FEBRUARY 21, 2002

Sarrazin linked to Toyota testing role

THERE are rumors in France that former Prost Grand Prix test driver Stephane Sarrazin may get a full-time job this year as a test driver with Toyota Motorsport. The new team already has Australian Ryan Briscoe under contract but he has no major F1 experience behind him and so the team was looking for someone else to support the efforts of Mika Salo and Allan McNish. Sarrazin has had a frustrating time in recent years. The 27-year-old won his first race in Formula 3000 in 1998 and that year tested for Prost for the first time. He stayed in F3000 in 1999 and made his F1 debut with Minardi that year in Brazil, standing in for the injured Luca Badoer. He did a solid job before a front wing failure resulted in a spectacular accident at the high-speed final corner at Interlagos.

He hoped to get a Prost drive in 2000 but the team offered him only a testing role and his F3000 career hit trouble with a troubled season in the McLaren Junior Team. Since then Sarrazin has been hanging on...