  News of 31st December 2002Alain confirmed chance of him racing again!  Swiss newspaper Dimanche.CH published an exclusive interview with Alain Prost on Sunday! Jean-Marie Wyder from Dimanche.CH was meeting Alain for an exclusive interview in Alain's private mansion in Nyon / Switzerland. When he asked Alain why there was this long silence, Alain replied, that it was his will, because it was a very difficult time for him. There were the closing of the company, the end of the team and, especially, the way in which all that was happening and treated. Alain was saying that he lived four and a half years of a nightmare. He blames also France for all this. He mentioned the press, but also that they were having four tax-controls!! Alain said, that he was relieved right immediately after the liquidation, but had some ups and downs afterwards. Alain said: "Fortunately, I was surrounded by my true friends, people who are close to me, my family. I could do things for which I didn't have time before and quite a lot of sport, bicycling in particular." Alain also mentions that for two years, he had been in the search for a buyer of the team. He had about fifteen serious contacts, but at the end everything collapsed. Alain said that "the problem was not at the level of the recovery in itself but of the costs related to the exploitation. Today, a F1 team lives to approximately 85% thanks to its advertising receipts and 15% of the TV rights. Without true sponsor, the team dies..." Alain also said that he proposed to engage an engineer for 300 000 dollars. Another team then engaged the engineer for 4 million dollars! Due to Alain, this kind of scenario cannot continue, because the return on investment is not possible any more. Then the final question of the interview: You say: "One day, I will return." In which form?I would like to join the automobile sport again. I often go to the United States, not only to visit one of my sons who continues his studies in Columbia, but also for better understanding of how the Americans are doing it all. With a budget of 10 million US-Dollars, one can assemble a team in NASCAR and to have success! It is a formula which could tempt me! There were rumours of my intentions to do Le Mans, but it was on a simple invitation of Audi and Bentley that I was interested there, nothing else. On the other hand, there are good chances that I will drive some races of the trophy Andros (car racing on ice in France) in the coming weeks. This would mean for me to join again the base of this sport which gave me much and which can, I believe, still give me satisfaction. So, we can probably look forward to see Alain racing again and I hope that I will catch at least one of the Andros trophy races on French TV! Please click here to go back to Alain Prost-Newspage. |