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

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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

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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

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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.

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

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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

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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.

Minardi “ Youngsters lack gasoline”

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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.”

Williams – Sauber, from outsiders to bit players

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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.

A detailed analysis of the F.1 World Champions

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The last few F.1 Championships were enlivened by different world champions. The current season is being enlivened by 5 champions, who are battling each other, trying to get the most of each race. With the exception of Rosberg, all the 2013 season wins were taken by these world champions. Vettel took 3 wins, Alonso 2 and Raikkonen 1. That shows how much competitive and hard-fought a F.1 season can be.

Four of the five champions are in the first four positions of the standing, with the three-time-champion Sebastian Vettel leading on 132 points, followed by the two-time-champion Fernando Alonso on 96 points ahead of Kimi Raikkonen on 88 and Lewis Hamilton on 77. Jenson Button takes the 10th position on 25 points.

In this moment, Sebastian Vettel is skilled enough to drive the best car of the Championship. He has always optimized all the points he scored. He did a great job since the beginning, when he became the official driver of a Red Bull which was undergoing a changing process, trying to get the most of the regulation changes. In this respect, it was not so good even for Fernando Alonso. After taking some wins alongside Renault, the Spaniard moved to the McLaren where he had to deal with a very performing Lewis Hamilton, before becoming a Ferrari driver when the Scuderia had already won everything and was about to close an era. Now, along with the team he’s working to start a new era, which is not easy at all, considering the world championship’s high level.  I think that Fernando is the best driver of the Championship, even though he has got less than he would have deserved, so far, because of some wrong choices and, more in general, some situations which were not managed in a right way. In this first part of the season he brought out the 110% of his potential. He was very able to recover from low positions, as it happened in Canada. Unfortunately the points zone missed in Malaysia and Bahrein will have an impact on his season.

Lewis Hamilton made a stunning debut into F.1. The Englishman was able to get the better of the world champion Alonso by delivering excellent performances. He won the title the following year, when he was McLaren’s main driver. The English driver has got less than he would have deserved, as well. He’s a very fast driver, even during qualifying sessions. He suffered the decline of his ex-team. His team mate Rosberg has been undervalued, but he has high speed and resolution as a part of his DNA. The German driver has paid his dues time after time. The Englishman has certainly the toughest team mate ever.

As far as Kimi Raikkonen is concerned, we can say that he’s a completely reborn driver. Now he is maybe more determined than he was in 2008, the year he won the world championship at the wheel of the Ferrari. It was so good for him to leave F.1 for 2 years, he’s also in a very good shape. His Lotus was designed in a very good way and he has been so skillful in finishing in the points almost always. He will certainly be the 2014 F.1 season’s market-man.

Finally, there’s Jenson Button. He was able to bring a sweeping change to his career by winning the title at the wheel of the Brawn GP. Victory gave him that self-confidence he lacked, but I think he’s the most vulnerable driver among the 5 world champions. If he wants to win, he has to get the most of some situations, like being performing in the wet, even if he has an excellent tyre management. He’s an honest worker and a very good professional driver, however, even if he has a competitive car, he has more difficulties than the other champions.

Rookie drivers are different from each other

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Alongside the already-known F.1 drivers, 5 new drivers entered the 2013 F.1 Championship. Their faces are not completely unknown to the world of motorsport, as they’ve previously drawn attention on themselves in the most important preparatory Championships.

Three of the five rookies run for the two so-called “Cinderella” teams, the Marussia and Caterham. The Frenchman Bianchi is getting the better of his team mate Chilton and the duo Pic/Van Der Garde. The 24-year-old rookie driver who is also a Ferrari Driver Academy member is proving to deserve his position as a F.1 driver, despite his car is not competitive at all.

Williams and Sauber, the two teams which are not as performing as expected, have put the Finnish GP3 racer Valtteri Bottas and the Mexican Esteban Gutierrez alongside the two official racers Pastor Maldonado and Nico Hulkenberg. These two rookies took a great start of the season, supported by a more performing car. It was just in the Canadian GP that the Finn managed to bring his Williams to the top positions of the standing, getting a second-row start. He also finished ahead of his team mate in many GP.

We’re only at the beginning of the season; the rookies will have to demonstrate to deserve to be F.1 drivers. Their teams will have to help them improving without putting them under pressure. Unfortunately, because of these silly regulations, young drivers don’t have enough experience at the wheel of a F.1 driver when they get into the top category. “A drivers has to run at least 5000 km before being evaluated” says Gian Carlo Minardi “I think that the Friday morning practice session is fundamental for a driver’s professional path, as through it he has not only the opportunity to become familiar with the tracks he has to run on, but also to gain experience alongside top drivers”, explains the manager from Faenza.   

