SEPTEMBER 7, 1998

Lemarie tries the Tyrrell

THE little-known French racing driver Patrick Lemarie was given a test run last week at Silverstone by the Tyrrell team.

THE little-known French racing driver Patrick Lemarie was given a test run last week at Silverstone by the Tyrrell team. Lemarie was a childhood friend of Jacques Villeneuve who began racing in French Formula Ford 1600 in the late 1980s. He was runner-up in the series in 1989, having scored three wins, and added another five in the two seasons which followed, finishing third in 1990 and runner-up again in 1991. Since then he has failed to make his mark in international racing, although he has competed in occasional Formula 3000 events thanks to backing from the French car maintenance company Speedy. Lemarie is managed by Craig Pollock, the boss of British American Racing, and it seems that the test is more about their friendship than about a serious test.

The Frenchman was about a second and a half off the pace set by Tora Takagi despite the fact that he was using an old engine. It is unclear whether Takagi was going as fast as he is able to do as he was simply shaking down the car for Lemarie.