The Minardi 191B F1 with Lamborghini engine returns to racing after 26 years

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Twenty-six years from its last Grand Prix, the Minardi M191B chassis #003, equipped with a Lamborghini LE3512 V12 engine and one of the protagonists of Formula One in 1992, is back on the track.

The exciting shakedown organized by Lamborghini Squadra Corse is the result of a meticulous restoration carried out by Lamborghini Polo Storico with the support of former Lamborghini Engineering personnel, the active part of the Lamborghini F1 project in the early ’90s.

The Minardi M191B #003 is the first single-seater to be restored by Polo Storico. After being on display at the Lamborghini Museum in Sant’Agata Bolognese, the car underwent seven months of work to return to its original efficiency, with most of the original components maintained.

The tires, fuel tank, engine control unit, seat belts, and fire extinguishing system were replaced, while the other components were carefully restored, starting from the engine designed by Mauro Forghieri. The 12-cylinder LE3512 is still able to deliver the original almost 700 HP, enabling enthusiasts to relive the emotions of the golden years of Formula One.

The guests of honor on the occasion of the grand return are Mirko Bortolotti, Lamborghini Factory Driver, and Giancarlo Minardi. The founder of the Faenza-based team recalled the fruitful collaboration with Lamborghini that lasted for the entire 1992 season: “Seeing the models of 25 or 30 years ago is still exciting. They are the last cars before the beginning of telemetry and automatic transmissions. Apart from the rumble, which still today brings back those wonderful times, it was a very flexible engine with enormous power starting from the low rpms.”

Entrusted to drivers Gianni Morbidelli and Christian Fittipaldi, the Minardi M191B #003 competed in the first Grand Prix races of 1992 before being replaced by the M192, also equipped with a Lamborghini engine. The best result achieved by the single-seater restored by Polo Storico was 11th place with Christian Fittipaldi at the wheel at the Spanish GP, and it is now ready to return to racing and competing in the championships dedicated to historic F1 races. The testing outcome was very positive: the car ran more than 20 laps without any problem and the Lamborghini engine perfectly maintained all the features that had so impressed Ayrton Senna during the tests at Estoril in 1993.

Foto: Lamborghini Squadra Corse

F1 | Gp Great Britain, Ferrari wins with Vettel. THE POINT by Gian Carlo Minardi

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Ferrari that wins so well on a track such as that of Silverstone, which on paper should have been unfavourable, says a lot about the path to the world championship and can only be a good sign in view of the next two rounds in Germany and Hungary.

We saw an absolutely fantastic weekend and race that was run to the sound of battle until the last lap. Ferrari showed that it is decidedly worthy of the situation with excellent work by the drivers, mechanics and the people at the wall. Qualifying was also stupendous with records and a minimal gap (44 thousandths of a second) between two world champions who shared the front row.

Lewis Hamilton will surely be very angry even though he made a great climb back to second place in any case, limiting the damage. I surely do not share his behaviour because a World Champion such as he must respect the rules and must know how to deal with any negative situation even from the media point of view.

Kimi Raikonnen took all the blame for colliding with the British driver even if I do not share this manner of assigning penalties with decisions far removed between one episode and another and too subjective. The Finnish driver made a mistake and he was rightly penalized but in other occasions the penalties were much lighter. Excluding the mistake in the first lap the Finn became a leading player with a solid race that finished in third place ahead of Bottas.

Ferrari leaves Silverstone after having consolidated its leadership in both ladders, with the twenty point advantage over Mercedes in the Constructors’ championship and with Vettel holding scoring an eight point lead over Hamilton.

We prepare for the second part of the tour-de-force in two weeks time with another two grands prix (Germany and Hungary) in successive weeks before the summer break.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | Gp England, PRESENTATION by Gian Carlo Minardi

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The July tour-de-force continues. We move from Austria to the historic circuit of Silverstone in England and then continue our journey towards Germany and Hungary which will mark the beginning of the August summer holidays.

