News briefs from Magny Cours: Sunday

UPDATE A spokeswoman for formula one tire supplier Bridgestone on Sunday said she could not confirm or deny reports that team members were among the two passengers killed in a helicopter crash near Magny Cours on Saturday night.

07/01/07
(GMM) Further information is not yet available, but three F1-related people were killed when their helicopter crashed returning from the Magny Cours circuit on Saturday night. Two more people were seriously injured, amid rumors that they might have been part of the Bridgestone camp.

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Fernando Alonso's prayers seem to have been answered, because the French grand prix on Sunday will almost certainly be a wet affair. Local forecasters are predicting certain rain, although it may only be light. After his nightmare day on the track on Saturday, Spaniard Alonso will start just tenth and said: "Wet conditions produce mixed results. I need points but know finishing higher than fifth might not be possible."

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Ernesto Viso's spectacular crash aside, F1's support category GP2 was lucky to escape serious injury on Saturday. After teammates Timo Glock and Andreas Zuber drove into each other at the start, Glock experienced an Alex Wurz-style lucky escape after Zuber's car climbed over his cockpit. Later in a pit stop, a mechanic was struck by a car but not seriously hurt.