Minardi Plan Malaysia and Australia Launches

Minardi plan to take the wraps off their 2002 Formula One car in Malaysia, either this month or in January.

A spokesman said on Monday that the team, who have failed to score any points for two seasons yet still surprised some far bigger rivals in 2001, expected to unveil their new sponsor livery in Kuala Lumpur. A definitive launch of the new car will then take place in Australia in the week before the season-opening Grand Prix in Melbourne on March 3.

Sports minister Datuk Hishammuddin Hussein told Monday's Malaysian Sun newspaper that the new car "will definitely carry a Malaysian image".

He could not confirm the team would be called Malaysia Minardi but said that all Minardi F1 merchandise would be manufactured in Malaysia. Minardi have confirmed 26-year-old Malaysian driver Alex Yoong for next season, although his name did not appear on a provisional entry list issued by the International Automobile Federation (FIA) on Monday.

The team said, however, that there was no doubt about his participation. Yoong drove in the last three races of the 2001 season and brought important Malaysian backing with him to a team that was purchased in January by Australian Paul Stoddart and that competed without a paying principal sponsor.