Stoddart flies out for crucial Minardi talks

Stoddart exclusively confirmed his interest in taking over the Italian minnows to Autosport.com last week and if today's crucial talks prove successful, an announcement could be made before the end of the week.

Minardi's current woes include a lack of an engine deal and the pull-out of South American cable television giant PSN from a deal to buy a controlling stake in the team.

But a buy-out of the Faenza-based squad by Stoddart is unlikely to vault the team up the F1 grid: a supply of Supertec engines has been ruled out and the team looks set to continue with the two-year old Ford V10s it ran last year, maintained by engine-builder Cosworth.

Minardi is still to confirm its driver line-up for the 2001 season, but Spanish rising star Fernando Alonso is a candidate to lead the team after testing with Benetton to complete the F1 mileage necessary to apply for a superlicence.