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In the fifth round of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europa at Nurburgring Karol Basz, together with Vito Postiglione, in the Imperiale Racing Huracan number 44 drove the (nearly) perfect weekend with pole position, a win in race-1 and second place in race-2 and setting the fastest lap.

Only the win in race-2 was lacking but on his debut on the German track Basz confirmed that he is the top driver in the single make category by closing the weekend run constantly on the charge, without making the slightest error and achieving the objective of increasing the lead in the championship. The Italian-Polish pair drew up to the starting line with a lead of four points over its direct rivals and will go to the Vallelunga track on November 15 an 18 with a ten point lead.

During his qualifying round the Polish driver followed by Minardi Management set an important pole position confirming that he had reached an excellent feeling for the track. In race-1 Basz took part in the second part of the race and completed the comeback that his team mate had already begun by crossing the finish line with a lead of nearly 12 seconds over their direct rival and so scoring the fourth win of the season.

Karol made the perfect start to race-2, keeping pole position and dictating a rhythm that started a great tussle with Zampieri run on the edge of tenths of seconds and he returned to the pits as race leader.

“I am very happy because we managed to increase our lead in the championship by taking pole position, the won and second place. I liked Nurburgring from the first lap and this is seen in the results on the track. I am very happy with how I drove in all the sessions and I really look forward to the final round at Vallelunga to be able to race for the title,” commented Karol Basz.

“We say goodbye to Nurburgring with another win and pole position and a lead in the championship that grew to ten points. Karol was very fast during all the weekend and practically perfect in every situation. In qualifying he just missed out on the perfect lap but took pole position anyway. In the two races he was one of the fastest and even set the fastest time in race-2 with an impressive stint. Now we will prepare for the final round at Vallelunga where we will go onto the track with the aim of winning both the European and World titles,” commented managers Giovanni Minardi and Alberto Tonti.

Karol will fly to Kristianstad in Sweden to take part in the Karting World Championship to defend the Kosmic Racing colours to try and repeat the 2015 title won on the Muro Leccese track.

The rumours of recent weeks were confirmed in a 2018 drivers transfer market that continues to amaze us. This morning Ferrari officially announced Raikonnen’s departure at the end of the season and subsequently the arrival of Charles Leclerc. The real surprise was the confirmation that the Finn would go back to Sauber, the team that launched him into the F1 world championship in 2001, taking the place of the driver from Monaco.

Raikonnen signed a two year contract with the Swiss team and he will therefore have the chance to finish his career in the world championship where he began it, as well as finding once more Simone Resta who transferred to the team from Hinwil a few months ago to take the role of Technical Director. There is still the unknown factor of who will be his team mate. Another piece has found its place in the puzzle.

Over the last few days Toto Wolff used harsh words when he threatened to close the Mercedes Young Drivers Programme if Esteban Ocon could not find a team to drive, however, he opened a possibility that Gian Carlo Minardi had already launched a few years ago, that is the third car for rookie drivers. “I have long favoured this option, just as for years I have been asking that Friday morning be opened to rookies,” commented the manager from Faenza, “We must give a chance to those who invest in young drivers right from with the training formulas, starting already in karting. On the other hand, as of today it is increasingly difficult and the funnel is becoming ever smaller. If we do not put in place some new initiatives we will be faced with an extremely serious crisis,” he continues, launching a warning.

“We must consider that not all the teams have the financial strength to build and manage three vehicles on the track at the same time. Therefore we would need to review the whole points system by creating a class dedicated to rookies – as happens in the GT categories – in order to give the smaller teams the possibility to battle it out for the points zone which otherwise would be off limits with three Ferraris and just as many Mercedes, Red Bulls and Renaults,” proposed Minardi.

“By doing this the possibility of having four top teams and as many clones would be avoided, this is a road that does not fascinate me and which could distort the championship’s DNA. We are faced with an important change in an F1 that is in the hands of four great constructors such as Ferrari, Mercedes, Renault and Honda. We hope that they have the intelligence, the skill and, above all, the desire to manage to situation in the best way possible,” concluded Minardi.

Ferrari’s test of strength at Spa-Francorchamps can be a good omen on a fast track such as that at Monza that this weekend will host the 89th edition of the Italian Grand Prix. We predict another exciting duel between the two pretenders to the throne, Ferrari and Mercedes but especially between Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton.

