MARCH 17, 1997

Martini on the stand

FORMER Grand Prix driver Pierluigi Martini was on the witness stand in Imola last week, giving evidence as a prosecution witness in the manslaughter cases against Frank Williams, Patrick Head and Adrian Newey.

The veteran of 119 Formula 1 starts told the court that after tests at the circuit in March the Formula 1 drivers were worried about the uneven track surface in Tamburello corner and asked the track authorities to do something about it.

Martini said that resurfacing work in the corner had created a "small bump" in the middle of the corner which unsettled the cars but that he did not think that this had anything to do with the accident which killed Senna.

The bump was ground down in the days before the race but Martini said that the work had not made much of a difference.

Martini added that "a driver like Senna would not have left the track at that point unless there was some kind of problem."