Rigon and Kessel almost got a podium finish at Le Castellet

With the round at the French Circuit Paul Ricard, the Blancpain Endurance Series’ second half of season has begun.  Davide Rigon and Kessel Racing are the leaders of both standings.

At the wheel of the Ferrari 458, the talented Italian driver, along with his teammates Ramos and Zampieri, almost finished onto the podium again, scoring important points for the Championship and showing to be in a very good shape to take part in the next round, the Spa-Francorchamps 24 hours, which is scheduled for the end of July “The Spa 24 hours is the most awaited competition, besides being the most important. Running in Spa is like running a whole season. It’s a Championship inside a Championship”, says Rigon.

It was only because of a “stop and go” penalty imposed during the last hour of the competition, that the Kessel’s trio didn’t manage to get a podium finish, which would have increased their advantage in the standing “To be honest, I think that the penalty imposed to us was too tough and it cost us a more than deserved podium. Despite that we arrive in Spa as the Championship’ leaders and we’ve shown to be able to be protagonists in any condition. However we regret we lost some points”, says Davide.

In these days the Italian driver has taken part in the collective tests on the Belgian track, to get ready to run in the 65th edition of the 24 hours, where more than 70 GT3 cars will be present on the starting grid “We ran a lot, but unfortunately our work was affected by heavy rain and bad weather. As I pointed out before, the Spa 24 hours weekend will be very important for the standing, as points will be assigned after 6,12 and 24 hours. This means that everything can still change. A little mistake is enough to ruin all the work made throughout the season”, ends the Italian racer.  

Inside Bhai Tech – Driving Simulator & Software

Our trip inside the Bhai Tech Advanced Vehicle Science Centre, the cutting-edge centre located in Mestrino, near Padua, which was inaugurated by the Williams Team’s driver Pastor Maldonado, starts now. This year the centre celebrates its first anniversary. Thanks to its innovative design, the centre took part in a contest in Koln to be awarded the prize as 2012 best facility. Bhai Tech got through to the final, competing with the Austin-based Circuit of Americas for the win.

It’s a 2800 square metres structure on three floors which was conceived with the aim of providing teams and drivers with some facilities to support the development of Formula and GT cars and  off-track training before taking part in a racing weekend, thanks to the presence of an advanced driving simulator and modelling software, which are the core of Bhai Tech’s offering.

Through the 6-DOF full-motion driving simulator, which is fully immersive with a 8 210° 8 m diameter curved screen, five off-board projectors and two rear view visuals to ensure the view of the car’s rear part, reflecting images on the rear-view mirrors , a driver can train and study all the features of the main preparatory formulas’ most important circuits. Complementing it with the Bhai Tech vehicle modelling software, squads can arrange a racing weekend in house and compare real data with virtual ones. Besides making fluid dynamics studies and analysing tyre’s behaviour, it is also possible to analyse setup in real time and check its different behaviours “In many categories time is very tight, so the possibility to make tests is very little. This is the reason why it’s so important to have a good setup and be well prepared since Friday’s practice”, says Roberto Costa, the technical director. “All that can be developed in our headquarter, where the best setup can be studied in details. Thanks to our software, all racing weekend’s data concerning setup, tyres, downforce, can be stored and compared. So, track conditions can be fully recreated without going to the track. That contributes to bring the costs down and reduces times. At that point, we can start the development work.”

It’s an all-rounder system which goes from track to simulation and goes back to track. With test limitations in F.1, the driving simulator is an extremely important device for a single-seater development and GP preparation. All the F.1 top teams have invested so much in this respects, but simulation is a very important resource also for the preparatory series, as through that a team can develop the car in details and a driver can study the circuits he will race at and his car’s behaviour “In F.1 hundreds of technicians work at the simulator to develop the car at best. This is so expensive, in addition, telemetry and all needed data to develop a car, which is designed by them, make everything even more expansive.