As we already saw last weekend in Belgium the weather will play an important role and probably shuffle the cards: with a dry track the Ferrari-Vettel duo has shown it is more competitive than its direct rivals, while under the rain Hamilton and Mercedes have shown they are superior. Storms are forecast for Friday as they are for Saturday as well, even if qualifying should be dry. On the other hand the race should be overcast.

We come to a track characterized by very long straights with only eleven bends where the engines run at full speed for 75% of the lap. It will be a great effort for the power-unit. After what happened at the start last week (the penalty inflicted on Hulkenberg seems correct even if the marshals continue not to use the same yardstick with all the drivers) care must be taken at the first chicane at about 700m from the starting line. They will come to it at speeds much higher than those at Spa.

Ferrari will start the real post Marchionne era and behind the curtains there will be many meetings that could open up a number of moves. Kimi Raikonnen’s future is still to be decided after an unlucky weekend at Spa that was conditioned by the contact at the start of the race that forced his retirement.

We predict that the weekend will not be easy for Red Bull due to the handicap of the Renault engine (Ricciardo will start in last place but will be equipped with the latest version of the PU). The duel between Renault and Haas for fourth place in the constructor’s ladder is to be followed, as well as the chase by Racing Point Force India that in Belgium was the team that achieved the third highest number of points (18) after Ferrari and Mercedes. The entry of the new consortium led by Lawrence Stroll will have given confidence back to the team (as well as new life).

Gian Carlo Minardi

This weekend Karol Basz will make his debut at Spa-Francorchamps for the fourth round of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europa. The 26 year old driver from Krakow, together with Vito Postiglione, at the wheel of Imperiale Racing’s “Lambo” Huracan number 44 will be on the prowl for the fourth win in just as many appointments to continue the climb up the ladder where he now in second place.

Up to now the path has been impeccable by Minardi Management’s flag bearer event if there is still the regret for some unfortunate episodes that denied the deserved double win at Misano (due to a puncture) and at Silverstone due to a problem with the door handle during race-2’s pit stop. These episodes do not affect the value of a driver who has become part of the Lamborghini Programme and who experienced the first session at Vallelunga with an intense programme of athletic preparation and lessons in classroom.

Given the concurrence with the 24 Hours also in programme on the same track in the Ardennes, the whole programme has been brought forward by a day with two rounds of free practice on Thursday 26 at 10.35am and 2.55pm in preparation for the qualifying session on Friday 27 at 9.50am and Race-1 at 1.50pm. The fourth Racing Weekend will draw to a close on Saturday 28 with race-2 at 10.25am. Both heats will be transmitted live on the Lamborghini Racing Team Official Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/LamborghiniSquadraCorse/

“Spa will be another new track for me, but I am looking forward to this weekend. It will be interesting to see how level differences will affect driving sensations and whether they will coincide with the simulator. Last year my team was really strong here, so I hope that this season we will maintain this trend and we will fight Vito for a set of points” – said Karol.

“We are sure that at Spa-Francorchamps Karol will once again be able to fight it out for the top positions. In the previous editions Team Imperiale and Vito Postiglione were always very quick and this gives us hope. At this time Karol is more determined than ever, thanks also to the excellent and intense work of athletic preparation that intensified during the Lamborghini Academy session at the Vallelunga track,” commented managers Giovanni Minardi and Alberto Tonti.

Lewis Hamilton’s action in the final phases of the German Grand Prix when he came back onto the track after cutting through the grass after having taken the entrance to pit lane caused a lot of discussion after the race. Some hours after the chequered flag the Mercedes’ driver’s win was confirmed after having received only received a reprimand from the marshals. For Race director Charlie Whiting there was no correlation with the 5” penalty given to Kimi Raikonnen during the 2016 Baku Grand Prix.

We asked Gian Carlo Minardi, who gave us his point of view. “At this time in F1 there is no certainty in the penalties which are the basis for the regularity of world championship. In order to justify FIA’s position Charlie Whiting climbed up walls, hid behind very soft mitigating factors such as the presence of the Safety-car and not having created a risk situation due to the lack of other cars present,” commented the manager from Faenza.

“This championship will be won by who makes the least mistakes compared to his rival and seven points can make the difference at the end (with a 5” second penalty the Englishman would have finished in second place behind Bottas). In my opinion the regulation was distorted. Unfortunately these episodes also have consequences on the other introductory categories since very often F1 makes the law and is taken as an example by young drivers as well. It becomes very difficult teaching them,” continued.

“I do not want to take anything away from Hamilton who was the author of an extraordinary race, while Vettel make a very serious mistake that could cost him very dearly but there is a need for clear regulations that must be respected”.

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