MARCH 16, 1998

Big ambitions for Tyrrell refugees

TWO former Tyrrell employees have joined forces with Canadian disc jockey David "Kid" Jensen to launch a new team which they hope will eventually grow into a top racing operation.

TWO former Tyrrell employees have joined forces with Canadian disc jockey David "Kid" Jensen to launch a new team which they hope will eventually grow into a top racing operation. Simon Barker and Vincent Franceschini have started off well, having landed backing for the team from Budweiser, a brand belonging to the Anheuser-Busch brewery, the world's largest beer-making company.

Barker is a graduate of Cambridge University who joined Tyrrell in 1989 as a composite design engineer. In 1990 he began working as a race engineer, helping to guide Satoru Nakajima, Stefano Modena, Olivier Grouillard and ultimately Ukyo Katayama before becoming Production Manager at Tyrrell at the end of 1995.

Franceschini joined Tyrrell in May 1994 after spending several years in international marketing and after two and a half years moved to be media coordinator at Silverstone.

The operation, which will be based in Camberley, Surrey, will run youngsters Darren Malkin and Matt Bettley in the Formula Opel Euroseries but has plans to graduate to Formula 3 and beyond in the future.

"It is going to be tough," says Barker, " but we aiming to make the team into a top engineering and racing outfit. FormulaÊOpel is just the first rung on the ladder."