Thanks to our software, we’re able to enable a team to develop its car focusing on tyre modelling, which is a very important aspect, which usually requires so much time. We can provide different setup options according to customer needs”, ends Mr. Costa, the engineer.

At the Nurburgring, where the International GT Open Championship’s third round was run, the racing division took its first double win in the GTS class, thanks to Bhai Tech Racing’s four drivers Giorgio Pantano/Rafel Suzuki and Chris Van Der Drift/Luiz Razia at the wheel of the two McLarens MP4 – 12C. They ended the first half as the Championship leaders.

German GP – Preview

The German GP, to be held at the Nurburgring in the coming weekend, will be run in the season’s crucial moment, only a few days after the British GP at Silverstone. It will be so difficult for the teams to make upgrades. In Germany the Pirelli will bring new compounds which will have unknown results. No doubt it wouldn’t have been possible to use the same tyre used at Silverstone, because of their technical issues and I’m sure the Italian supplier will supply teams with the already-tested tyre which were used in the past season (Soft and Medium), even though cars development has been remarkable in the last few months, especially from the point of view of the downforce.

The Ferrari will have to reverse a difficult situation both in qualifying and during the race, as, besides Alonso’s talent and good performance in the last GP, the performance gap between the Italian team and Red Bull- Mercedes was still remarkable, as shown by Webber’s recovery. The Red Bull still remains the reference car and the car to defeat. Red Bull and Mercedes will fight for the pole and I think the Ferrari can achieve good results, as well.

Great attention will be focused on two outsiders such as the Toro Rosso and the Force India, who showed to be able to take some important points off the top teams. The Lotus will have to take a step backwards after the introduction of a new damping, which has given the team the same competitiveness it had at the start of the season. As far as the weather is concerned, in Germany temperatures are usually low.

MEMORIES. The Nurburgring reminds me of great moments. We took part in the F.2 covered-wheel final race and we took an amazing 2nd place with Nannini, after a beautiful bagarre with the BMW-March. In that race Nannini crossed the line having only 3 tyres left, because of a clash which drove him off track.

In a difficult 1999 F.1 season, we managed to take a 6th place with Mark Gené. We would have achieved a double success, as, thanks to excellent strategies, flawless pit-stops and weather changes, Luca Badoer was making a fantastic comeback, so he deserved the podium. Unfortunately just few laps before the end, a gearbox issue caused an oil leak, forcing him to stop his car trackside. It was one of those races in which we went from hero to zero. It would have been a great result and maybe we would have changed the history of the Minardi Team.

In its 600th GP the Williams almost scored its first points, finishing 11th and 12th. To be honest, I hoped they finished in the top 10 to make that day even more special for them. I want to congratulate Frank on his efforts to develop his team. I wish him to become again one of the F.1 Championship main protagonists.

Bhai Tech gets ready for the second half of the Championship as a leader

With the Spanish round at Jerez de la Frontera, Bhai Tech Racing has finished the first half of the season as the GTS class leader, having gained 46 points, so 4 points ahead of the first follower. The situation is positive also for the Team’s four racers, who are all rookies in a GT Championship; Giorgio Pantano and Rafael Suzuki are leading by 24 points and are third in the overall standing, 2 points ahead of the classmates Razia/Van Der Drift.

