Mansell to make competitive return

Britain's former Formula One world champion Nigel Mansell is returning to the wheel 10 years after his retirement to join the new Grand Prix Masters circuit, he announced yesterday.

The 52-year-old, who won the World Championship in 1992 with Williams, will make his first appearance in the inaugural race in South Africa on November 13.

Mansell has agreed a three-year deal as a driver and ambassador for the new series which pits top drivers from the past including Alain Prost and Emerson Fittipaldi in identical 600 brake horse power cars.

"Since winning the Formula One World Championship back in 1992 and eventually retiring in 1995, I have spent valuable time with my family," said Mansell in a statement.

"The hunger and desire to go racing, however, never leaves your blood but the right opportunity has never really come along - until now that is."

Apart from Fittipaldi and Prost, the Masters field will feature another former world champion, Alan Jones, and other leading names from the 1970s and 1980s including Riccardo Patrese, Rene Arnoux and Andrea de Cesaris.