Grapevine: Premier-1 Aims to Lure Mansell and Hill

British Formula One champions Nigel Mansell and Damon Hill could be tempted out of retirement by a new series involving leading soccer clubs.

Robin Webb, operations director for Premier1 Grand Prix, told reporters on Tuesday that he had approached the 1992 and 1996 World Champions despite his reservations about their age. He said this was because some clubs had expressed interest in the two drivers.

"If they said yes, and the clubs wanted them, they would be in," he said, when asked if he was serious about 48-year-old Mansell and 41-year-old Hill. "I think it would be wonderful, great fun."

Webb said 24 international clubs will be involved in the 10-race series at first, with each having one driver in a car painted in the club's colors. Portugal's Benfica and England's Leeds United are the only two soccer clubs so far confirmed.

Three more clubs, all European, will be announced on Thursday and organizers said they were still talking to Manchester United and Juventus of Italy.

F1 alternative

The series is scheduled to start in Portugal next July, with two races of 100 miles or one hour, whichever the drivers reach first, making up each round. Prize money of $125,000 will be available to the winners of each race, allowing a driver to take a potential $250,000 from each weekend.

However, no drivers have been signed by the organizers, who have billed their series as a more accessible alternative to Formula One. Premier1, whose operations are based in Switzerland, is the brainchild of British property millionaire Colin Sullivan and aims to fuse top level motor sport with club soccer.

The championship is not linked to Formula One or a rival Grand Prix series threatened by the major carmakers involved in Formula One. The cars will be identical and built by Reynard, who also make chassis for the American CART series, and powered by Judd V10 four liter engines capable of producing an estimated 750bhp.

The championship has been sanctioned by the International Automobile Federation (FIA) and a calendar was issued on Tuesday with eight European rounds and two in South America. None of the circuits pencilled in are currently on the Formula One calendar.