This is a very technical and demanding circuit, for the tyres as well with lateral forces of 5G. For this reason Pirelli has opted for the Hard, Medium and Soft mixes (with the tread lowered 0.4mm) to try and compensate for the excessive wear. After the race a lot was heard and said about the tyres and I do not understand the need to intervene for change by hiding behind the problem of safety. If the tyres wear too much then you stop and change them.

Silverstone promises to be an important round, above all for those who suffered from problems of reliability at the Red Bull Ring since there was really too little time to intervene.

The weather is still an unknown factor, even if for the time being the forecasts speak of a hot weekend and of the safety car as well. Last year Lewis Hamilton dictated the race in front of his public and this weekend Mercedes is still favoured to win. Ferrari comes to the race reinvigorated after having taken back the leadership of both ladders, even though it was not free of errors with the penalty that hit Vettel for having slowed down Carlos Sainz in qualifying (Q2). The championship confirms that it is characterized and conditioned by errors (drivers and teams) and who will know to make the fewest errors will, in all probability, take home the crown for 2018.

After Sunday’s retirement the British champion will take to the track psyched up and with a strong desire for a comeback. It will be a great struggle to be follow, beginning with the free practice.

Personally, I have wonderful memories tied to this circuit, especially the ’89 edition which ended with fifth and sixth placings for Martini and Sala. It was a decisive weekend for the survival of the team. The phantom of pre-qualifying was just around the corner, as was the loss of the television rights. We were obliged to take home two points. We said goodbye to the eighth round with three points. For us it was like winning the world championship. The M189 proved to be a good and constantly growing car that gave us a lot of satisfaction.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 |Gp Austria, THE POINT by Gian Carlo Minardi “It was the weekend of mistakes”

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The weekend in Austria was the festival of mistakes by the teams. It began Saturday with Ferrari’s people at the wall who did not advise their driver that Sainz was arriving and today with Mercedes that did not call Hamilton into the pits under the VSC after Bottas’ retirement.

I think the marshals used a heavy hand with Vettel since Sainz had in any case reached Q3 but in all probability they did not want to set a precedent. Hamilton’s retirement at the 54th lap patched up the strategy. Despite an important technical advantage Mercedes confirmed the reliability problems of its gearbox. It was a race full of retirements caused by the very tight rhythm. We have come into a very heated month of July which from now until the end will give us another three grands prix. It will be interesting to see who will be the best at managing this tour-de-force.

Formula 1 is once more going back to the maximum competition with a large gap between the three top teams and the rest of the group. We witnessed an order of arrival that rewarded the teams in pairs with 2 Ferraris, 2 Haas, 2 Force Indias and two Saubers with the only exceptions the winner Max Verstappen with the sole Red Bull and Fernando Alonso who finished in eight place after starting in pit lane.

It was a result that surely rewarded Ferrari with an outcome that was almost unexpected. Kimi Raikonnen deserved to finish in second place having tried until the end to attack the Dutch driver, by setting fast lap times and therefore it was correct for the people at the barrier to maintain the positions of the two drivers. For the third time in as many grands prix the head of the ladder changed with Vettel in command once more.

In seven days we will be back on the track for the tenth round of the world championship at the British circuit of Silverstone which, on paper, will favour Mercedes, even if Vettel and Ferrari will come to the appointment with its morale high.

We are waiting to see what will happen.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | Gp Austria, PRESENTATION by Minardi “Vettel used the last bonus in France”

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Having put away the French grand prix, we are entering a hot month of July with four grands prix within five weeks. It will begin this weekend in Austria and then go to England (July 7-8), Germany (July 21-22) and Hungary (July 28-29). It will be true tour de force for the teams and drivers, at the end of which we will have an important picture of this world championship.