As a rookie in the International GT Championship, the Mestrino-based squad directed by Mr. Roberto Costa the engineer, whose headquarter is located in the advanced centre called “Advanced Vehicle Science Centre”, has demonstrated to keep improving every event, as proved by the first win taken at the Nurburgring in the third event. After the apprenticeship weekend at Le Castellet, points appeared in no time and, on the Portuguese track of Portimao, the McLaren MP4-12C #65 of the Italo-Brazilian pair Pantano/Suzuki finished in the top 10. But the masterpiece weekend came on the Nurburgring historic track, where both pairs scored an exciting double win in both races, hoarding points and making the team so happy. In Race-2 it was the pair Razia/Van Der Drift who crossed the line ahead of the teammates and in the Sunday’s final round Pantano and Suzuki took their own back by winning the race. “At the Paul Ricard everything was new for us and for the team. We’re working so hard to develop the car in every single detail and we’re reaching our goals step by step”, says Giorgio Pantano. His statement is echoed by his teammate “I think we learned a lot and we made good progress, considering we are a rookie (drivers, engineers, and all the team), I’m a bit surprised to see us leading team’s championship and both cars fighting for the championship title in GTS class at this point of the season. It’s gonna be a tough second half because all other teams are improving their pace and the championship is very competitive with a lot of cars in the same second”, ends the Brazilian Rafael Suzuki “ I think the team is doing a great job developing and studying all the details of the car. Bhai Tech is using all its resource, including the driving simulator and I’m sure we will be faster and faster until the end of the season.”

In the hot weather of Jerez de la Frontera, where the Championship’s turning point was held, the two McLarens #65 #66 almost finished on the podium, ending the first half as Championship’s leaders, going ahead to get good results “The turbo engine suffers high temperatures and sea level so much, so we had to drive a defensive race. Furthermore we got a 25’’ penalty per car. Despite that we were able to score important points for the Championship”, says Pantano.

Satisfaction also for Luiz Razia and Van Der Drift who almost finished on the podium with only 2 points behind their teammates “My only concern is the Mercedes team, they have a good car and they are competitive, on the other hand me & Chris, we have the challange on our own team with Rafael and Pantano, they are doing also a top job and they are just ahead of us on the championship. Hope we can keep up with them and keep on fighting in a fair way”, says the GP2 deputy champion Razia “I thinks it’s been very good to have already secured our first win, not only for Bhai Tech but for myself. Last year we already took pole position at Monza and we did that again at the Nurburgring but this time making that a victory!”, says Chris Van Der Drift.

The second half of the season will start in two weeks on the English track of Silverstone. 4 events during which the Italian team will try to preserve the leadership thanks to its drivers experience “At Jerez we served all our handicaps, so we’ll be more peaceful at Silverstone. Our car will suit the track very well, so we can make a good job”, says the F.1 ex driver and GP2 winner Giorgio Pantano “It will be nice to race at Silverstone, quite challenging circuit, and will be kind of a “home race” for us because of McLaren. I believe the track suits for our car, but nobody wins a race before the checkered flag, so I hope we can get the best of the setup during the free practice sessions on Thursday and Friday. Also we don’t have the handicaps that we had in Jerez”, says Suzuki.

Luiz Razia will race at Silverstone, strengthened by the win scored in GP2 in the past season. “It’s clear I’m the only driver of the four that have done a race on the new circuit, as I did race last year in GP2 and not only race but I’ve got a win also in 2012, so I’m really confident I can do a very good job at the weekend, I just wish could be dry all weekend, and Bhai Tech will be very strong. I’m sure me and Chris are really keen to be racing in Silverstone as our home is just 25minutes away from the circuit, so no hotels this time.”

“I think Silverstone is a circuit which will suit our McLarens really well, there are some fast corners like maggots and beckets which I’m really looking forward too. We keep improving as a team every event so we will just get stronger and I’m sure at Silverstone we will have a great result!”, says Van Der Drift.

After two wins, two second places and other good positions, Bhai Tech led the McLaren to the GTS constructors Championship second place.

Hands off the Young Driver Tests

It’s Gian Carlo Minardi’s reprimand toward the people who want to replace the three-day rookie test session scheduled for July 17th to 19th at Silverstone, with a tyre test session.

After the blow-outs which affected the result of the British GP, the F.1 main actors thought about replacing the three-day- rookie test session with a session dedicated to tyre development.

