SEPTEMBER 6, 2001
Enge to Prost
CZECH Formula 3000 front runner Tomas Enge has signed up to Prost as test driver for the remainder of the 2001 season, putting himself in pole position in 2002 and perhaps, should Luciano Burti not make it back to fitness, before the end of this season.
Enge's signing throws a question mark over French youngster Jonathon Cochet's position in the team - the 2000 French Formula 3 champion and Marlboro Masters F3 winner having passed up Formula 3000 this year for the F1 testing berth. Cochet lacks the sizeable backing offered to Enge from his homeland however, including the east European arm of Coca-Cola.
Enge is on course to finish second in this year's F3000 championship behind his British team mate at Nordic Racing, Justin Wilson, who wrapped up the title in Spa. Wilson will test for Jordan at Silverstone in a few days as the team's British backers Gallagher push for a home grown star to join the Benson & Hedges squad.
"I am very pleased that we have signed an agreement with Tomas which makes him our test driver for the remainder of the 2001 season," said Prost Grand Prix's Managing Director, Joan Villadelprat. "I have been following his previous years in motorsport with a lot of interest and he has proved to be a quick and competitive driver with an intelligent and aggressive driving style."
As Burti fights back to fitness after his gigantic shunt in the Belgian Grand Prix the queue of drivers waiting in the wings to fill in grows with Enge joining Cochet, Ferrari test driver Luca Badoer and Stephane Sarrazin.