MAY 26, 1997

Ford decides against customer V10s

JACKIE STEWART has managed to convince the management of the Ford Motor Company that it must concentrate its efforts in Formula 1 on designing and building a competitive V10 engine for his team and not split its energy by providing customer V10 engines next year.

The original plan had been for Stewart Grand Prix to use an all-new V10 engine in 1998 with two or more customer teams paying $8m apiece for the 1997 specification engines.

The current Ford V10 is not very competitive but with the current shortage of engines it will be a blow for those who hoped to be able to close the gap in the midfield.

The news will not be popular at Cosworth, which designs and builds Ford's F1 engines in association with the Advanced Engineering Department in Dearborn, Michigan. Cosworth has made considerable profits in recent years from customer engine programs which has helped its parent body Vickers plc to keep its shareholders happy.