April 11 1996

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All of the information in this section was obtained from a bloke down the pub, which means that while we believe all the following information to be true, we couldn't swear that it is.

What we will say however, is that usually, "there's no smoke without fire".....

Previous Issues

Diniz Fire Not Caused By Engine Blow
McLaren Engine Tampered With
Testing Starts Again
Head Backs Benetton For Title Challenge
Hungary Out
Minardi To Keep Marques
New Structure Announced At Ligier
Argentina Review
Argentina Results





Diniz Fire Not Caused By Engine Blow

The fire that engulfed Pedro Diniz during the Argentine GP was not caused by his engine failing. It appears that the refuelling valve on his car failed to close properly. This allowed fuel to escape under braking causing the flash fire that engulfed his car.

Headlines

McLaren Engine Tampered With

McLaren are claiming that persons unknown have inspected one of their engines, while it was in their pit garage at the Argentine GP. Mercedes Motor Sport Boss Norbert Haug said "It was quite obvious to us that the engine was inspected, we have the impression that the filter system was taken apart". In a separate incident three McLaren engines were left outside the Ferrari pit overnight when they were delivered to the wrong garage !!.F1 Espionage is not unknown and Arrows first car the FA1 was so close to the Shadows DN9 that a British High Court ruled the car a copyright infringement and banned Arrows from using it. The Arrows team was a breakaway group from Shadow. Perhaps the most embarrassing incident was when Williams caught a member of another team under their T-Car taking measurements ! Perhaps he dropped his contact lens ?

Headlines

Testing Starts Again

With F1 returning to Europe the testing season starts again in earnest. Ferrari will be reverting to their new gearbox, Minardi should have their new chassis ready and the other teams can all push on with development work.Nicola Larini has been testing the Ferrari at Fiorino while the teams have been in South America.

Headlines

Head Backs Benetton For Title Challenge

Patrick Head has said that he sees the main challenge to Williams coming from Benetton. He says that the Renault engine is the important factor in his views. He added that although many of the engine manufacturers had performance levels similar to the Renault "I will be interested to see if they can sustain that sort of performance down a long straight". Jordan is his outside bet as "The Peugeot engine looks pretty strong".

Headlines

Hungary Out

It is possible that the Austrian GP will return next year, in place of the Hungarian GP. It is rumoured that the newly refurbished Osterreichring has secured GP status from 1997 - 2002 inclusive. Other GP tracks that are in favour for inclusion next year include Kyalami.

Headlines

Minardi To Keep Marques

The young Brazilian Driver Tarso Marques is expected to remain in the Minardi seat for the rest of the season. He has impressed team owner Giancarlo Minardi so much that it is thought that he will replace Taki Inoue. Although he has yet to finish a race, his qualifying form has been very impressive.

Headlines

New Structure Announced At Ligier

Ligier are picking themselves up and re structuring their management in the wake of Tom Walkinshaw leaving. Team owner Flavio Briatore has said that Ligier will not be pulling out and that he wants the team to build on its recent improvements. Ligier continue to strive for a French engine, and with Renault saying that they would not supply any other teams it is believed that Ligier are now talking to Peugeot. Phillipe Aliot who has strong links with the French government and Peugeot is being linked to Ligier.

Headlines

Argentina Review

Damon Hill continued to dominate in Argentina. Fastest on Friday, Fastest on Saturday, started from Pole and won the race despite having no radio contact in the latter part of the race. Jean Alesi took the fastest lap beating Michael Schumacher's lap record with a time of 1.29.413.The Tyrrell and Ligier teams both had bad races, the Tyrrells went out and Diniz spun off the track engulfed in flames as his Ligier lit up in spectacular fashion. I think the quickest Diniz went all weekend was when he ran (literally) hot foot from his burning Ligier. Thankfully he was OK with just slight burns to his hand.More available from the reports section.

Headlines

Argentina Results

Pole	D. Hill	Williams
Winner	D. HIll	Williams
Fastest Lap	J. Alesi	Benetton	1.29.413

Headlines