Archive for category: HMD

Gian Carlo Minardi, together with Formula Imola and the Bandini Trophy managed to condense into a single weekend more than half a century of sporting competitions through historic racing cars which brought to the track of Imola’s Enzo and Dino Ferrari Circuit an exceptional parade of champions.

In the course of the two days 9,000 enthusiasts flocked the circuit next to the Santerno River to experience as protagonists an International weekend of Motorsport inside the circuit’s pits, paddock and track to meet pilots, technicians and cars from Formula 1, Formula 2, Formula 3, Formula 3000, Gran Turismo and Prototypes which wrote the most emotional pages of the four wheeled sporting history.

There were a number of emotional moments which particularly marked the third edition of the Historic Minardi Day, beginning with the arrival of Mercedes – AMG Petronas Motorsport’s driver Valtteri Bottas for a session with autograph hunters and a walk along pit lane together with Gian Carlo Minardi and Selvatico Estense, the Circuit’s President before taking to the wheel of the World Championship winning Mercedes WO7 to go to the medieval hamlet of Brisighella to receive the Bandini Trophy which this year celebrated its 25th edition. Amongst the prize winners were also ACI President and also FIA Vice President Angelo Sticchi Damiani, Aldo Costa designer of the F1 world championship car and Lewis Hamilton’s track engineer Riccardo Musconi, as well as Nick Heidfeld from Formula E who put on a display with his Mahindra Racing car in the streets of the hamlet.

On the Sunday Aldo Costa excited the crowd by making his debut at the wheel of a Formula 1 car when he took to the track in the Mercedes W07, the first racing car designed by the engineer from Parma who grew up in the ranks of the Minardi Team. The incredible voyage between the past, present and future brought together by Gian Carlo Minardi for its third edition, and which also had the participation of Toro Rosso, ended with the Mahindra Team which is the protagonist of the Formula E World Championship. The day ended with an extraordinary caravan made up of the more than one hundred vintage cars from the 1st Savio Circuit Trophy and the Wheels of History event in the parade lap of the Circuit.

Many personalities made a stop in Faenza for the Golf challenge between VIPs and drivers which began the three days of the event, beginning with Prisca Taruffi, Gabriele Tarquini, Gianni Morbidelli, Pierluigi Martini, Alessandro Nannini, Luca Badoer, Riccardo Patrese, Miguel Angel Guerra, Gabriele Lancieri, Sergio Campana, Emanuele Pirro, Paolo Barilla, Matteo Bobbi, Alex Caffi, Carlo Facetti, Roberto Ravaglia, the young Kart drivers Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Nicholas Pujatti, as well as engineers Gabriele Tredozi, Aldo Costa and Mauro Forghieri who was also the leading player of the presentation of his book “Capire la Formula 1” (Understanding Formula 1. The secrets of the evolution of Formula One from the 1960s to the present day) at the “Ayrton Senna” Conference Room. Also presenting books were journalist Pino Allievi with his “VITE DI CORSA Incontri in pista con piloti, manager, astronauti, cantanti, gente strana” (“LIFE OF RACING, Meetings on the track with drivers, managers, astronauts, singers, strange people), Mario Donnini with his “Formula 1 dal 1950 ad oggi” (Formula 1 from 1950 to today) – “Senna & Imola una storia nella storia” (Senna and Imola, a story in history) – “Mario Andretti Immagini di una vita” (Mario Andretti. Images of a life), as well as a presentation by the Scuderia Tazio Nuvolari of the book “Giorgio Lucchini – una vita per le corse” (Giorgio Lucchini – a life for racing) and driver Siegfried Stohr who brought to life his show “Piloti d’altri tempi” (Drivers of times gone by).

The fans stormed the pits of Alfa Romeo, Lamborhgini and Dallara Stradala who gave enthusiasts a lap of the Imola track, as did the Coloni Motorsport with its two seater racing car. In this setting of inestimable Supercars there was also the caravan of Pagani cars led by founder Horacio Pagani.

Gian Carlo Minardi: “It was an incredible and emotional weekend. I must thank all the participants for the passion which every year they bring to the Historic Minardi Day unique and incredible pieces that give us indescribable emotions and also the enthusiasts for the warmth they show us. It is not every year that we can host at the same time Valtteri Bottas, Aldo Costa at the wheel of a Mercedes F1 car and Formula E. I conclude with a big thank you to all the staff and the ex-Minardi volunteers. All that remains is to get to work on the fourth edition”.

