Stoddart Targets Points in 2002

Australian Minardi boss Paul Stoddart believes his Formula One team can score their first points since the 1999 season.

"Initial feedback suggests we have made identifiable progress in a number of areas, in particular the engine," said Stoddart, whose team officially unveiled their PS02 car today in Malaysia. "As a result, we believe there is a genuine opportunity for Minardi to achieve its aim of scoring World Championship points this season.

"We know the reality is we are competing against teams with five times our budget. I can tell you from our hearts that Minardi, KL Minardi Asiatech team are going to give 110 percent this year to do everything we can to score a few points, to get the team into the top 10 constructors."

Stoddart, a businessman owner of the European Aviation airline, saved the small Faenza-based squad in 2001 when the team were close to bankruptcy. Minardi were able to complete their car in a record time and took part at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix without having tested the Ford-powered machine.

Now that the team have secured financial backing from Kuala Lumpur and a deal to use Asiatech engines, Stoddart's team have different goals.

"The aim in 2001 was to stabilise the team, compete with dignity, and lay a solid foundation for future growth and enhanced performance," added Stoddart. "That has been accomplished, and the team is now in a very different position compared with this time last year.

"Instead of the challenge of building a car in just six weeks, which was the task we faced in 2001, by the time we arrive in Melbourne for the first Grand Prix of the new season, in early March, the PS02 will have completed several thousand miles of testing in the hands of our talented young drivers."