JANUARY 29, 1996

West goes west

WILLIAMS GRAND PRIX ENGINEERING has lost its director of sponsorship and marketing, Richard West. West is one of F1's top marketing men. He was first hired by Frank Williams in 1984, but was then poached by McLaren and stayed for four years before being lured away by Tom Walkinshaw Racing. After another four year spell, he went back to Williams, after an attempt to establish his own F3000 team - European Technique - failed to get off the ground.

The 39-year-old Englishman turned down a number of job offers - notably one from Walkinshaw - and now says that he is planning to have a rest from the sport and may work for a while in the travel business. It is unlikely, however, that Richard will escape from the sport, because his connections, built up over many years, are extremely valuable, and top teams are willing to pay large sums of money for that kind of introduction to a potential sponsor.