JANUARY 2, 2002

Prost team goes rallying

RATHER than heading to Monte Carlo for the classic season opener of the World Rally Championship, the 200-plus members of the beleaguered Prost Grand Prix team will be rallying in Paris this New Year as they attempt to drum up the interest of European industrialists in backing the outfit's future.

Having gone into the hands of he administrators of a Vichy, quadruple champion Alain Prost and judiciary administrator Franck Michel are searching for new investors within the six month period of observation that was opened before the Prost team's assets are sold off to pay its outstanding financial commitments - totalling in the region of $30 million.

Time is running out for the team to make it to the start of the 2002 season however, and the team members are going to congregate outside the Ministry for Industry, in an attempt to draw attention to the team's plight and to sell the dedicated team members as a valuable asset to potential backers.

"There is a team of close to 200 men and women working for the survival of their team," said one employee's message on the official team web site. "And behind those 200 people are a vast number of French companies: our suppliers and partners."