Motor racing: Doubt cast on Imola surface

Oreste Dominioni, the lawyer defending Frank Williams, the Formula One team owner charged with manslaughter after the death of Ayrton Senna, yesterday raised doubts about conditions at the Imola track.

The defence rejected charges that the crash which killed the triple world champion at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix was caused by faulty engineering by the Williams team in steering wheel modifications.

Dominioni said the prosecution had failed to investigate fully the possibility that Senna's death may have been due to possible "anomalies in the asphalt" which could have caused cars "to become unstable".

However, Roberto Landi, defending the accused Imola officials, Federico Bendinelli and Giorgio Poggi, told the court later that the track had been "absolutely normal".

The trial continues on 11 March.