"I told people just don't move, stay down"Four members of the Toyota team escaped unhurt here Friday night when their car was held up by armed gunmen and shots were fired. The two men and two women were driving back into the city of Sao Paulo from the Interlagos circuit
where they were working in preparation for Sunday's season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix.
Their car was one of around a dozen that was stopped as a gang of armed robbers demanded cash, jewellery and other valuables in what in Brazil is known as 'trawling', a mass armed robbery.
"I heard at least five shots were fired and we drove away, but it was very scary," said Brazilian Fernanda de Mello Villa-Boas, who was sitting in the front passenger seat.
A gang of youths, one brandishing a gun, had tried to kick in the passenger window of their car when it stopped at traffic lights in heavy traffic about three kilometres from the circuit.
Villa-Boas de Mello said this kind of hold-up was common in Sao Paulo, a sprawling city with one of the highest crime rates in Latin America.
She said the gunmen were unable to see or know that they were associated with the Formula One Grand Prix because the car doors were locked and all of the tinted windows were closed.
The car was driven by Englishman Alistair Moffatt who recalled: "Fernanda knew what was happening and she shouted 'get down'. I heard shots and then she said 'drive!' so I pulled away as fast as I could."
Villa-Boas de Mello added: "I took the handbrake and told everyone to stay calm. He had a gun at my head outside the window ... I think what saved us was that there was a car behind. They fired a few shots at it, I told people just don't move, stay down. It was a real shock."
She said that Sao Paulo was a dangerous city and this was a typical incident.
"It happens a lot, everyone knows about it," she said.
All four team members worked for the team's media and marketing department.
Source AFP
