Former Prost Grand Prix driver Tomas Enge has been stripped of his F3000 championship title after he failed a drug test. Should a racing driver’s drug habits be scrutinised?
Former Prost Grand Prix driver Tomas Enge has been stripped of his F3000 championship title after he failed a drug test. Should a racing driver’s drug habits be scrutinised?
The Czech driver lost his title after being stripped of his win at the Hungarian round of the F3000 series, and has received a suspended 12-month ban from racing.
The young driver tested positive to a dope test after the race and after a further check the FIA opted to remove those points from his overall tally, which left him down in third place of the championship table overall.
After a meeting of the World Motor Sport Council in Paris on Tuesday, it was decided that Enge should lose the 10 points he received for winning the race at the Hungaroring, where he failed a drugs test taken during the meet.
The council studied the medical reports regarding the samples taken at Hungary, and listened to the case put forward by Enge, who denied taking the cannabis (dagga) found in the test.
After only losing the title by two points, Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais is now the 2002 champion. However, Enge’s woes don’t end there. As a further part of the FIA’s punishment, he will be forced to undergo routine testing throughout the upcoming 2003 season as a condition of keeping his licence.
“Tomas Enge’s licence will be suspended for 12 months. However, the licence suspension will be suspended on condition that Enge tests negative in random dope tests to be conducted over the next 12 months. The times and locations of these tests will be decided by the FIA.”
Enge said he respected the FIA’s decision and was grateful he could continue racing.
“I fully respect the ruling and I am glad that I can race further,” he told reporters. “I know the (FIA) council did not have an easy job and I respect its verdict.”
Cannabis is widely used for recreational purposes in European countries. The use of the drug has been legalised in Holland, and British authorities – in line with the policies of other European countries – announced that it would take a more lenient approach to prosecuting people caught in possession of the drug.
Unless the consumption of cannabis, in whatever form, is regarded as an unfair means of improving a racing driver’s abilities, was it necessary to punish Enge this harshly?