F.1 mid- season: the stock of the situation by Gian Carlo Minardi

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With the Canadian GP F.1 has entered the second half of the season. Teams and drivers are getting closer and closer to the season’s turning point which traditionally marks a division between top teams and second-tier teams, which has not enough financial resources to carry out the car development work, having also to start to develop 2014 turbo engine project which will bring much (expensive) news into F.1.

The Championship ‘s progress is more or less the same as it was in 2012; Red Bull is the standing’s leader and the Ferrari is just behind it. The Italian team has some regrets; if Fernando hadn’t finished outside the points zone in Malaysia and hadn’t driven a not so brilliant race in Sakhir, he would have had more points at this point of the season. The F138 showed to be very performing in the long run, but it’s still not as performing as rivals in qualifying.

Mercedes has delivered fluctuating performances, so far. The German team after the Monaco GP showed to have partially solved tyre degradation issues which affected it during the past season. The three-star-squad can probably play gooseberry in the future. In the first part of the Championship Lotus was very performing and we saw Raikkonen driving aggressive races. The squad is third in the World Championship and fourth in the Constructors’ Championship, but I don’t know if they have enough financial resources to develop 2014 turbo engine project. Depending on the development of turbo engine, a tight cooperation between engine supplier and race car constructor will be needed.

Force India continues to deliver great performances. The Indian squad is fifth ahead of McLaren and confirms to be a valuable outsider and a fearsome opponent. On the opposite, the Woking-based squad took a quite bad start of the season. The English team is reorganizing its internal structure and is maybe thinking about 2015 racing season, when Honda will become its official engine supplier.

After the Australian GP and Bahrein, the Toro Rosso managed to always get points finish and is now 7th in the Championship. The Faenza-based squad’s driver Jean-Eric Vergne will probably move to Red Bull if Webber leaves the squad at the end of the season.

This year’s Championship is influenced by tyre management. The solution adopted by the Pirelli to make each GP more and more spectacular maybe won’t give benefits to the Italian tyre manufacturer who will necessarily have to take technical measures. What is perplexing me is the performance gap between drivers of the same team. At Silverstone teams will test new tyres whose lateral part has been modified. We’ll wait for tyre testing to be made, so we’ll see if teams will all agree with new technical amendments.

Interview with the manager Giovanni Minardi

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2003 – 2013. 10 is the number of the candles on the cake that Giovanni Minardi is going to put out this year. It’s been already 10 years since the Minardi Management was established. It’s a society which has brought several drivers and teams to success.

In your career you’ve worked with different racers who have all drawn attention on themselves in the Championships they’ve taken part  “I cannot complain about that. It’s in the Minardi DNA to work with young talents, with those racers who are a step ahead the others.” Giovanni has grown up living and breathing the world of motorsport. He began to learn the ropes in the Minardi Team when he was still a very young boy, then he cooperated with several different organizations before becoming a manager “I worked for my father’s team from 1996 to 2002. I started working as Minardi Test Team’s manager, and then in 1997 I became Minardi Racing Team’s manager. I took many roles to learn doing my job. I worked as a phone operator, tyre changer, mechanic, autobody mechanic,etc..That was a right way to experience every sectors of F.1, besides getting to know the team’s staff. After experiencing the world of F.1, I started cooperating with some teams acting in different Championships as a Sports Manager. I got many satisfactions taking that role. I won races and Championships such as F.3000, Superleague Formula and GT. It was after those experiences that I decided to establish a Management Society. The aim was to provide a complete Sport Management service.”

Throughout your career path you’ve worked and cooperated with many F.1 and preparatory formulas racers “I’ve talked about the Minardi DNA. I’ve lived beautiful moments. I remember when drivers such as Fernando Alonso started their career into F.1 thanks to the Minardi Team. I also saw Pastor Maldonado taking part to the Minardi tests at the end of the racing season. Thanks to those tests, which were dedicated to young drivers, he started taking up a career into F.1. The present is embodied by Davide Rigon. He’s a very talented driver, even though he lacks the financial support to compete in the F.1 Championship. If he had had enough financial resources, he would have been a F.1 driver since some years. Anyway Davide has won almost every Championship he has taken part in. Thanks to the success achieved he is now a member of the Ferrari, with which he has signed a contract as a professional driver and he’s taking an important role as a Ferrari F.1 tester and as a Ferrari 458 driver alongside the Kessel Team in the Blancpain Endurance Championship.”

What does being a Manager mean? “There’s not a unique receipt, you just have to put together all the pieces of a puzzle: 1) driver’s evaluation considering many aspects such as his racing background, his psycho-physical condition,etc.2) evaluate which Championship could be the most suitable for a driver. 3) It is very important to talk to the selected team in order to know its engineers and mechanics. 4) According to the budget available, it is important to suggest all the best technical and communication strategies to get the best sport and communication result.”

