AUGUST 18, 1997

Panis aiming for Luxembourg GP

OLIVIER PANIS says he hopes to be back in action in F1 for the Luxembourg Grand Prix at the Nurburgring at the end of September - and not at Monza as was suggested in Hungary. Panis says he does not want to rush back before his injuries are properly healed and intends to try out a Formula 3000 car at Magny-Cours before he gets back into a Prost-Mugen F1 car.

The news means that Jarno Trulli will remain with Prost for three more races. The young Italian who has done a very impressive job since replacing Panis in June is expected to return to Minardi for the final races of this season but Prost has an option to retain his services next year, when he should become Panis's Prost-Peugeot team mate.

Trulli signed what is believed to be a 10-year contract with the Benetton Family at the end of 1995. Benetton then paid for his 1996 season in German Formula 3 and organized his drive with Minardi. Several top teams in the F1 paddock are beginning to show interest in Jarno, the most important being Williams, which had talks with him when at the end of 1995, just before Benetton grabbed him. There have been suggestions that the Benetton contract would not survive scrutiny under European Community law.