In addition to Mercedes’ supremacy, at Le Castellet we saw a race full of errors, beginning with Sebastian Vettel who, with his fifth place, left behind important points in the light of the world title. Ferrari’s German driver was too impetuous when he tried to overtake Bottas at the first curve which ended with a touch and a 5” penalty. He must remember that he is a four times world champion.

In a world championship that is so much on the limit it will be the errors that make the difference, Seb has already played all his bonuses and finds himself behind his direct rival with a gap of 14 points.

We must also take into account the growth of Red Bull which is supported by a fantastic chassis that partly makes up for the deficiencies of the Renault power unit. With the passage to the Honda engine the handicap of the motor will be felt even more but it will still be the arbiter of this world championship by taking away important points and places on the podium from Vettel and Hamilton.

It will also be a hot month for the second rank teams led by Renault, in front of McLaren. Force India, Haas and Toro Rosso which comes from two difficult weekends which ended with no points unlike Haas which is growing, but is off and on, despite Grosjean who is still “dry” and Force India which is on the comeback trail but troubled by non technical issues.

The Red Bull Ring is a demanding track that is full of pitfalls with the gravel at the edges of the track that is characterized by an undulating surface, fast curves, long straights and demanding braking in which the weather is an important factor. On the tyre front, Pirelli will bring the Softs, SuperSofts and UltraSofts with the Ferrari drivers choosing 9 sets of the softest mix against the eight of Mercedes and Red Bull. We predict a race with different strategies.

Gian Carlo Minardi

Super Trofeo, Three from three for Karol Basz who made his mark at Misano with Vito Postiglione

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For the third straight week Karol Basz made his mark on the Super Trofeo Lamborghini together with Vito Postiglione. After Monza and Silverstone the Polish driver also scored a win on the Misano track in a race than ended the third of the six rounds of the single make championship dedicated to the carmaker from Sant’Agata Bolognese.

In his turn in qualifying at the wheel of Imperiale Racing’s number 44 Lamborghini Huracan Evo the driver followed by Minardi Management claimed the front row on the strength of the second best time and confirmed the position after race-2 before handing the car over to his Italian team mate who, with a spectacular move on his direct rival Daniel Zamperi, took command of the race and maintained the position until the end.

The win, which ended the third round, cancelled some of the disappointment of the retirement in the opening phase of the nocturnal race on Saturday which was caused by a puncture that did not even give Karol Basz the time to climb into the cockpit for his part of the race.

“The race was tight up to the final curve. Zampieri is certainly not an easy driver to deal with and Vito was very good overtaking him and also fast on the track. I was very happy with my stint because, in addition to not making any errors, I confirmed my place. The team did a great job and we showed once more that we have our papers in order for playing for the title. I am very happy with my work at Misano even if the disappointment for Saturday’s retirement hurt. We would have made a fantastic double which still escapes us. Even in qualifying we confirmed that we are amongst the fastest drivers,” commented Karol Basz.

“The third race and the third win, we are only 66% happy since after the two front rows in qualifying and the win, the first double escaped us, this time because of a puncture during the night race We showed that we have a pair of very strong drivers and because of this we are ready to take our revenge at Spa-Francorchamps. We will continue to fight for the objective that we made our priority, winning the European Championship. For this very reason we will concentrate all our forces with the Imperiale Team and interrupt the American adventure. It was a positive experience and we thank Jonathon Summerton and all the P2 Motorsport staff for having given Karol the chance to have his first contact with America,” commented Giovanni Minardi and Alberto Tonti.

With the win in race-2 the Italian-Polish team sits in second place on the ladder. The next round will be on July 27-28 at the Spa-Francorchamps track.

F1 | Gp France, THE POINT by Gian Carlo Minardi

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With Hamilton’s win and Vettel’s fourth place there is once more the 14 point gap between the two drivers that existed before the Canadian Grand Prix. In France the situation was turned upside down once more, this time in favour of the British driver. This is the confirmation that we are faced with a championship that will be uncertain until the end and where mistakes will make the difference. This time it was the Ferrari driver’s turn to make one.