So a manager nowadays has to plan a driver’s career: “Motorsport has changed a lot over the last ten years, this is mostly due to the economic crisis the whole world is currently undergoing. Now more than ever it is necessary to make middle and long term investment plans to enable young drivers to become professional drivers and, why not, to get into F.1, which is the dream of all the people who enter the world of car racing. I think that having a manger it’s very important nowadays, because the world of motorsport is made up of several different National and International Championships, so a manager guides you choosing the right team, finding the best racing specialists to develop a driver’ skills and helps a driver to find the best solution in terms of physical and mental training. It’s getting more and more difficult to find financial resources, so it is very important to find a reliable guide who can support drivers to make the right moves in the best way. All that I said above, along with a long experience and a deep knowledge of motorsport mean being a manager.”

What are you lacking for? “I’m a Minardi, my family helped many drivers to take up a career into F.1. Many of them made the history of car racing, so I would like to bring a young driver into F.1, following him from karting to F.1. It will be a very difficult challenge, but it won’t be impossible. “

A POINTS FINISH FOR THE THIRD TIME FOR BHAI TECH

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Bhai Tech Racing got good results again. After scoring the first points at Portimao and getting a double win in the GTS class at Nurburgring, the Mestrino-based squad almost got a podium finish at Jerez, where the International GT Open’s fourth round took place last weekend. The Italian/Brazilian’ s duo Pantano and Suzuki took fourth in GTS (eighth overall), after setting the best time in the class (third overall) during the qualifying race with the racing crew #66 Van Der Drift/Razia.

In the Jerez hot weather, the weekend started in a good way for the squad directed by the engineer Mr. Costa. During  free practice ,the team put into practice all the hard work done in the test session; both duos kept a good pace throughout the weekend and led the two McLaren MP4 -12C  to the standing’s points zone. In the first round, the four drivers Pantano/Suzuki and Van Der Drift/Razia made a stunning recover. Started from the ninth row of the grid, the “Bhai Tech Boys” made several good passes and finished 8th and 9th. Excitement was ruined, as both cars got a 10-sec penalty due to non-compliance with some handicaps.

In the final round Giorgio Pantano and Rafael Suzuki made no mistakes and drove an intelligent race finishing in the top 10, scoring important points for the Championship. Unluckily the other duo saw his race been ruined, as Razia span into the gravel just two laps before the end “We kept a good race pace throughout the week end”, says Mr. Costa the engineer “We put into practice the work done during the test session, but we got less than we deserved to get. The turbo engine suffered Jerez hot weather and sea-level pressure. Furthermore, after Nurburgring double win, both duos got a 2-sec- handicap in both races. The car balance was very good and we continued to develop. In race-2 Giorgio drove an intelligent race; when there wasn’t traffic on track and he was setting very good lap times, we decided to extend his stint and postpone Rafael’s drive turn. The Brazilian driver took fourth in GTS. Unfortunately Razia’s mistake frustrated Van Der Drift’s recover. He wanted to move up the pass but it turned out badly”, says the technical director.

Both cars are on their way back to the Advanced Vehicle Science Centre “We’ll be back to work next Thursday to get ready for next round at Silverstone”, ends Costa.

Minardi at Vallelunga for the Formula ACI CSAI Abarth examination tests

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After taking part in the 56th edition of the Selva di Fasano Cup as a race opener at the wheel of a Ferrari, Gian Carlo Minardi headed to Vallelunga as ACI CSAI Federation School supervisor and Ferrari co-worker, to support young drivers. During the race at Selva di Fasano, which is valid for the Italian Mountain Speed Championship, the manager experienced the passion of Italian people for motorsport.

At the Campagnano-based circuit named after Piero Taruffi, the Formula Abarth examination test days programme has already started. The programme has been promulgated by the ACI CSAI Federation School in cooperation with the Ferrari Driver Academy. The event is related to the “Young Drivers Project” promoted by the ACI CSAI to the aim of launching new talents. The project confirms once again the hard work done by the Federation and the FDA to enhance the development of talented young drivers.

Four go-kart and Formula car racers, who have been selected after delivering good performances throughout their racing experience, will race at the Vallelunga Circuit, driving a Formula ACI-CSAI Abarth racing car. They are: Francesco Iacovacci, Alessio Piccini, Gabriele Volpato and Christopher Zani.

The training programme includes some driving simulator sessions, some psycho-aptitude tests, physical training and the customization of the car’s seat.

The second day, i.e. Friday June 14th the four drivers will get on track to take on-track-test sessions at the wheel of Formula Cars under the control of ACI CSAI Federation School trainers and the staff of the FDA.