JANUARY 18, 2007

FIA Institute attracts the drivers

The inaugural FIA Institute Safety Summit at Paul Ricard has been focussing on risk management in sport and has featured presentations from Toyota F1 boss Tsutomu Tomita, Williams F1 driver Alex Wurz and Dr Patrick Schamasch, Director of the Medical and Scientific Department at the International Olympic Committee - in addition to Professor Sid Watkins, the President of the FIA Institute, FIA President Max Mosley and Roland Blanchet, the chief assistant to Jean-Franois Lamour, the French Minister for Sport.

The racing delegates at the conference were joined by representatives from the worlds of soccer, rugby, cycling, boxing and American Football. The aim of the event is to identify a common strategy for reducing the risks in sport and maximising the benefits.

The event was marked by an interesting statement from the Grand Prix Drivers Association, which officially offered its support to the event.

"It is essential that we work constructively with the FIA and the FIA Institute to help minimise the risks in our sport," said GPDA director Ralf Schumacher. "As drivers we have a role to play in progressing research and development in this area and we are only too happy to offer our support to events such as this the first FIA Institute Summit."