MARCH 16, 1998

Prost moving house

PROST GRAND PRIX has relocated its drawing office, marketing and communication departments to its new headquarters at Guyancourt, near Versailles.

PROST GRAND PRIX has relocated its drawing office, marketing and communication departments to its new headquarters at Guyancourt, near Versailles. The race team will remain at Magny-Cours until after the Argentine Grand Prix and some of the production and research and development divisions will remain where they are for some months yet.

While a lot of the Prost staff are relocating from Magny-Cours the team is recruiting rapidly at the moment and now has around 180 employees, including a lot of new young engineers many of them having little or no F1 experience. The location of the new factory means it is now relatively easy for the team to attract engineers and there are a variety of advanced engineering businesses in the area. These include Renault's advanced research department, called the Technocentre, plus a major facility belonging to the electronics firm Thomson and the test center of Societe Nationale d'Etude et de Construction de Moteurs d'Aviation, France's major aero-engine company. In addition the Guyancourt site is just a couple of miles from the St.ÊCyr Institut Aerotechnique.

The move, the new recruitment and the problems with the AP01 have led to some friction within the team although Prost and Peugeot both expect results as the car is developed. The team is due to begin a three-day test with one car in Barcelona this week with both Olivier Panis and Jarno Trulli due to run with the team.