We don’t have to forget that the test days dedicated to the young drivers were born with the aim of testing and valuing the most promising young drivers, putting them to the test behind the wheel of a F.1 car on a top-tier category’s track. That is a very important stage for all the drivers who strive for the F.1 and fight every weekend to win a race or a Championship in the preparatory series “ The situation we’re living today in F.1 is a consequence of the few tests made and tyre approval only after few tyre test sessions under weather conditions which were so different from those we’re experiencing in this period of the year”, says Gian Carlo Minardi “That being said, I don’t agree with the request of replacing the rookie test with tyre tests. In this moment we cannot afford to lose the chance to see young drivers in action behind the wheel of a F.1 car only because some regulation’ mistakes have been made to bring the cost down”, warns the manager from Faenza who has built his career supporting young drivers’ professional development “How much does  the “tyre-gate” cost in terms of image and economic loss? Maybe more than some tests planned to support single-seater and tyre development”

As an answer to some teams’ request, Charlie Whiting has said that the proposal will be taken into consideration. The FIA and the Pirelli have arranged a meeting for Wednesday to find a solution before next race, to be held at the Nurburgring (in 7 days).

Sunday’s blow-outs are a very important signal for safety. A tyre’s blow-out at 300 km/h can cause bad consequences for a driver and Adrian Newey points the finger at those teams which didn’t want to change compounds “In this moment teams are blaming each other about their influence on Pirelli’s decision to continue to use the same compound. I think Pirelli, one of the biggest tyre manufacturers all over the world, had informed on time the FIA about what was happening and all the problems to be faced. At that point the FIA should have automatically approved new tyres to ensure safety. In this way, all the arguments about the matter would have been called to a halt and the unanimous approval to proceed would have not been necessary”, ends Minardi.

British GP – UP & DOWN

With the end of the British GP, let’s take some votes on the GP’s main actors.

English Audience 10 – The English audience was fantastic throughout the weekend. I think that English people set the seasonal record attendance. They behaved in a very good way and always clapped their hands to the race leader.

Nico Rosberg 9 – After getting the first row on Saturday, the German driver managed to treasure each chance: from the yellow flags to the safety car. It took a bit of fortune to take the win. It always takes fortune in every race, so that will be the icing on the cake.

Sebastian Vettel 8.5 – He was one of the main protagonists until the gearbox failed. He took a great start.

Lewis Hamilton 8.5 – The Mercedes’ Englishman drove an excellent race after taking a stunning pole. Unfortunately he was one of the tyre blow-out victims.

Fernando Alonso 8 – He didn’t become discouraged after the problems he had throughout the weekend, finishing a hard-fought race. He got an unhoped third place after driving an unlucky qualifying race.

Mark Webber 7.5 – He made a fantastic recover, but he took an unlucky start.

Felipe Massa 7 – This is not his ideal season. After taking an excellent start, a tyre issue ruined his race. He didn’t lose heart and scored important points for the team.

Drivers of Toro Rosso and Force India 7 – They drove an excellent qualifying and official race. They confirm to be excellent outsiders and preserve their position in the standing.

Lotus 5 – They made a heavy strategy error again, which deprived the team of scoring points. No doubt Kimi would have deserved to get a better result.

FIA and Pirelli 3 – The vote could even be lower. It is always said to take care of safety, but in this case, there was lack of safety. The Federation has the right and duty to intervene when safety is jeopardized. There was lack of safety on Sunday. Vergne’s accident at 300 speeds per hour could have had dramatic consequences. Pirelli has to protect its image and drivers’ safety in a better way.

British GP- THE POINT

If, on the one hand, we lived two intense hours, on the other hand the GP was deeply affected by the safety car deployment and by tyres. To be honest, I think this is not the right way to run a GP and the Pirelli will have to batten down the hatches as soon as possible, above all for a matter of safety.