Vettel started very well trying to attack Bottas immediately at the first curve, however they collided. It is not a matter of being caught up in the heat, above all when you run on a track where, as we saw, it is possible to overtake. It was a grand prix with a number of overtaking manoeuvres and between the number two drivers Kimi Raikonnen was not caught unprepared. In addition to overtaking a number of cars he also gained a good podium in front of Red Bull which, with Verstappen, was the protagonist of a great grand prix close behind the winner.

On paper the Paul Ricard was a race in favour of Mercedes and Hamilton’s times confirmed this, especially in light of the times set from the 23rd to the 26th laps.

It was once again a decidedly positive weekend for Leclerc who “gave” Alfa Romeo Sauber a vital point on the occasion of the Milanese carmaker’s 108th anniversary, showing that he is now ready to make a leap in quality. The moods are decidedly different at Williams and McLaren that are paying a heavy price of assessment and organization. Williams’ situation is inexplicable as, despite counting upon a fantastic Mercedes motor, it is not going through the development and growth that had been hinted at in recent years. It is surely not being helped by its two drivers. It is certainly clear that McLaren’s problems are to be found within and the prediction made by Alonso lets us understand that they are well aware of their limits. They are two of the most famous teams in the history of F1 and it is very sad to witness this involution.

We now start a very intense and hot month of July with four appointments (Austria, England, Germany and Hungary) within five weeks in which there will be no time to breathe and at its end we will have a very significant picture.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | Ricciardo is the centre of the 2019 drivers’ market. Hamilton is the key to change

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Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren, Renault and, naturally, Red Bull. Never has Daniel Ricciardo had been at the centre of the driver’s market as much as now.

He has given himself ten days to decide. Next year Red Bull will abandon the Renault engines to pass on to the Japanese supplier of its cousins at Toro Rosso. It is another unknown factor for the Australian, even if the Honda Power Unit has shown that, compared to the disastrous seasons with Honda, it has made gigantic strides in terms of reliability and performance.

The win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the lack of competiveness by McLaren may push Fernando Alonso to say goodbye to F1 as soon as this season to aim for new challenges and in fact freeing a seat at Woking. There could be a contract worth 20 million dollars a year for Ricciardo but Renault could have knocked on the Australian’s door as well. There could be a swap with Carlos Sainz who is still under contract with the team from Milton Keynes.

Sebastian Vettel may have opposed Daniel Ricciardo’s move to Ferrari and so closed the doors to Maranello to his former team mate despite Kimi Raikonnen having floated the idea of definitely finishing his adventure in F1 which leaves a very pleasing seat free that could be occupied by the Monegasque driver Leclerc.

“I have not yet won a world title and, despite McLaren and Renault not being my main choices, an eventual arrival there would not be a backward step in my career but an investment in the future. The aim is to have a car to aim for the maximum result but if this is not possible then other considerations will be made,” commented Daniel Ricciardo, “Honda’s arrival at Red Bull was not a shock, as I already knew about the possibility. Now I will try to understand what the developments will be. Honda made progress with Toro Rosso”.

Before taking any decision Ricciardo will also take a look at Brackley where Lewis Hamilton’s contract will end at the close of 2018.

“As of today Lewis Hamilton has still not signed an extension to his contract with Mercedes and Ricciardo will wait to see what happens at Mercedes before making any decisions. Should Hamilton not renew this will set off a chain reaction in the paddock with a round of important seats. If I were Ferrari in an imaginary market, I would not let the British driver get away to build a Dream-Team with Vettel despite the German driver’s veto of the Australian driver,” commented Gian Carlo Minardi.

“It would be a big coup for Maranello having two great drivers for aiming at both the drivers and the constructors’ titles by taking the main actor and adversary away from the competition. As an alternative, I really like the idea of the young Leclerc which in turn would free a place for Giovinazzi at Sauber,” continued the manager from Faenza who says that he is increasingly convinced that the recent winner of the 24 Hours of Le mans, Fernando Alonso will retire from F1. “McLaren will need another top driver, as well Renault. It could be an explosive market but a lot will depend on Hamilton,” concluded Minardi.

