NEWS INTERNATIONAL RACING SITE
Source: BBC Ceefax
Date: December 3
Subject: Ligier signs Shinji Nakano

The French Ligier team have signed Japanese driver Shinji Nakano for the 1997 Formula One season. Nakano will partner Frenchman Olivier Panis in the team. The 25-year-old Nakano finished on the podium three times in the 1996 Japanese Formula 3000 championship (Formula Nippon) and has signed a one-year contract. Ligier boss Flavio Briatore said: "The tests Shinji has done for us in Japan, France and Spain have allowed us to gauge his potential."