JULY 14, 1997

Prost going it alone

HAVING lost a lot of political clout in the recent French elections we hear that Alain Prost has decided not to rely on any government help for the time being and is now looking at building his own windtunnel at his new factory at Satory, near Versailles. He is also expected to invest in a number of large test rigs which are essential in F1 today.

The original plan was for Prost to use French government-controlled windtunnels at the French military academy and engineering school of St. Cyr, close to Satory.

Although he is still connected with Craig Pollock through a merchandising agreement, Prost does not seem to be involved in the BAT-funded team which Pollock is setting up with Reynard. This means that he will have to do all the work himself and may result in the Magny-Cours factory being kept open for a few more months after the team moves in February. It is likely that the Magny-Cours facility will stay open until the team finishes a windtunnel at Satory so that the new tunnel can be checked against the old facility before that is closed down.

We continue to hear strong rumors that Prost is going to employ Renault Sport's technical director Bernard Dudot to oversee his engineering team.