I hope rookie tests won’t be cancelled, as that would mean to frustrate car and tyre development. At the beginning of the weekend the Ferrari was in trouble, but the team was able to recover, as it was kissed by fortune. In such a long Championship some episodes cancel each other out. Vettel’s zero point cancel Alonso’s zero point scored in Malaysia. They’ll have to roll their sleeves up quickly to get ready for the next round, to be held at the Nurburgring in seven days.

Once again Alonso was the author of a hard-fought GP, but, although he managed to score a podium finish, which was an unhoped-for result until Saturday night, that is still not enough. In this moment the Mercedes is fighting against the Red Bull to become the Championship’s leader.

They took a great win with Rosberg, after monopolizing the first row on Saturday. Hamilton was delivering great performances, as well, but he was the first victim of tyre blow-out. The German team has the best couple of drivers, as they both can take the pole and win. They’re progressing, but the Red Bull still remains the reference car, as proved by the standing.

 Despite Raikkonen’s comment, Lotus made a strategy error again. It was a pity, because Kimi drove a great race and I think he would have deserved something more. Positive weekend for the Toro Rosso and the Force India; the two teams showed they can bother top teams. They’re fighting to get a good position inside the Championship. The Faenza-based team scored some points, increasing the gap with Sauber and the Force India increased the gap with the McLaren, as well. It’s such a good result for two second-tier teams.

In its 600th GP the Williams almost scored points finishing 11th and 12th. To be honest, I hoped they would have finished in the points zone to make their celebration day even more special. No doubt we have to praise Frank who is still fighting for his team’s development. I wish him to be a protagonist again.

Webber to qui F.1 at the end of the season

A few hours before the Silverstone GP begins, people are working hard to get the cars well prepared to make Friday’s free practice session to officially mark the beginning of the F.1 Championship’s 8th round. Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes are favourite to win, but also Lotus and Force India shouldn’t be underestimated, as they are such good outsiders, ready to seize every single chance.

Over the past few hours Mark Webber has announced that he will quit F.1 and Red Bull at the end of the season to join Porsche’s new Le Mans sportscar project LMP1 “It’s an honour for me to join Porsche at its return to the top-tier category in Le Mans and in the sports car World Endurance Championship and be part of the team. Porsche has written the history of motorsport as a car manufacturer and stands for outstanding technology and performance at the highest level.”

The Australian made his debut in F.1 in 2002 alongside the Minardi Team, driving the Minardi PS02. In his homeland he finished 5th, getting all the Minardi Team’ fans very excited.

I knew about Mark’s decision to quit F.1, we had already announced that in our website. I think he quits F.1 in the right moment. Taking part in the LMP1 races alongside Porsche doesn’t mean he will be downgraded, on the contrary, it’s a good prize to his career. He has always demonstrated to be an excellent driver and I think he will continue to demonstrate it even in this new adventure. They will have to pay attention to Audi and Toyota. The 2014 season will be full of sport challenges”, says Gian Carlo Minardi.

After scoring 2 points alongside the Faenza-based team, Webber moved first to Jaguar then to Williams and Red Bull, where he arrived in 2008. The English team will celebrate its 600 GP starts at Silverstone and Pastor Maldonado feels confident of scoring his first points: “I’m proud to be part of this historic moment for my team. Silverstone is one of my favourite circuits. It has a lot of character. Low temperatures will play a key role on front tyre degradation, so it will be very important to set a good strategy. We have also to consider that the new part of the track is with fewer grips. Our goal is to finish in the points zone and make this event even more memorable for the team”, says Pastor Maldonado.

Ferrari’s Team Principal is confident and ready to recover. In the past season Alonso sealed a win in Silverstone “Our goal is to bridge the gap with the top position in the next races. I think we’ll be very competitive in Silverstone: we’ve been competitive here also in the recent past, but we know that many causes could play an important role. Tyres? Tyre management will depend on weather conditions and temperatures. The team is well concentrated: we know we have to get a good result, but we’ve already accustomed to this kind of pressure.”