Pier Giovanni Ricci (Director of the Circuit): “The success of the third edition of the Historic Minardi Day confirms how much the Imola Circuit is the perfect stage when we speak of motorsport, great emotions and the unmistakable sound of Formula 1 cars. I wish to thank Gian Carlo Minardi and Francesco Asirelli, the patron of the Bandini Trophy, for having brought us a champion of the calibre of Valtteri Bottas, a passage between past and present which we always experience with great passion. With a look towards the future as was also testified by the presence of the Mahindra car from Formula E, the sector of sustainable mobility on which we are betting with great commitment and conviction. I close with a big thank you to all the Formula Imola staff, the medical service, the track marshals, the security and fire fighting services, who all contribute substantially to the success of the events in a particularly challenging time. We are now ready for the Superbikes”.

“I want to thank all the collectors, drivers, enthusiasts, sponsors and volunteers for the affection and warmth they showed me and for having transformed the Historic Minardi Day from a project into a reality by demonstrating that they are stronger than bad weather. One of our aims was to bring the families back to the circuit and to bring them closer to what I still consider the most beautiful of sports. The aim was achieved in full.

The Golden Helmet repays all the efforts made to bring these fantastic cars back to the track which otherwise would be difficult to see and to give all the fans the chance to admire them in action, as well as representing a vital stimulus in preparation for the next edition which is developing together with Formula Imola. This Golden Helmet is dedicated to all of you,” commented an enthusiastic Gian Carlo Minardi.

At two years from its birth the Historic Minardi Day, the event dedicated to drivers, fans, collectors and enthusiasts that want to experience once more the emotions tied to Formula 1 and the team from Faenza founded by Gian Carlo Minardi was awarded the Autosprint Golden Helmet as the Best Motor Sport Event of the year.

Autosprint’s Golden Helmets reached their 52nd edition and in more than a half century the magazine rewarded motor sport’s greatest champions. The 2017 edition also celebrated the biggest stars on four wheels, today’s and from the past.

The Historic Minardi Day had the great task giving back the world of Formula 1 and the competitions to all the enthusiasts by bringing them back to the heart of the circuit to admire the cars and protagonists that made motor sport history. Within the Imola circuit more than 70 racing cars from the world championship and many other GT cars, from lower formulas and classic cars such as Alfa Romeo came back to excite the feast of motors with their roar.

The 2017 edition was marked by the absolute debut, at 70 years of age, of Gian Carlo Minardi at the wheel of one of his “babies”, the Minardi M192 with a Lamborghini engine when he finished a full lap accompanied by warm cheers.

“On that occasion I think I set the new Imola track record for the slowest lap with a racing car,” remembered a smiling Gian Carlo Minardi, “I must once again thank my friend Frits for having made it possible, from the car to the helmet. It was a beautiful and emotional gift. At 70 years of age a dream came true for me which I had held back for too long. The organizational machine for the third edition of the Historic Minardi day is already at work and we expect to see you on May, 4, 5 and 6, 2018. Naturally at Imola’s Enzo and Dino Ferrari circuit with even more new developments,” concluded the manager from Faenza.

Is your passion Formula 1 and motorsport? Have you always dreamed of touching the racing cars and meeting your favourites? Do you want to pass a whole weekend under the sign of motors, music and spectacle?
The answer is the Historic Minardi Day, the event dedicated to motors and the team from Faenza scheduled for Saturday May 6th and Sunday May 7th at Imola’s Enzo and Dino Ferrari Circuit. We have found at least ten good reasons…

1) Fantastic racing cars once more thundering around the Imola

Formula 1 of the era of turbos, V10s and V12s have come back to thunder around the Imola circuit. More than 25 fantastic world championship racing cars for a forty year trip into the history of Formula 1, together with 30 historic F2 and F3 cars and GT racers await you at the pits and on the track beginning at 9.00am on Saturday until 6.30pm Sunday (price of the tickets is 12€ on TicketOne – free for children under 12). Engineers and drivers will be waiting for you at the paddock and the pits together with their racing cars.

2) “One on one” with drivers, engineers and show business personalities
Walking around the paddock of the circuit and entering the pits you will have the chance to meet team owner Gian Carlo Minardi together with drivers and engineers that wrote important pages of the history of the team from Faenza and motorsport such as Alessandro Nannini, Pierluigi Martini, Paolo Barilla, Luca Badoer, Tarso Marques, Jarno Trulli, Gaston Mazzacane, Gabriele Tarquini, Emanuele Pirro, Riccardo Patrese, Andrea Montermini and Giorgio Pantano. Simone Resta, Chief designer for Ferrari, will not be missing together with Gabriele Tredozi and show business personalities such as singer-driver Max Gazzè.

3) Motors and Music will come together at Imola in the Live Music Show with Max Gazzè.

