Feature: Minardi Aim for Points after Miracle Year

by Alan Baldwin

A year ago Paul Stoddart talked of beating the odds, of working miracles to get Minardi to Melbourne for the first Grand Prix of the season.

The Australian-born businessman bought the Formula One team - which had no engines, drivers or title sponsor and seemed destined for closure - last January and had only a matter of weeks to play with.

It was "beyond mission impossible," he said, but he made it nonetheless. And in just over a month's time, Stoddart will be taking the team back to Melbourne again.

But this time the heavy-smoking, workaholic aviation millionaire will be flying home on his own newly-purchased Boeing 747 - an item he describes as a "bit of a personal pride thing" - with bigger aspirations.

Minardi did not score a point last season - they have not done so since 1999 - but they are no longer the sort of team praised more for their catering and coffee than their achievements on the track.

They have a year's free supply of Asiatech engines, a development of the ones used by Arrows in 2001, and solid Malaysian sponsorship.

"We came into this with a five-year plan and we've stuck to it when a lot of people said 'they will tell a good story then they will change'," Stoddart told Reuters in an interview.

"We said Year One was to get professionalism and dignity, we certainly did that. We achieved more than we thought we would achieve, quietly, and this year we're going to get off the bottom of the grid and I think we'll do that.

"My target is top 10 and two Constructors' Championship points and I think we can achieve that.

"Next year, year three, is hopefully a podium and that's where you're really starting to stretch your luck a little bit and you need a little luck.

"I think we're pretty much on course."

Tears of Pride

Impressively, given the fact that they had done no testing and had no spare car, Minardi had the 19-year-old Spaniard Fernando Alonso finish 12th in Melbourne after qualifying 19th.

"I will always remember coming off the grid after the race," reflected Stoddart. "I walked through the garage and away from all the cameras there were 30 or 40 grown men just sitting on the ground with tears streaming down their faces and they were tears of pride.

"They were just absolutely and utterly exhausted and that sort of brought it all home. I almost had to get myself together before going out the other side to face the press."

Other high points, of the sort that would barely figure on the radar of most teams, include Alonso's qualifying in 17th place in Indianapolis and Brazilian Tarso Marques finishing ninth in his home Grand Prix.

"People say, how can you get excited about qualifying 17th? But believe me you can," said Stoddart. "We had a fantastic year. We achieved every single thing we wanted to do.

"Towards the end it was sheer pleasure to know that we were genuinely racing people, we were getting better. I'm really proud of the guys, they did a great job."

Malaysian Influence

The only cloud came when Austrian Gustav Brunner, the designer credited with producing innovative cars that belied the team's tiny budget, walked out in May to join Japanese newcomers Toyota as technical director. He is no longer welcome in the Minardi garage.

The two teams will be neighbours, which should make life interesting, and Toyota will be one of those Stoddart will be hoping to beat while they are still finding their bearings in their new surroundings.

The team boss said the new engine would provide the power Minardi lacked last season while the aerodynamic side had also been addressed.

"We've done a lot with the car, an awful lot, over the winter in terms of aero," he said. "The engine deal has allowed us to spend a lot of money in other areas where the team needed strengthening throughout this year, things like wind tunnels, R&D centres and all the good stuff that Minardi's always lacked in the past."

The team will be sponsored by Kuala Lumpur, with the Petronas Twin Towers expected to be shown on the car, but Stoddart said the team would retain their name and flavour.

"There is a lot of Malaysian influence but it is not all about Malaysia," he said. "There is my background in Australia, the team's in Italy and our facilities in the UK. We really are a team for everybody and I think we're still probably the friendliest in Formula One. We aim to stay that way."

"We as a company, not just in Minardi but also in the aviation side, have bucked the trend," said the man whose British-based European Aviation concern leases planes and provides parts to airlines. "We've gone and bought a pile of 747s which is against all the industry trends. Hopefully it's the right thing to do."

Stoddart last month bought five second-hand Jumbos from British Airways and will use one of them to ferry his team to the long-haul races.

He has already revamped the Minardi motorhome, replacing the old bus with two shiny black double-deckers originally built for the Sultan of Brunei and picked up at an attractive price.

They can keep up with the big boys in the paddock, now they need to prove their point on the track.

"All we want to do is get out there and compete in the sport of Formula One, knowing full well that we can't compete in the business of Formula One," said Stoddart.