In the run for the pole position, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg can bother Sebastian Vettel “It’s always special to race at Silverstone. It’s my home race. We’ve had a long break between the Canadian GP and the British one, so I’m looking forward to get back behind the wheel. I like the British track very much and I think that, since there are high speed corners, it will be very important to find the right pace”, says Hamilton “We’ve made some steps forward and are working to the right direction. We look forward to a great weekend.”

“Silverstone is our home race, so we love this weekend. The track is completely different from the one at Monaco and Montreal, here there are many quick corners. I don’t know how our car can react, what is sure is that tyre will undergo weather influence. The atmosphere you live is always special at Silverstone and it will be so good to share the motorhome with the other drivers. We’ll arrange a big barbecue”, says Nico Rosberg.

Rigon and Kessel at the Paul Ricard to preserve the leadership

On the 5842 m long French track at Le Castellet, Davide Rigon, along with his team mates Zampieri and Ramos, is ready to compete again to preserve the leadership in the Blancpain GT Endurance Championship.

One month after finishing 6th at Silverstone, the talented driver will drive the Kessel Team’s Ferrari 458 GT to compete in the third event of Blancpain Endurance. The round at Paul Ricard will represent the turning point of the season, after that we’ll enter the “hot” part of the season. After racing at the Bernie Ecclestone-owned French track, the Italian racer will also take part in the Spa 24 hours and in the 1000 km race at the Nurburgring, scheduled for the weekend of July the 28th and September the 22nd respectively “Spa and Nurburgring will be the two races which will assign the title. In particular, in the Spa 24 hours race, very important points are up for grabs”, says the 26-year-old driver of the Minardi Management.

“After Silverstone, our advantage has got down a little bit, but we head to the Paul Ricard determined and ready to take a podium finish again, after taking a win at Monza. If we don’t have any issues, we will strive for the win. Our Ferrari car should suit the French track very well”, says Rigon.

The 60 cars will compete at the Southern France-located circuit since Saturday morning to take part in the free practice session to be held from 11.20 am to 12.50 pm.  On Saturday afternoon from 3.40 pm to 5.10 pm a pre-qualifying session will be also held. The qualifying session will be held on Sunday morning from 10.25 am to 11.25 am and the 3 hours race will start at 3 pm. The Paul Ricard race can be watched on streaming on the Championship’s official website and will be broadcasted on Bloomberg Television and Eurosport.

British GP- Preview

3 weeks have passed since the last GP in Canada, which marked the end of the second third of the F.1 Championship. Teams have had three weeks to develop upgrades, which can be fundamental to get the pole and seal a win.

Silverstone is a true circuit, besides being historical. What is more it’s located in a country where weather conditions have always played a key role. Traditionally Red Bull and Mercedes are the most favourite teams, even though Ferrari cannot treat itself to lose further ground. It was just on the British track that the Italian team sealed the win with Alonso. These three teams are certainly the most favourite to take a win at Silverstone, with Hamilton and Rosberg ready to bother Vettel and try to take the pole.

Talking about Lotus, the team has sold 35% of its shares to go ahead with the development work. The team will have to strategically defer the income throughout the racing season. No doubt they will be dreadful outsiders along with Force India and, under particular weather conditions, also Toro Rosso and McLaren will join the list of dreadful outsiders.

As far as the Williams is concerned, the British GP will be so important for the English team, which is going to celebrate its 600th F.1 GP. It is an amazing goal achieved by the Frank Williams’ owned team, which is going through a difficult period because of a technical and managerial change inside it. I really trust in Frank’s job, as he has always been so skilled in reverse difficult situation to his own benefit and renew the team.

In the past few days the “Test-gate” verdict was returned. I do agree with that. They made one more test, so they’re not allowed to take part in the test day dedicated to rookie drivers. It’s a very important test session as, despite it is dedicated to young drivers, teams take advantage of those days to make some tests. I hope that this useless soap opera about the closure of F.1 test will soon come to an end.

