Brazilian Grand Prix
March 26, 1995

MONTERMINI SCORES 9TH ON PACIFIC-FORD DEBUT

Andrea Montermini scored an excellent 9th position in his Pacific-Ford
PR02,giving the car a strong debut and bringing Pacific Team Lotus a
fine start to the 1995 Formula One World Championship. The 30 year old
Italian had to overcome a problem with the car's floor, one of the 
mounting points breakingduring the 71 lap event and causing him to lap
some two seconds slower than previously, but otherwise the car ran 
perfectly.

The race start saw Andrea move into 20th position with team mate 
Bertrand Gachot running 22nd. Bertrand made rapid progress, moving up 
to 21st on lap 2 before overtaking Andrea and eventually working his 
way up to 14th position during the first round of pit stops.

Bertrand stopped after 24 laps, but the car was stuck in fifth gear 
and after leaving the pitlane he was unable to find a gear and was 
forced to retire.

BERTRAND GACHOT : "The car ran really well for me and I was 
having a good race until the gearbox problem began. I had to leave the
pit lane in fifth gear and then I had no gears at all. What we have 
proved today is that the new car, which was not really tested before 
coming to Brazil, has a lot of potential, and I am delighted for the 
whole team."

Andrea meanwhile lost considerable time during his first pit stop when
the refuelling equipment would not release properly. However, he 
quickly recovered and after rejoining in 16th position he moved up the
field as others hit trouble, and took 9th position just before the 
finish.

ANDREA MONTERMINI : "I am very happy to finish my first Grand 
Prix, and to give the Pacific team its first finish as well. The new 
car worked very well, the engine and gearbox were excellent, but I had
a major handling problem which we think was caused by the floor being 
broken. The car was hitting the ground a lot. Now I think we can look 
forward to developing the car, as we have a very good basis to work 
from."

KIETH WIGGINS, TEAM OWNER : "It is a great result for us. The 
car has performed remarkably well, which is a tribute to the work of 
the design team headed by Frank Coppuck, and to the way in which our 
Team Manager Ian Dawson and the mechanics have worked during the build
of the car and over the course of this weekend. The Cosworth ED engine
has proved to be strong and reliable, which was very important for us.
I have no doubt that we now have a solid foundation to develop this
car, and Bertrand and Andrea have done an excellent job this weekend."