F1 | Gp France, PRESENTATION by Gian Carlo Minardi

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With Friday’s free practice France will once more have its own grand prix after a ten year break. However, F1 will go back at the Paul Ricard Circuit which left the calendar in the long ago 1990 after Alain Prost’s win with Ferrari.

After his win in Montreal, Sebastian Vettel heads the world championship ladder with a one point lead over Lewis Hamilton. The World Championship begins again and it will be vital not to make any mistakes and Ferrari must continue on the take the race to Mercedes’ British driver. Red Bull, which announced its new partnership with Honda beginning in 2019 and thus leaving the Renault Power Unit, could be at a disadvantage compared to its direct rivals exactly on the motor front, even if Ricciardo and Verstappen are still fearsome adversaries, as well as possible arbiters of the world championship.

On the Constructors’ front, Ferrari needs Raikonnen’s contribution. He must change his approach to the grands prix and bring important points to the team. Otherwise it will be hard to win the title despite the car showing that it is competitive.

We come back to a circuit that has been renewed in structures and safety, even though in recent weeks there had been work in progress with a partial replacement of the asphalt of the run offs in favour of gravel. The layout will be that used in 1985, the year of my debut in F1, with the first “Verriere” variant made even slower and the very long straight has been “broken” by a chicane.

On the tyre front, Pirelli will bring the Softs, the Supersofts and the Ultrasofts with the tread lowered 0.4mm which led to a lot of talk in Spain. In the latest GPs the tyres did not live up to expectations with the number of pit stops, wear and the difference in performance between mixes.

Beginning this weekend the starting grid will be one new title richer thanks to Fernando Alonso’s win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | Canadian Gp, THE POINT of Gian Carlo Minardi

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Ferrari gained its third win for the season and regained command of the world championship ladder with Sebastian Vettel who made the best of the whole weekend by setting pole position and the win. Ferrari did not start in the best of fashions but it managed to overturn the situation between Friday and Saturday with a lot of hard work by the German, as well as by his technicians. Kimi Raikonnen disappointed by finishing the race behind both the Mercedes and both the Red Bulls.

Lewis Hamilton was also off his game after having suffered, particularly in qualifying and, subsequently also in the race by finishing only in fifth place. On the other hand the race was positive for Valtteri Bottas’ and Red Bull’s two drivers. Despite running the race in defence, Daniel Riccardo finished in fourth place just behind a strong Verstappen. They will be the deciding factors in a very balanced struggle between Mercedes and Ferrari.

As happened in recent races, Pirelli too did not meet expectations since the mixes did not show the differences in performance that were expected. A number of different strategies were expected but they did not then occur. In two weeks F1 will be back in France at the Paul Ricard Circuit and Pirelli will bring the mixes with the tread reduced by 0.4mm which made their debut in Spain.

Fernando Alonso “celebrated” his 300th grand prix with a retirement, even though he will be able to make a quick come back in a week’s time at the Le Mans 24 Hours. The Spaniard’s future is drawing further away from F1 and could go the way of endurance or Indy races. Le Mans is a very coveted objective for all drivers who boast one or more world championships and for Alonso it would be another good objective, even if this year’s edition is poorer due to the loss of a number of top players. In any case, I wish him the best of luck and I will surely follow him in this new challenge.

We file away a grand prix that was poor in emotions, even if it is a normal enough situation when we witness a technical levelling such as we have this year with Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull very close to each other. On the other hand, just behind them there is no lack of competition as today’s ladder shows with Hulkenberg and Sainz’s Renaults, Ocon’s Force India and Leclerc’s Sauber just behind Ferrari’s Finnish driver.

