EXCLUSIVE TACH COVERAGE

Pennzoil joins the fray!

03/06/97

Andrew Frankl
European Bureau Chief - reporting from the scene.

You may all know this by now but as I have been hiding in the Australian bush for the last few days the news that Pennzoil has become one of Team Lola's lead sponsors came as a very pleasant shock! The T97/30 was built in under three months by the company best known for winning five CART World Series championships, three successes at Indy, won the Japanese F3000 title six times, and provided so many chassis to various teams all over the world that founder Eric Broadley was made a Member of the British Empire - an MBE - by Her Majesty the Queen.

"Lola has an involvement with Formula One which streches back a long way, but our entries have always been with partners. This time we are having a go on our own with the help of Mastercard, Pennzoil, and our other sponsors."

The car will be have a Ford-Cosworth V8 engine which may be a bit down on horse-power but will be excellent in the reliability stakes. The gearbox will be Lola's own six-speed semi-automatic developed by the company. The drivers- 29 year old Brazilian Riccardo Rosset has started 15 GPs, finishing 7 for Arrows. His team-mate- 30 year old Italian Vincenzo Sospiri was F3000 champion in 1995 and Benetton's test driver in 1996.

This afternoon there was an interesting press conference with Damon Hill and Michael Schumacher. Replying to fairly pointed questions from journalists they confirmed that whilst they were not the best of friends they were not enemies either. Having said that, Hill did make the point that you did not enter the boxing ring to kiss the other guy, consequently he did not feel too close to Schumacher when Michael was the only driver standing between him and the title. He also confirmed that the Yamaha engine was vastly inferior to last year's Renault engine but that they were working improving it. The question of tyres also arose and both drivers felt that Bridgestone might just spring a few surprises,especially in the wet.

The hard work starts tomorrow with untimed practice and after Saturday afternoon's timed qualifying session the flag will drop or the lights will shine - they change the procedure every year.. - Sunday afternoon at 2p.m. local time.