DECEMBER 11, 1995

The French strike out FIA decisions

THE series of strikes which have paralyzed the whole of France for the last 18 days as the unions take on the government, resulted in the cancellation of the FIA Prize giving Gala and World Council meeting in Monte Carlo last week.

This means that decisions over the 1996 F1 calendar have been put back until Thursday when the council will now gather in London.

The governing body nonetheless issued its list of prize winners this year, including The Promoter's Trophy (for the best F1 race according to a vote by F1 team owners), The FOCA TV Trophy (for the best TV coverage of a race), and The Bernie Ecclestone Trophy (for the national sporting authority whose drivers collected the most number of points in the F1 World Championship).

The Promoter's Trophy was won by Adelaide; the FOCA Trophy by the German TV station RTL for its coverage of the German GP, and the Ecclestone Trophy went to the Royal Automobile Club of Great Britain, thanks to the 183 points collected by Damon Hill, David Coulthard, Johnny Herbert, Mark Blundell and Martin Brundle in 1995. Eddie Irvine has, it seems, become Irish despite the fact that he was born at Newtonards in Northern Ireland (which is part of the United Kingdom), and until recently was resident at Conlig, which is also in Ulster.