Blundell moves to Indycar

Mark Blundell is going to drive Indycars next year. He has signed up with PacWest Racing Group alongside ex-Formula One driver Mauricio Gugelmin. Blundell was not offered a seat in Formula One so leaving Indy Cars as the logical option. Blundell impressed the team in a test just before Christmas. Blundell commented on his decision: "I'm looking forward to a new challenge and it's the start of a great future in Indycar racing. Mark replaced ex-Indycar driver Nigel Mansell at McLaren in 1995.

Jacques Villeneuve leads the tests at Estoril (Portugal) team-mate Damon Hill. Overnight storms soaked the circuit but Villeneuve could drive 52 laps in the afternoon. He clocked a best time of 1:21.7. Hill came to a best time of 1:22.1. Hill drove 8 laps in the morning and just 27 laps in the afternoon. This is the beginning of serious testing with the new car for 1996. The McLaren team will start testing on Tuesday.

Ex-Formula One driver Hans Joachim Stuck has been convicted of tax-dodging between the years '84 and '89 with a fake US company. He was given a money fine of 350.000 German Marks and a two year jail sentence. He paid 600.000 Marks to stay out of jail. He also paid the tax money he owed: a total of 2 million + 1 million Marks fine.