Silverstone 1989 is maybe the best race ever run by the Minardi Team. We finished in the top 10 thanks to Martini and Sala 5th and 6th positions. In those years, points scoring and TV rights acquisition as a consequence of the first condition, were divided into 2 semesters. Silverstone were the last GP of the first semester, so we had to score at least 2 points. Thanks to Martini and Sala we were even able to score 3 points. We successfully reached a very important goal for our team.  I was talking about that with Pier Luigi just few days ago, I think it’s the best race ever run by the duo Minardi-Martini. Back to Bologna, despite the Ferrari had sealed the win with Mansell, there were many people from Faenza at the airport to celebrate our success. It was just on that occasion that started our collaboration with Mr.Fusaro, the President of Ferrari, who supplied our cars with the Ferrari engine in the 1991 F.1 season.

Minardi “ Youngsters lack gasoline”

The “Young drivers project”, promoted by the ACI CSAI in cooperation with the Ferrari Driver Academy, has started again on the Italian track of Vallelunga. The project aims at supporting the professional development of young talented drivers.

After last season’s positive experience, during which some selected drivers had the opportunity to make test sessions during Formula ACI CSAI Abarth racing weekends, the programme conceived by the Federation School and the FDA still goes ahead “In the past season we were able to put into practice what I’d like to see again in F.1 on Fridays. In fact, according to the project, some young drivers selected by the Federation School and the FDA have the opportunity to make tests alongside the Italian Formula ACI CSAI Abarth Championship’ official drivers. Through that young drivers not only have the opportunity to keep themselves in training at the wheel of a single-seater, but they also get a better knowledge of the circuits they will race at and draw attention on themselves. It was just during test sessions that a driver like Antonio Fuoco drew attention on himself. The young driver is now a FDA programme’s member and also the F.R. Alps great protagonist”, says Gian Carlo Minardi, the ACI CSAI Federation School’s Supervisor and Ferrari co-operator “Through these tests we’re aiming at giving young drivers the opportunity to draw attention on themselves, keeping themselves in training despite the lack of financial resources.”

This year the programme’s format has been modified and it consists of two training sessions, one of that has already taken place at the circuit of Campagnano, near Rome and the second will take place at Fiorano in mid- September “It’s a very ambitious project, it gives us the possibility to evaluate young drivers by seeing their improvements and professional development, mental and technical growth step by step. Despite the lack of financial resources we want to do a great job in order to make our Italian drivers more and more appealing to the world of motorsport. It’s just to reach this goal that, along with Mr. Raffaele Giammaria, the Director of the Speed and Rally Division of the Federation School, and Mr. Luca Baldisserri, who is in charge of the FDA project, we’re in the process of planning new formats to evaluate young drivers better and better”, says also the manager from Faenza “Along with the ACI CSAI top brass, we’re also in search for sponsor to support the programme’s second stage, as in Italy we’re not lacking talented drivers, what we’re lacking for is just the gasoline to make them run”, points out Minardi.

Francesco Iacovacci, Alessio Piccini, Gabriele Volpato and Christopher Zani, the four drivers who were selected by the Federation after showing their skills throughout their motorsport experience – racing go-karts and driving race cars – , had already made some test sessions at Vallelunga, driving a Formula ACI CSAI Abarth race car for the first stage of the programme “Iacovacci and Zani had already attended the Supercorso last year and they had already experienced the evaluation test. They underwent a psychophysical test again. They’re our go-kart drivers and, although they’re skilled enough to race in Formula car Championships, they’re lacking financial coverage. It’s an interesting experience also for Piccini and Volpato. The 17-year-old driver form Torino has already driven covered-wheel race cars, as he took part in the Italian Championship dedicated to alternative energies, at the wheel of a gas-powered KIA last year. This year he has also taken part in the Euro Nascar Championship. The 15-year-old driver form Montelupo Fiorentino Piccini comes from karting. It was his first experience at the wheel of a Formula car and he was selected by our observers who attend every race of the Italian kart Championship. Doing that, we can monitor young drivers’ improvements. All data enrich our know-how”, ends Minardi “We’re working to move forward the Supercorso project, to be scheduled for the first week of November. We’ll bring to Vallelunga those drivers who are considered to be well prepared to move a step forward.”

