AUGUST 31, 1998

Tom to stay with Arrows V10s

TOM WALKINSHAW is understood to be moving away from the idea of running with Supertec V10 engines next year, preferring to spend the $23m which is being demanded for the French engines to develop his own promising V10 power units.

We understand that Tom was worried that Mecachrome would not be able to guarantee the same kind of performance as this year despite asking for a great deal more money.

Tom's Arrows V10 engines have not received enough funding this year but have performed well on occasion although it is clear that they have lacked the horsepower of the factory-backed engine programs. Spending $23m on the engine would undoubtedly produce better performance.

The move would certainly be welcomed by British American Racing as the new operation is trying hard to become the top Supertec team next season. Although there are contracts with Williams and Benetton there is little doubt that Renault Sport - which is supposed to be developing the Mecachrome engines for Supertec - knows that both teams are planning to use other engines in the year 2000 and that it is logical to concentrate more on BAR. This will also put the team in a better position if Renault does decide that it can justify returning to F1 in the year 2001.