GP plan linked to Moscow assassination attempt.

The civic official who agreed a deal for Tom Walkinshaw's TWR company to construct a grand prix circuit in the Russian capital may have been targeted for his decision, it emerged today.

Joseph Ordzhonikidze favoured the circuit plan over a previous proposal to build a casino in the Nagatino region close to Moscow and, according to Britain's Sunday Times newspaper, may have been the intended victim of a suspected Russian mafia hit in the city last week. The powers behind Moscow's gambling cartels are believed to have been behind the shooting, which took place ion central Moscow on the Saturday before Christmas.

Underground terrorists have already made an attempt to kill one of Ordzhonikidze's staff earlier this year when gambling taxes were raised, and the recent decision to downsize the amount of land in the Nagatino project available for the construction casinos is thought to have added further to the mafia's ire.

Ordzhonikidze survived the assassination attempt - although his driver was killed - and TWR sources claim that the attack will not hinder the project, which is estimated to cost around ?100million.