JANUARY 30, 1995

Lombardi moved sideways at Ferrari

CLAUDIO Lombardi, former Ferrari technical director and, until last week, head of the Ferrari engine department, has left the team to take up a post in the Ferrari GT Engine Department.

CLAUDIO Lombardi, former Ferrari technical director and, until last week, head of the Ferrari engine department, has left the team to take up a post in the Ferrari GT Engine Department. The 52-year-old joined Ferrari in June 1991, but it was nearly four years before the team actually won a race under Lombardi's guidance - Gerhard Berger scoring a somewhat fortunate victory in Germany last summer.

In addition to Lombardi, Ferrari's 1994 technical director Valerio Bianchi has also left the team, leaving all the technical departments now reporting directly to team boss Jean Todt.

Paolo Martinelli, who currently heads Ferrari's road car engine design department, has been named as Lombardi's replacement.

Former McLaren engineer Giorgio Ascanelli has also joined the team and will take control of all race engineering.

Ferrari is due to unveil its new V12-engined 646 chassis at Maranello, Italy, next Monday. The John Barnard-designed car is rumored to be fairly conventional, but it is expected to feature only two-pedals and a largely composite gearbox. A V10 engine is in the pipeline for later in the year.