OCTOBER 30, 1995

Stars queue up for Bercy karting

THE Formula 1 drivers may be paid a lot of money - but they do have work for it. With many of the top teams having completely new engine configurations for 1996 - notably Renault, Ferrari, Ford and Yamaha - a lot of drivers will be rushing back after the Australian Grand Prix to get to work developing cars for next year.

In addition there will be the annual round of prize-givings and motor shows and the annual Elf Indoor Karting event in Paris, France.

This is to be held at the vast Palais Omnisports at Bercy on the weekend of December 16-17 and is expected to feature all the top F1 names - and a few wildcards. The event is designed to showcase Elf-backed drivers against the top names in the sport - and all are supposed to have the same equipment. This is not entirely the case but in the past it has allowed drivers such as Johnny Herbert and Emmanuel Collard to show their paces.

Organized by former F1 racer Philippe Streiff, the 1995 event will probably feature Michael Schumacher, Damon Hill, Johnny Herbert and David Coulthard plus Jacques Villeneuve. Retired F1 champion Alain Prost traditionally takes part as do all the bright young hopes of Elf including Olivier Panis, Jean-Christophe Boullion, Franck Lagorce and Collard, plus F3000 drivers Guillaume Gomez, Emmanuel Clerico and Jean-Philippe Belloc, not to mention Elf's newly crowned French F3 Champion Laurent Redon.