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MINARDI TEAM FINISHES SECOND IN THE Euro F3K CHAMPIONSHIP
Thats right people. In a year where the Team got sorted right before the season started, had some driver and money issues I am going to say that the second place in the Euro F3000 is indeed a good result.
If you want to read more about this then go
here.Now, I must say that this is not brand new news. The points tallied after the Misano event told us this. I did not post this until I had confirmation from the Team in the form of a PR. I wanted them to be able to announce it out of respect.
However this place is just dead silent on the team's success. What is up here? I understand that FM.com has morphed into what RJ is calling a gents Club but for crying out loud Minardi IS our common bond.
Why is this story not on the front page? Doesn't anybody go to the Minardi site anymore?
It disturbs me that the floating of the idea of a Chump car team being named Minardi is seemingly more important than a real event like getting 2nd in a series championship in your first year.
SEMPRE MINARDI
FORZA MINARDI
Comments
As for the team getting second I congratulate them and think that would be a better cover story than Stoddart still thinking about running a champ car team. The team came to grips pretty well with their cars and drivers, if only they had done it sooner Roldan would probably be champion or a close second. We definetely had some good drivers come on board while Roldan was away and when Caceres left.
I'm sure things will get much better around here once Minardi is racing in GP2, at least most of us will be able to catch those races.
BTW Speed is going to start carrying A1GP in December, I believe starting the 6th.
Also seems pretty silent here since the F1 season ended. I know that I am pretty busy here being the last month of the semester. as I know your busy with your projects at work. So that may be a cause for this lack of attention to this subject.
Its a well deserved achievement but it should be rememberd this is a pico pico championship. I look forward to cheering on Minardi in GP2, which should be the absolute minimum of their ambition. I understand the great man is skint but we have standards ...
As for Stoddie, I have no idea why he wants to trade on Minardi in Champ Cars. Maybe because there is already a Team Australia in the series?
Quig, you are funny but I also slightly resent the constant, snide suggestions that only MCSFers are true fans. I mean, its sweet but its also wrong.
second that
Viges old bean. You must be feeling guilty. Do you want to talk? Cela!
BTW with all the usual caveats of 'well done to the team', etc., 'Euro F3000' is a rather grand name for a two-bit Italian series which ranks lower than ...
GP2
World Series by Nissan
Euro F3
Brit F3 (bigger teams, bigger budgets, direct career progression to the categories above)
In fact, I'm not sure I would place national Formula Renault series lower than Euro F3000 (see Kimi and others). Even national Formula BMW championships are fast-tracking to F1 (Nico, Vettel).
I take a close interest in the junior categories but it is perfectly understandable a difference of eight time zones can distort one's vision of what's going on in lil ol' Europe.
Oh well, at least it's GP2 next year, and maybe even Champcar.
The jist of the answer is that it is below F3. The reason he gave was that these cars are the same track and WB of F1 and have 400+ HP. They are essentially an A1GP ride with different bodywork but with NO driver aids. They still use a cable to shift with. Because of the difficulty of these cars to drive and the limitations in changes that can be made they felt that good drivers will shine. I think we have seen that this year with some of the drivers advancing to other series. That is not unique - cream rises to the top.
However I think that with GCM coming to this series it enhanced its credability within the motorsport community and the respect for this series will grow.
I do hope that the level of staffing increases at Veggiano. Five full timers will not be enough but with the reported Spanish investment (sponsors) coming into the Team as well as the Piquet people moving to Veggiano I think that they will be able to field the two Teams effectively.
The one make F3000 always seemed to favour those with a bit of experience of the car - it took a year or so for them to reach their full potential. Even Alonso only won once in his season in the category. This means you won't necessarily get an instant demonstration of pure driving talent, but you do need to work with drivers over a period to hone their technical skills base. Excellent for driver development, if you plan to take them on into other categories. It's not so good if your ambition is just to run in the one category - the sponsors may well not have patience. So it really makes most sense if the team has higher ambitions.
If they can get a couple of the Spanish (or French) GP2 teams involved, that would help enormously, and take the series a step up. I don't think it inconceivable that the involvement of such as Minardi and Fisichella might facilitate that happening - particularly if they start bringing on driving talent into GP2.
I can see Minardi finding GP2 tough initially - they have some carry over from the Piquetsports setup (eg Felipe Vargas), but it will be in effect a new team, given the move to Italy. And up against some good outfits, with two years in the series. They will have the best paint job, at least.