Statement from Circuit de Nevers-Magny-Cours

Nevers Magny-Cours circuit Supervisory Board names Serge Saulnier as chairman and Gilles Alegoet as member

During a meeting held today, the Supervisory Board of the Nevers Magny-Cours circuit, chaired by Georges Eymery, has named Serge Saulnier as Chairman and Gilles Alegoet as a member of the board of the circuit's management company, with a renewable mandate until 2013.

The 57-year-old Saulnier is originally from Nevers and a resident of Magny-Cours where, between 1980 and 2006 he owned the Promatecme and Saulnier Racing teams before becoming the Sporting Director and Team Manager of Peugeot Sport in September 2006.

"I am delighted and proud of the mandate given to me by Georges Eymery, the Chairman of the Supervisory Board, and by Marcel Charmant, Chairman of the County Council of the Nièvre region, the main shareholder of the Circuit. I take this role knowing the responsibilities that have been bestowed on me in a difficult economic and sporting climate. The automotive industry as a whole and motorsport in particular, are changing. We must be creative, imaginative and rigorous in order to best meet the challenges of tomorrow while simultaneously developing the number, quality and success of our major automotive and motorbike events. I will assume this task in the best interests of the Magny-Cours circuit, its partners and its public," said Saulnier, who now leads an organisation in which he has taken a keen interest in the evolutions and developments during the past 30 years.

The 49-year-old Alegoet has also been nominated as a member of the Board. "I am delighted with my appointment as a member of the Board of the Nevers Magny-Cours circuit and I would like to thank Marcel Charmant and Guy Ligier, who will become a shareholder in the company, for their trust. I first discovered the Magny-Cours circuit in 1989 when I started working in Formula One as an engineer with Guy Ligier's team. I am happy to now use my experience for the benefit of this magnificent, world renowned circuit, which is part of French motorsport heritage," said Alegoet, an engineering graduate from the Ecole Centrale de Paris school who worked as a race engineer with Ligier (1989-94), Sauber (1995-98) and Prost Grand Prix (1999-02) before becoming Technical and Commercial Director of Martini Automobiles in Magny-Cours in 2003.

During a previous meeting of the Supervisory Board of the Nevers Magny-Cours circuit held on Monday 8 February, the County Council of the Nièvre region, the majority shareholder of the circuit, chaired by Marcel Charmant, produced a signed letter of agreement with Invest Grand Duche, a company whose major shareholder is Guy Ligier, to buy a stake in the Circuit's management company. This proposal was ratified by the Supervisory Board and approved on the same day by the General Assembly of the Shareholders. At a value of €402,000, the investment will provide an increase in the share capital of the Company and will take place before 30 June 2010.

"After the creation of the circuit by Jean Bernigaud and then the purchase of the land and infrastructure by the County Council of the Nièvre region in order to rebuild the site for the Formula One French Grand Prix, which was held continuously between 1991-2008, this is the third most important phase in the circuit's history thanks to the recruitment of individuals with a proven background in motorsport," said Marcel Charmant. "Magny-Cours represents the circuit and its facilities, but also the Technopole, its companies, which are motorsport industry leaders, its capacity as a training and research centre at the highest level, especially in the area of new energies."

-source: nevers magny-cours press