SEPTEMBER 7, 2002

A name to look out for...

The Belgium Grand Prix paddock was relatively quiet this year - at least in terms of celebrities. Nigel Mansell and Thierry Boutsen were there but almost unnoticed there was also former F1 driver Erik Comas, who has been racing in recent years for Toyota in Japan. The Frenchman was at Spa in his role as the manager of Romain Dumas, a young Frenchman who Comas believes has the talent to go all the way to the top. The 24-year-old is currently leading the European Formula 3000 Championship in a John Village Automotive entry. The team has close links with David Sears's Super Nova empire.

Dumas is a former winner of the Volant Elf and remained an Elf-backed driver until the end of 1997. That year he finished third in the French Formula Renault Championship but the intense competition for Elf money meant that it was not enough and ended up without a drive and did not reappear until he joined the Formula Palmer Audi series in 1999. In 2000 he was in French Formula 3 and last year started racing in the European F3000 series, while also competing in GT races in Japan with Toyota, thanks to his links with Comas. This year he has continued to race in sports car events in addition to his F3000 program.