The next appointment will be in France in two weeks.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | Gp Monte Carlo, THE POINT by Gian Carlo Minardi

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With his win in Monte Carlo Grand Prix Daniel Ricciardo caught up with Hamilton and Vettel with two wins each and the difference in points is only due to the different placings. This opens up an extremely interesting championship with Red Bull becoming the needle of the scales in the struggle between Mercedes and Ferrari.

It will be interesting to see how the team will now behave considering that Max Verstappen is now out of the running. His mistake a few minutes from the end the Free Practice 3 was unforgivable and he compromised his whole weekend. After three seasons I find that mistake unacceptable and those in Red Bull should intervene, also because Ricciardo’s future is drawing increasingly away from Milton Keyes and ever closer to Maranello. Should the farewell materialize, Marko and Horner will have to solve a not so minor problem on the driver’s front, to which must be added the unknown factor of the supplier of the power-unit. They still have an option in Carlos Sainz jr who is currently committed to the Renault Team, but for the first time they may be forced to opt for a driver from outside their orbit.

We saw an extremely technical and competitive grand prix with five cars in the space of six seconds. With these numbers, on a track such as Monte Carlo, it is practically impossible to see overtaking at the top. Ricciardo achieved a win with authority and determination despite the problems with his car and with Vettel and Hamilton catching up behind him.

I am increasingly puzzled by these tyres. The difference lap times with the HyperSoft, UltraSoft and SuperSoft was practically nil.

In two weeks we will be back on track at the Canadian Grand Prix.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | Gp Monte Carlo, the drivers’ market lights up again. Ricciardo-Ferrari, but Vettel also aims at Raikonnen

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This weekend Formula 1 will stop at Monte Carlo for the sixth round of the world championship. As per tradition, the motors will again light up one day early – Thursday for free practice – and stop on Friday. After Mercedes’ last two wins Ferrari is called to give a solid reply by trying to repeat its 2017 result which ended with a Vettel-Raikonnen double in front of Ricciardo’s Red Bull.

It is indisputable that, based on the results of the first five grands prix (with two wins each for Leis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel), strategies and mistakes will make the difference. The current gap between the two drivers (17 points in favour of the British driver) is dictated by better placings. On paper Ferrari has favourable two rounds (Monte Carlo and Canada) in front of it and it will be vital to make the most of them.

In addition to the technical battle between Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull this weekend in Monaco will be crucial for the beginning of the drivers’ market. The Principality has always been the stage for innumerable meetings, especially during the Friday break, which will draw up the 2019 starting grid and also because, with the arrival of June, the technical programmes tied to the new cars will start.

Leading the list will be Ferrari once more with Kimi Raikonnen whose contract will end this year. Maranello has an option on Daniel Ricciardo who could also arrive at Mercedes in place of Valtteri Bottas. On the other hand Sebastian Vettel does not like the arrival of the Australian (with whom he already shared the pits at Red Bull) and points on an extension of the Finn’s contract. It would be quite amazing if this should happen since, in order to come back and win the World Constructors’ title, Ferrari needs two top drivers and, above all, create a direct clash between the two drivers.

At the present time there are many knots to be undone:

– Red Bull’s contract for the Renault engines is about to end. The French have already let known that they could contiue with the adventure in Formula 1 even without supplying Red Bull with Power Units which, on the other hand, can gather information on the Honda front through Toro Rosso.

– The Brendon Hartley case holds the bench at Red Bull, he is the author of many mistakes and a negative start of the season, above all if compared to his partner Gasly. Pascal Wehrlein’s name has been mentioned (Mercedes driver), but a few hours ago Lando Norris also seems to have knocked on Franz Tost’s door, especially after the arrival of new Canadian capital from Mr. Latifi at McLaren. It would be an unusual scenario as, for the first time, Red Bull could find itself having to look from a driver from outside its own group. At the moment there is only the option with Carlos Sainz who could be called back to remedy Ricciardo’s eventual departure,

– We saw Robert Kubica at the wheel in free practice and the collective tests at Montmelò and he showed how much he is still an important driver for today’s Formula 1 driver. The Pole managed to give the team many indications for the development of the car which is relegating a historic and winning team such as Williams to last place. It is clear that the young choice related to business is not giving the desired results.

