FEBRUARY 3, 1997

Gary Anderson on the 197

OUR development program has combined with aerodynamic improvements to give us a massive amount more downforce than we had with the 196.

OUR development program has combined with aerodynamic improvements to give us a massive amount more downforce than we had with the 196. I don't want to be too specific, so I will just describe it as a very significant increase. In fact, in all my time in motor racing, I have never seen such a big step forward as we have made this year. What enabled us to do this was starting the program in the middle of the year - a luxury we have not been able to afford in the past because we didn't have enough staff available. We've also had a bit of luck. We went looking for improvements and because we set off in the right direction we found them. The improvements we have made throughout the car aren't all radically new things - some are areas where perhaps we were lacking last season in comparison to other teams."

"On our track simulation program measuring the 1997 aerodynamic against 1996 data, the new car ended up on pole at every race. All the teams will have moved forward over the winter months so unfortunately I don't think that will be the case in reality, but we are still looking at a significant improvement.

"I want to win and I think we have the instruments in the car and the new technology to develop the car that will enable us not only to be competitive this season but more importantly to stay competitive. It will be hard work but I don't see why it shouldn't happen. We've made a major step forward with this car and as long as the drivers back up that improvement and we cope with the new engineering situation at race meetings we should already be around two seconds a lap quicker at each track.

"The difference between the two cars is black and white so, although it is nice to dream, in reality I really don't see why we shouldn't win races this year."