Alexander Wurz ready to stake his claim for Formula One greatness

   Copyright c 1998 Nando Media
   Copyright c 1998 Reuters

SPIELBERG, Austria (Jul 23, 1998 - 22:28 EDT) -- He is on the front cover
of sports magazines everywhere and he is talked of as a future world
champion.

He is the local man and the coming hero -- and one of a rare breed in
international motor sport.

But for Alexander Wurz, his home event at this weekend's Austrian Grand
Prix, means nothing special and the media acclaim for his rising stock in
the ultra-competitive world of Formula One is taken calmly in his stride.

Wurz, just 24, knows what he wants. His sights are set on his first victory
and, after that, a serious tilt at the world title.

"Obviously, that is my ambition. If it wasn't, I don't think I would
be in Formula One. I have won one world championship already -- in BMX
cycling -- and I want to win more."

Wurz arrives in Spielberg for this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix hailed as
the latest in a line of great young Austrian drivers, a line that has
threaded its way from Jochen Rindt via Niki Lauda to Gerhard Berger and now
the fresh-faced young man from Waidhofen.

"The first Grand Prix I ever saw was Niki Lauda's comeback race at
Monza in 1976. The commentator said he was in the red and white car and, of
course, these were the colours of the team sponsor -- but I thought it was
supposed to be the colours of the Austrian flag!

"From the age of 10, when I played soccer and took part in athletics
and started to race in BMX, I always knew I wanted to be a racing driver.

"There were not too many common elements between riding a bike and
driving an F1 car, but there were some lessons to be learned. I realised
that if you do not always push 100 per cent and give your all in training,
you will not be on top.

"I picked that up in BMX. I always had to be the last to stop
pedalling before a jump and the first to start again after it. You have to
do the maximum and it is a lesson that applies not only to sport, but also
to your private life and to business."

Wurz was BMX world champion at the age of 12, urged on by his
highly-competitive father who is a former rallycross competitor. When he
grew tired of the antics of those around him in BMX, he switched to four
wheels and started a car-racing career that has taken him from karts and
Formula Ford to the top in the last 12 months with Benetton.

In his first full season, this year he has claimed six points finishes in
nine races but without yet equalling his best-ever result -- a third place
at Silverstone in the 1997 British Grand Prix, only his third Formula One
race as a deputy for compatriot Berger. At the end of 1997, he gave up
being Berger's stand in and stole his role as team star.

Now he is teammate to Italian Giancarlo Fisichella in a reviving Benetton
team that could spring a few suprises this weekend in Austria where Wurz is
hoping for another podium finish.

"Going home is not particularly important for me," he said.
"But don't get me wrong. I do like going to Austria and I think the
organisers have done a great job to get the race back on the calendar.

"For me, on the one hand it can be really special as you are racing in
front of a home crowd, but on the other it is a very busy weekend with
everyone wanting something from me -- lots of interviews for example and
lots of old friends who want tickets."

But for Wurz nothing is really a bother. He always stays cool -- as he did
in Montreal when his car flipped over and his head bounced agonisingly
close to the gravel trap following the start.

As hearts were held in mouths all over the world, Wurz waited, hopped out
and then jogged calmly back to the garage. "I'm fine," he told
his Benetton team. "Please sort out the spare car for me, for the
re-start.....I'm just going to the toilet."

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