MOTOR SPORT: The former Formula One racer and Jordan test driver Tomas Enge has failed a random dope test and could face a heavy sanction by motor racing's governing body, the FIA.

The Czech driver, who spent 1999 as a test driver at Jordan and raced the final three races of last season with the now defunct Prost team, was given a random test at last month's Hungarian Grand Prix where he was competing for the Arden International race team in the F3000 series, widely regarded as the major feeder series for Formula One.

Enge's A sample was discovered to have tested positive for a "substance prohibited by the FIA" and yesterday the governing body announced that it had summoned the former F1 pilot to appear before a meeting of the World Motor Sports Council to be held in Paris in October.

Enge and his team Arden have called for the B sampled of the test to be analysed and that testing will take place within the next eight days.

In a sport where the use of performance enhancing drugs is almost unknown, the nature of any possible punishment remains unclear, though it could take the form of Enge being disqualified from this year's F3000 championship.

That would be a cruel blow to Enge, who this weekend will compete in the final race of the series at Monza knowing that he could yet take the championship title.

The former Prost man stands second in the title race behind Frenchman Stephane Bourdais.

Cases of abuse of banned substances are unheard of in a sport where the kind of stamina-enhancing drugs commonly associated with athletics, cycling and swimming would provide little or no benefit.

The last case of suspected banned substance use occurred as far back as 1995 when Rubens Barrichello, then at Jordan, and Max Papis both admitted prior to testing that they had been using prescription medication that may have been banned. Later tests proved negative, however, and the matter was forgotten.

Enge's team boss Christian Horner yesterday said that Enge had appealed the test and vehemently denied the charges being levelled against him.

"Tomas is mystified by what has happened and denies completely any knowledge of taking any form of banned substance.

"He is completely shocked and surprised to have tested positive."

Horner refused to name the substance involved in the case, but insisted it was not of the performance-enhancing variety.

Meanwhile, Jordan's Giancarlo Fisichella is holding out little hope of delighting his home crowd at this weekend's Italian Grand Prix, saying that, despite an engine improvement from power supplier Honda, his EJ12 car just isn't up to competing for points.

The Italian said last week's test at the Monza circuit, the fastest on the Formula One calendar, had been a frustrating time and left him none the wiser as the how to get the best from his car.

"After the engine failure I had in Spa, which was quite scary, we came here to Monza last week and we had two more engine blow-ups, both on the same day," he said.

"Because of those, I didn't get a lot of running which will make this weekend more difficult. Especially as this is the first time in the season we run such low levels of downforce.

"It is similar in Canada, and maybe Spa, but those are not like Monza. The possibility of qualifying say seventh or near it is, I think, nearly impossible.

"We will aim to get into the top 10 and then see what happens. What I hope is that just maybe we can score some points. You never know maybe we'll get some rain. That would help."

The Italian, though, did allow that, since the spate of engine failures that afflicted both Jordan and BAR at Spa and the Irish team in testing last week, powerplant supplier Honda has worked hard to build reliability into the current evolution of the company's RA002E engine.

"The Honda guys say they now know why we had all these problems and that they have solved them," he said.

Troubled Arrows have been granted a temporary reprieve from exclusion by the FIA.

After failing to compete in three of the last four races, Arrows were warned by the FIA that continued absence would not be tolerated and the team would have to move to reassure the sport that it was doing all it could to race.

There was no sign of team personnel in the Monza paddock yesterday leading to brief speculation that the axe would soon fall on the stricken team, but by mid-afternoon the FIA had issued a statement allowing the team more time sort its affairs.