By: N.A. on March 6, 2000
Original Article: AUTOWEEK, VOL. 50, ISSUE 11

MICHELIN ON TRACK
Michelin will start testing its Formula One tires on a Williams-BMW next month. The French tiremaker will re-enter Formula One in 2001 (AW, Dec. 27, 1999) and has already signed Williams and, when it enters, Toyota. A Williams test team will do the tire development this year at several F1 tracks.

BRUNETTI REPLACES HORNE
Tony Brunetti has been named Forsythe Championship Racing vice president and general manager, more or less replacing Steve Horne, who resigned (AW, Feb. 28). Brunetti joined Forsythe in 1993. And where’s Horne going? Hottest rumor has him about to land a full-time job at CART, overseeing all racing activities.

NEW FERRARI GT RACER
The Turin race car and prototype specialist Italtechnica is building a limited run of Ferrari 550 Maranellos called the Millenio, for the Le Mans 24 Hour and the FIA GT Champion-ship. It is a purely privateer venture with no backing, either financial or technical, from Ferrari. The project is backed by a group of wealthy investors under the title GT Racing Development. They include Swiss sports car racer Jean-Denis Deletraz, whose FIRST Racing team will enter up to three Millenios in the FIA series.

SALEEN LINKS WITH BTCC TEAM
Ford tuner Steve Saleen has linked up with last year’s British Touring Car Championship team Ray Mallock Limited to develop its next-generation Mustang GTS. The deal means that the British team will be involved in both the road and the race car. The British-built Saleen RS should make its race debut toward the end of the American Le Mans Series schedule. Saleen’s U.S. team, Saleen-Allen, will run the Grand-Am series, starting with round two at Phoenix in April. Ray Mallock Limited is still in the running to become Opel’s fourth team in Germany’s DTM 2000 series.