UNITED KINGDOM: WILLIAMS RACING TEAM PACKS UP RACING CARS FROM FACTORY TO GO TO AUSTRALIA FOR THE FIRST GRAND PRIX RACE OF THE SEASON

Record ID: 337982

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: WILLIAMS RACING TEAM PACKS UP RACING CARS FROM FACTORY TO GO TO AUSTRALIA FOR THE FIRST GRAND PRIX RACE OF THE SEASON
  • Date: 21st February 2002
  • Summary: GROVE, ENGLAND, UK (RECENT - FEBRUARY 21, 2002) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. EXTERIOR OF WILLIAMS FACTORY, TRUCK OUTSIDE 2. VARIOUS OF ENGINEERS INSIDE WORKING ON CARS 3. 'SCHUMACHER' ON CAR 4. CAR BODY 5. 'MONTOYA' ON CAR 6. CAR LOWERED ONTO PLATFORM 7. CAR COVERED UP 8. EXTERIOR AT NIGHT 9. CAR PUT INTO TRUCK 10. TRUCK DOOR CLOSED Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 8th March 2002 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: GROVE, ENGLAND, UK
  • City:
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Reuters ID: LVA2BVMLBO4UDTCJZ4MCR97XJT4Q
  • Story Text: Williams has packed up the cars and equipment at its
    British factory ready for the first grand prix of the season,
    in Melbourne on Sunday March 3.



    Engineers have been busy packing crates and ensuring
    the cars are safely stowed away in trucks at their factory in
    Grove, near Oxford.

    The team remain optimistic even though McLaren were
    convincingly faster in the final pre-Australian Grand Prix
    test session of its other cars at Valencia.

    Frank Williams has brushed aside talk of tension between
    his drivers, Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher and said
    the pair had agreed to work together this year in a bid to
    secure the Formula One world title.

    Patrick Head, the Williams team's technical director, said
    that senior engineer Sam Michaels had phoned him recently to
    report with amazement that he had seen the two drivers
    talking, joking and enjoying each other's company.

    The German Schumacher, who is 26, is married with a son.

    He has started 83 Grands prix-- the first in Australia in 1997
    -- and won three.

    Colombian Montoya is also 26, but single. He has started
    17 Grands prix and won just the Italian, last year. His
    self-confident, no-nonsense approach as well as his flair and
    speed have endeared him to an army of fans.

    Team principal Williams looked ahead cautiously to the
    start of the season, which opens in Melbourne on March 3,
    saying they needed to take a look at the first two or three
    races before drawing any conclusions.

    Both Williams team directors said defending world champion
    Michael Schumacher was the bench-mark for measuring their own
    team and drivers.

    Both men picked McLaren-Mercedes, a team that has designed
    an adventurous car for this year's championship, as potential
    strong rivals to Ferrari.




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