The seminar, which will be hosted at the Paul Ricard circuit at the beginning of 2007, is the brainchild of Institute Fellow, Professor Gérard Saillant. He believes that whilst motor sport is lucky to have numerous volunteer doctors working on events around the world, those doctors would benefit from a continuous medical training programme specifically tailored for motor sport. Saillant will be working closely with the members of the Institute’s Medical Training Working Group to help achieve this.

Saillant said: “I plan to take a more active role in the FIA Institute this year. My job will be to improve the training of the many medical physicians in motor sport. Thanks to recent developments we have the quantity but we must now improve the quality.”

The seminar will not be limited to motor sport. The Institute will also invite representatives from other sports where risk management is a fundamental issue, such as rugby, skiing, cycling and boxing. Senior representatives of the International Olympic Committee and representatives of various national Governments will also be invited to attend.

The programme will cover a wide range of subjects in this area. For instance, it will examine what type of sport should be considered high risk, take a look at the legal and insurance issues relating to those risks, and look at universal ways to help prevent and limit the risks and establish best practice. If the first seminar is a success it is envisaged that it will develop to become an annual conference hosted by the Institute.

Paul Ricard, the venue for the opening event, was chosen last year as the FIA Institute’s first Centre of Excellence for Motor Sport Safety. As such, it will be used by the Institute as it’s main European centre to host safety seminars, train motor sport officials, and test new safety features designed by the Institute’s working groups. The Institute’s Centre of Excellence programme continues to develop with the aim of establishing similar facilities in regions around the world with a particular focus on emerging motor sport markets such as China, the Middle East and India.