Saturday evening will be under the sign of music with Max Gazzè, who has just completed a successful concert tour. In the confines of the paddock the singer will give us a show with his most important successes on the stage of the Live Music Show. Tickets are on sale on TicketOne together with two day tickets to experience the whole weekend under the sign of motors and music.

4)Formula 1 at arm’s reach for a unique trip in time with Formula 1

The trip will begin with Manuel Fangio’s 1957 Maserati 250 F and finish with the 2005 Minardi passing through Alessandro Nannini’s M186, the M189, the Lamborghini powered M192, the M198, Marc Gené and Gaston Mazzacane’s M01 and Fernando Alonso’s M01. Also present will be Scuderia Ferrari which this year celebrates the 70th anniversary of its foundation, the world championship winning Williams, Alesi and Berger’s Benetton, as well as Dallara, Fondmetal, Osella and Alfa Romeo and many other unique models. You will be able to see these fantastic cars in their basic components and leaving the pits before thundering around the Imola track.

5)Become a protagonist of the photographic competition and do a lap of the circuit

Beginning at 9.00am on Saturday 6th until noon Sunday 7th all the enthusiasts will be able to take part in the photographic competition. It will be enough to publish photos on your Instagram profile using the #MinardiDay hashtag. The winning photographer will have the privilege of doing a lap of the Imola track at the side of a professional driver.

6)Visit the exhibition “Imola Formula 1 1963-2006: History continues”

The exhibition set up inside the circuit’s “Checco Costa” Museum will be enriched with numerous racing cars built by Gian Carlo Minardi, for a trip amongst the most important and beautiful racing cars of the Formula 1 world championship that races around Imola.

7)Festival of Golf with many sporting and other personalities

As a prologue to the event on Friday May 5th there will be a Festival of Golf beginning at 2.00pm at Faenza’s “Le Cicogne” Golf Club with drivers, sporting personalities and VIPs who will play each other in front of all the enthusiasts who can enter the club free of charge.

8) Space for historical classic and vintage cars

There will be no lack of fantastic historical road cars within the circuit, such as the Alfa Romeo 33 of the 1970s and many other cars from the Milanese car maker which will also wind their way around the local medieval townships.

9)  Challenge your friends on the simulators.

Do you conider yourself a real World Champion? Then you cannot back off from challenging your friends at the wheel of the GT Challenge and F1 simulators in the gaming area within the paddock.

10)The ease of reaching Imola.

Reaching Imola’s Enzo and Dino Ferrari circuit is not like scaling mount Everest! It is easy to reach by train (the station is 3.5km from the circuit) or by car (the IMOLA exit of the A14 autostrada/freeway)

A track that is part of Motorsport History, a weekend not to be missed and to live together with all ther family and friends.

 “I planned the Historic Minardi Day on the format I would like to see in Formula 1. An “open door” F1 in direct contact with the public. At Imola all the enthusiasts and fans will be able to see and touch the racing cars, meet the drivers and their favourites but above all once again hear the historic sounds of the powerful Formula 1 cars. During the press conference for the Australian Grand Prix Chris Horner – Red Bull’s team principal– said that the most beautiful sound of the entire weekend in Melbourne came from a twelve year old car, a Minardi PS05 despite the fact that at the time it was not competitive. At Imola it will be possible to hear them once more.”

Gian Carlo Minardi.

The second edition of the Historic Minardi Day is coming together for the weekend of May 7 and 7 at Imola’s Dino and Enzo Ferrari Circuit. It is an event dedicated to drivers, fans, collectors and enthusiasts that want to relive the emotions tied to the history of Formula 1 and the team from Faenza founded by Gian Carlo Minardi.

After the success of last year’s first edition the Historic Minardi Day confirms the formula of having the paddock and boxes open to the fans that will be able to touch the cars and to meet the drivers and technicians. The gates of the Imola circuit will open and the motors of the powerful and historic F1, F2, F3 and GT cars will come alive beginning at 9.00am on Saturday May 6th and everything will close only at 6.30pm on Sunday 7th.

The cars on the track: F1, F2, F3 and GT
A forty year trip in time, thanks to a starting grid made up of more than twenty five Formula1 racing cars which will come back to roar around the 4.909 m of the track next to Imola’s Santerno River eleven years after Michael Schumacher’s win at the wheel of a Ferrari F248 F1. It will begin with Manuel Fangio’s Maserati 250F in 1957 up to the 2005 Minardi passing through the Minardi M1986 – protagonist of the 1986 F1 with Alessandro Nannini and Adrian Campos driving – the M189 with which Martini-Sala won 6 points in 1982, the Minardi M192with the Lamborghini motor of the pair Martini-Fittipaldi, the M198 of Tuero and Nakana, the 2000 Mo1 of Marc Genè and Gaston Mazzacane  and the Mo1 with which Fernando Alonso made his debut in the world championship.

