MARCH

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MARCH

1: Martin Brundle tests for McLaren at Silverstone. The circuit is clouded by a veil of secrecy.

2: Lotus confirms that it is to be sponsored by the Miller Brewing Company.

.5: Eddie Irvine crashes heavily at MagnyCours, while testing the new Jordan. The Ulsterman is unharmed.

5: luha Kankkunen wins as Toyota finishes 1-2 on the Rally of Portugal. 5: Bar Ty Webb (Mallock) wins the opening

club event of the British season, at Silverstone.

6: T he BPRO stages its first GT race at Paul Ricard. The 40-car field is dominated by Porsche 911s and Venturis. Jean-Pierre Jarier/Bob Wollek/Jesus Pareja dominate the event in one of the former.

6: Victory in the Pontiac 400 at Richmond elevates Ernie Irvan to the head of the NASCAR points standings.

h Tyrrell runs its 022 for the first time, at Brands Hatch.

7:Arrows confirms that Gianni Morbidelli will race alongside Christian Fittipaldi in its Fl line-up.

7:Simtek announces that Roland Ratzenberger will partner David Brabham in the first five Grands Prix of the year. Original nominee Jean-Marc Gounon has signed to contest the French touring car series with BMW, but nonetheless hopes to join Simtek for the last 10 races of the season, commencing with the French GP.

7: 11 Lehto is passed fit to resume testing with Benetton.

7:It becomes apparent that Ferrari’s 333SP sports racer will not now debut in the Sebring 12 Hours. 7:French preparation company Danielson hints that it will enter the FIA European, F3000 series. Drivers are expected to be I Nicholas Leboissetier and Jerome Policand. n

7:Ari Vatanen’s return to the World Rally Championship is confirmed. The Finn will drive a SRS Ford Escort Cosworth.

T oy ota introduces its new rally Celica.

8: Volvo discloses that it will commence the British Touring Car Championship season with the estate version of the 850.

11: Tony George, President of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, announces his intention to set up his own IndyCar series, in association with the United States Auto Club. One of the rounds of the new championship, which could be ready to start as early as 1996, will be the Indianapolis 500. The news comes as a bombshell to CART teams, who are mostly in transit at the time the news breaks, en route to Surfers Paradise.

//: Fl testing concludes at Imola. Michael Schumacher sets fastest time, ahead of the Williams-Renaults of Ayrton Senna and Damon Hill. Roland Ratzenberger has his first run for Simtek; JJ Lehto has a gentle run, his first outing in an El car since his accident at Silverstone.

11: While most of the Fl world was pounding around at the home of the San Marino GP, McLaren ventured to Estoril, where Alain Prost renewed acquaintance with the team that gave him three World Championships. The Frenchman laps at similar pace to Mika Hakkinen, and the initial feeling is that he will race, once he has sorted out his contractual situation with Williams, but that means that there could be a vacancy at McLaren for the first two GPs. . .

12:Dougie Watson-Clark/lan Connelly (Escort Cosworth) win the Malcolm Wilson Rally.

13: Ernie Irvan takes a second consecutive NASCAR victory, winning the Purolator 500 at Atlanta. IndyCar refugee Danny Sullivan fails to qualify, as he had at Daytona.

/3:Dermot Carnegie (Metro 6R4) wins the opening round of the British Rallycross Championship, at Brands Hatch.

/4:Rumours sweep France that MagnyCours will lose the French GP to Le Mans’ Bugatti Circuit, suitably upgraded, when the present contract expires. Elsewhere, it looks likely that Adelaide may surrender the privilege of hosting the Australian GP at the end of this year. 14:The European F3000 line-up is becoming more settled. Vincenzo Sospiri joins Super Nova, while teenage Brazilian sensation Tarso Marques signs for Vortex Motorsport. The returning Middlebridge team to run South

tenzel.

4: PSR’s Dario Franchitti is quickest as the iajority of British F3 teams test at Silvertone. ‘5:Alain Prost appears on French TV to announce that he will not, after all, be racing in Fl this year. The test at Estoril, he says, made him realise that he is no longer prepared to push himself as hard as the sport demands he should. Prost’s decision makes Martin Brundle the favourite to partner Mika Hakkinen at McLaren, though

Brundle and Philippe Alliot had both tested for the team in Portugal the previous week. 16: Paul Stewart Racing introduces its Formula 3000 line-up. Gil de Ferran will be joined by French F3 champion Didier Cottaz