Villeneuve to test China's Zhuhai track

   Copyright c 1998 Nando Media
   Copyright c 1998 Agence France-Presse

HONG KONG (Oct 17, 1998 - 1:08 EDT) - Reigning world champion Jacques
Villeneuve is due next week in the southern Chinese town of Zhuhai to test
Formula One racing's latest venue, it was reported Saturday.

Villenueve is due to arrive in Zhuhai, bordering the Portuguese-run
territory of Macau, on October 23 to take a spin around the Zhuhai
International Circuit, which has become part of the 1999 Formula One World
Championship provisional calendar.

"We are organizing his trip, and he's first coming to Hong Kong before
travelling to Zhuhai," a spokesman for the local public relations
company handling Villenueve's trip told the South China Morning Post.

"He will spend two hours on the track, including a photo shoot, and
will probably do several laps," he said. "Organizers in Zhuhai
will provide a car for him."

Villenueve will travel with his team, Winfield Williams, to Zhuhai, where
he will become the first Formula one star to drive around its circuit.

Zhuhai has been chosen to lead an Asian breakthrough in Formula One racing
with the announcement on Friday that it will host a Grand Prix next year.

The 4.32 kilometer (2.68 mile) track has a 100,000 spectator capacity. It
is set to stage the second race of the year on March 21 after the
Australian Grand Prix.

Malaysia's circuit at Sapang, near the new Kuala Lumpur airport, will not
be ready until the end of 1998 and will undergo more inspections before its
scheduled first Formula One race on October 17 next year.

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