Ferrari will not be missing with the 212B3 and 312B4 “snow sweeper” (1973), Clay Regazzoni’s 1974 Ferrari 314B4, the March 761, the 1972 Tecno F1, James Hunt’s 1979 Wolf WR7 and his historic rival Nikki Lauda, the 1980 world championship Williams FW07, the Alfa Romeo powered 1981 Osella FA1 and the Alfa Romeo 184 T. The 1990s will be represented by, amongst others, Jean Alesi and Gerard Berger’s B197 Benetton and the Fondmetal F1 and  Dallara 190.

Nearly thirty cars from Formula 2 and Formula 3 from the most important constructors with the Minardi 1982 F2 acting as host. On track there will be cars from the 60s, 70s and 80s such as the March-BMW, the Ralt F3000, the Tecno, Lola and Dallara. There are important numbers and will be joined by historic GT cars amongst which are the Alfa Romeo 33 TT3, Ferrari Berlinetta 250, Porsche Macan Turbo, Lotus and Dome Le Mans.

“I wish to thank all the collectors and drivers who accepted to participate actively in this feast of sport, in particular Paul and Graham North from Britain and Dutchman Frits Van Eerd who this year will be amongst the protagonists of the Le Mans 24 hour race with an LMP2 together with Rubens Barrichello and Jan Lammer. The Historic Minardi Day will be the opportunity to embrace all our friends from the Fan Clubs in Italy and around the world.”
Gian Carlo Minardi

Drivers and Technicians in the paddock

Fans will have the opportunity to meet drivers that wrote important pages of motor sport history and that of the team from Faenza such as Miguel Angel Guerra, Pierluigi Martini and Paolo Barilla who won the Le Mans 24 hours, Alessandro Nannini, Adrian Campos, Luis Perez Sala, Roberto Moreno, Luca Badoer, Tarso Marques, Jarno Trulli, Gaston Mazzacane, together with five times Le Mans winner Emanuele Pirro, Riccardo Patrese  the 1992 Vice world champion with Williams, Andrea Montermini and the engineers Garbiele Tredozi who joined the team in 1988 and was its technical director from 2001 – 2005 and Aldo Costa who left Faenza to go to Brackley to the world championship winning Mercedes with Hamilton and Rosberg.

“We have created a varied programme. Not only will there be lots of action on the track with the Formula 1, Formula 2, Formula 3 and  GT cars but also the Live Music Show and the Minardi Classic which will visit some of the most beautiful medieval towns in the Romagna around Imola which will end at the Imola circuit, as well as a photographic competition.”
Gian Carlo Minardi

When the engines are turned off on Saturday May 6 the spotlights will come on in the paddock for the Live Music Show (beginning at 9.00pm) which will see on the Minardi Live Stage Dedo and the Megaphones and the exceptional guest star will be Max Gazzè, a great artist and excellent driver. Tickets are already one sale at the circuit and TicketOne together with the two day passes.

Together with C.R.A.M.E. (the Historic Auto and motor Club of Romagna), whose president Bruno Brusa owns a GM75 Minardi, on the day of Saturday May 6 more than 40 classic and vintage road cars such as the Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Gran Sport Spider Zagato will wind around the wonderful local hills stopping at magnificent medieval towns and cities of art before making their entrance in the Imola circuit in the late afternoon. The vehicles of the Minardi Classic will remain on show in the paddock for the rest of the event.

The prologue to the event will occur on Friday May 5 with the feast of Golf which begins at 2.00pm at Faenza’s “Le Cicogne” Golf course with drivers, sporting personalities and VIPs who will take part in a challenge that all enthusiasts will be able to witness at the club. Entry is free.

There is also room for photography. Beginning at 9.00am on Saturday 6 until noon on Sunday May 7 all the enthusiasts will be able to take part in a photo competition. Entries went will be examined by a judging panel led by Angelo Orsi, the famous reporter of the Formula 1 world championship. The panel’s decision will be final. The author of the winning photo will have the privilege of experiencing a lap of the Imola circuit at the side of a professional driver.

On the occasion, the display “Imola Formula 1 1963-2006: History continues” set up within the circuit’s “Checco Costa” museum will be enriched by many cars constructed by Gian Carlo Minardi for a trip through the most beautiful and important racing cars of the formula 1 world championship that raced around  the Imola circuit.

There will be no lack of street food with food vans where the public will be able to sample the flavours of the famed cuisine of the Romagna region and also a corner dedicated to a gaming area with challenges on simulators.