After Indianapolis….a little bit of the Minardi Team even at Le Mans

The 90th edition of the 24H of Le Mans, the most charming competition of covered-wheel- motorsport has started. Along with the Montecarlo F.1 GP and the Indianapolis race, the 24H of Le Mans is the most expected event of the year by car racing enthusiasts. It’s a thrilling and stressful weekend for drivers, teams, engineers, mechanics, cooks, as it’s like running a whole season. The event is arranged in details. At Le Mans nothing is left to chance.

I remember with pleasure that many of my drivers won this eminent race”, says Gian Carlo Minardi. It is just like this. In the history of motorsport, the Minardi Team was able to launch many drivers into F.1. Many of them achieved great success also outside F.1, it’s the case of Paolo Barilla (1985 with a Porsche 956), Michele Alboreto (1997 with a TWR-Porsche WSX-95), Pierluigi Martini (1999 with a BMW V12 LMR) and Marc Gené (2009 with a Peugeot 908-HDI FAP).

Among the 56 contenders for the win, 9 ex-Minardi Team drivers will try to cross the line in the first positions: Davidson Antony, Fisichella Giancarlo, Gené Marc, Lamy Pedro, Nakano Shinji, Sarrazin Stephan, Garcia Antonio and Kristensen Tom.

 The first seven drivers took part in the F.1 Championship alongside the Minardi Team, while Tom Kristensen drove the Minardi M197 as a tester in 1997, with the aim of taking part in the 1998 F.1 season. Because of some financial issues he didn’t manage to fulfill his dream.

GOOD LUCK to these 9 excellent drivers!

Williams – Sauber, from outsiders to bit players

After a 2012 satisfactory season, in which they finished sixth and eighth, Sauber and Williams were expected to be the 2013 F.1 season most challenging outsiders. In the first part of the 2013 Championship they didn’t fulfil expectations and soon turned to be bit players.

After 7 GP, the Swiss team has scored only 5 points and has taken the eighth place in the standing (thanks to Hulkenberg’s eighth place in Malaysia and China) behind Force India (51 points), McLaren (37) and Toro Rosso (20). The English squad and its drivers Maldonado and Bottas are ninth; they have scored no point, so far

“ When you’re a second-tier team fighting on the edge of few tenths to try to finish in the points zone, it’s so easy to pass from running an exciting season, as it was last year, to deliver less exciting performances”, says Gian Carlo Minardi “In my opinion, the Hinwil-based team has suffered Perez’ change to McLaren in terms of financial resources rather than performance. What is more the team lost some technicians.  All these circumstances led the Sauber to fight for lower positions in the standing. Williams is experiencing a very important re-organizational stage. So, I think it will take one year time for them to recover. They’ve chosen a young driver like Bottas, who gave the team the second position in Canada. He’s a performing driver, however he still needs more time. Talking about Maldonado, there is to say that, even though he makes fewer mistakes than his team mate, he’s not 100% performing, yet. Furthermore, I don’t know how much he can be helpful to the team for car development. The news expected for the next season don’t help, as it will be so difficult for them to carry out the 2013 project and the 2014 one at the same time. Next season is getting closer and closer”.

What is more, the great development of two second-tier teams like Force India and Toro Rosso, makes the situation even more complicated “The Indian team is preserving the fifth position in the standing, giving hard times to McLaren and Toro Rosso. The team showed its competitiveness both during the official race and in qualifying, finishing almost always in the points zone”, ends the manager from Faenza.