– On the other hand Alfa Romeo Sauber is paying the choice of Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque driver has already won 9 points (7 more than his teammate Ericcson). Going to the tracks he already knows has given him the essential peace he needs in order to concentrate on the development of the car, as well as for accumulating the mileage necessary for achieving the feeling between car and driver.

– At Spain we saw also Alberto Giovinazzi at the wheel of the Sauber and the Ferrari in which he was the author of some great work. It would be good to see him on the track regularly.

Gian Carlo Minardi

Super Trofeo | Karol Basz dictates also at Silverstone together with Vito Postiglione

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After the win in the opening round at the Temple of Speed, Karol Basz, at the wheel of Imperiale Racing’s Lamborghini Huracan Evo number 44 together with Vito Postiglione, dictated at the historic Silverstone Circuit as well, in the second round of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europa.

Despite being on his debut at the demanding British track, the Polish driver followed by Minardi Management adapted quickly to the pitfalls of the track taking top positions beginning in free practice and worked together with his teammate on the setup of the car without neglecting performance, as shown by the second place in the first round which ended only 45 thousandths of a second behind the best time.

The hard work carried out on Friday was repaid during the qualifying session when Karol Basz gained the second row of the grid on the strength of the fourth fastest time, repeating his teammate’s performance, before going on to take a strong win in Saturday’s race with a perfect performance.

The intense weekend closed with important points in view of the championship with fourth place in race-2 which left regrets at having let a win slip which would have made the weekend unforgettable and perfect. Taking off from fourth Place Karol Basz had taken control of the race on the strength of a hard rhythm which the direct rivals could not match but, at the change of drivers a technical problem with the door handle cost seconds and victory.

“After the win at Monza we managed to win here at Silverstone as well and this is surely very important for the continuation of the season, even if we are left with the regret caused by the problem with the door handle which cost us race-2. It was the first time for me at Silverstone and the track is really fantastic and above all we managed to be fast right from the start. On Friday we tried out some setups and gathered a lot of data which will be useful at Misano as well. I thank both Vita Postiglione and the Imperiale Team for the excellent job. I now await the next round to recover the points lost today,” commented Karol Basz.

“La fortuna non è certamente dalla nostra parte perché dopo il successo conquistato sabato avremo potuto vincere anche gara-2. L’episodio al cambio pilota che ci è costato 14”. Avremo potuto lasciare Silverstone in testa al campionato, mentre ci troviamo ad inseguire a sette lunghezze di distacco. Il ritmo gara era veramente buono come dimostra la rimonta messa in atto da Vito Postiglione. Avremo potuto vincere con nove secondo di vantaggio. Ora ci aspettano i test di Misano dove nel Racing-weekend proveremo a conquistare la vittoria in entrambe le gare. Il campionato è molto competitivo e ogni errore lo paghi pesantemente. Anche su una pista impegnativa come Silverstone però Karol non ha commesso errori e si sta confermando tra i protagonisti del Super Trofeo” commentano i manager Giovanni Minardi e Alberto Tonti

“Luck certainly wasn’t on our side because after the win on Saturday we could have won race-2 as well. The episode at the change of drivers cost us 14”. We could have left Silverstone at the top of the ladder, whereas we are now 14 points behind. The race rhythm was really good as shown by Vito Postiglione’s comeback. We could have won with a nine second lead. We now await the test at Misano where in the Racing weekend we will try to win in both races. The championship is very competitive and you pay a heavy price for any error. However, even on a track as demanding as Silverstone Karol made no mistakes and he confirmed he is one of the protagonists of the Super Trofeo,” commented managers Giovanni Minardi and Alberto Tonti.

The next round is at the Misano Circuit, on June 22nd and 24th.