to examine the car for
themselves as it is still impounded at Bologna. Max Mosley has said that
Ayrton was terribly unlucky. "It is something which will happen every now
and then, but the sport is becoming safer and safer."




New Cars Due Soon

A fleet of new cars are due to be launched in the next ten days. Among them
are the new McLaren MP4/11 and the Williams FW18.




Ligier Pleased With JS43

Ligier are said to be extremely pleased with the initial testing of their
new car.  The team were at Paul Ricard where they completed just under 300
laps. Olivier Panis managed a best time of 1.08.91 and team mate Pedro
Diniz managed 1.09.79. Ligier were hoping for more testing, but rain
affected the beginning of the week.




Jordan Happier With 196

Jordan were also at Paul Ricard, where the 196 performed much better.
Rumours that the car was a dog were quashed by Rubens Barrichello when he
posted a fastest time of 1.07.90




Benetton Confident In B196

The new Benetton B196 will commence testing at Estoril next week. The car
has a few changes which mark it as an evolution of the B195 rather than a
completely new car. The gearbox is now longitudinal and 7 speed and the
front suspension now has three dampers. Flavio Briatore is confident that
the team can win the constructors cup again. He has said that last year the
team demonstrated that it was important to have a good driver and a good
team. Benetton won both titles last year because they were the best team
and Michael was the best driver.




Sospiri Gets Benetton Test Role

Vincenzo Sospiri has landed the test role at Benetton. Vincenzo was briefly
linked to the Ligier seats. As part of the testing role he will also be
required to attend every GP, where he will be the named substitute driver
for the Benetton team.




Arrows Past Crash Tests

The Arrows FA17 has passed its crash tests and is expected to be launched
as planned at Silverstone next week.




Tyrrell Testing Well

The Tyrrell team have been testing at Brands Hatch. The car completed over
40 laps without any problems (except the weather, it is VERY cold in the UK
at the moment :-(... ). Mika Salo and Ukyo Katayama were both very pleased
with the performance of the new Yamaha engine. As Mika Salo said "the
engine is super good". The Tyrrell test seat looks likely to go to Emmanuel
Collard (currently Jordans test driver who looks like being replaced by
Fabrizio de Simone, the son of Jordans sponsor Uliveto)

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Formula 1 News is edited by Neil Whiley. (Neil@bigvern.demon.co.uk).
Check out the Web Site at: http://www.u-net.com/enigma/formula1
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