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MCSF In Automobile Magazine
An author named Preston Lerner spent alot of time last year preparing then writing an article about Minardi and it was just published in Automobile magazine. I just got my copy yesterday and except for the title of the article "Why Bother" it does an okay job of spelling out what Minardi is.
During the research for the story preston contacted me and while at Indy we gathered all of the members present and did an interview. The result of which was published in the article. I don't have time to write it all ouot but if I get some spare time I'll post what was written about us but if you have access to the issue buy it and maybe write a letter to the editor.
Murph - if you get the mag and have the time could you transcibe the relevant portion of the articl and put it here?
BTW - there is a pic of Murph, me and the Flag in the magazine!
Comments
Serious now Biker.
Congratulations, I sure would like to read the article !!
BTW Good job!
TITLE: WHY BOTHER? For 20 years, Minardi has been a perennial backmarker In F1. So why do they keep racing?
AUTHOR: Preston Lerner
HIGHLIGHTS: There are 4 paragraphs dealing with the MCSF
”The Minardi Club San Francisco is an official Minardi organization with an official logo, an official flag, and official officers, including a sergeant-at-arms. President and founder Emmett Quigley runs the club with a brand of regimentation that seems at odds with the relaxed attitude of the team itself. But then again, maybe a stiff upper lip is necessary to root for an outfit that pays so few apparent dividends, especially in comparison with TOIT – The Other Italian Team. “We don’t like to use the F word,” Quigley says.
A master machinist who fabricates prototypes for NASA, Quigley is drawn to the professionalism and determination of F1’s most persistent loser. “I am a failed racer myself: I literally went broke in 1989,” he explains. “I’m impressed by the fact that Minardi always builds quick, tidy cars. And no matter what happened, Mr. Minardi never quit – even going so far as giving up his baby for adoption so it wouldn’t die.”
No fewer than eighteen of the club’s twenty-four members are in Indianapolis, pressed up tight against the fence along the back straight for the driver procession. As Baumgartner and Gianmaria Bruni slowly roll past, the Minardi faithful raise a robust cheer. Bruni and Baumgartner beam into the crowd, obviously gratified by this unexpected ovation.
“We want them to know we’re rooting for them, because they need the encouragement,” says Jim Kennon, the club’s vice president. “When you see how hard the guys at Minardi work, you’ve got to love ‘em. Honestly, it’s inspirational.”
There is also a very small pic of Emmo and myself holding the MCSF flag.
HIGHLIGHTS Part 2: Since the article is about Minardi (not the MCSF)…here are some “other “ highlights………
“Some people ask how a team with an annual budget of $40 million could accomplish so little. But the real question is how they’ve managed to achieve so much while spending a tenth as much as Toyota. In contrast to McLaren, which has its in-house wind tunnel going 24-7, Minardi makes do with five days of testing every two months (and absolutely none in 2003). The 2004 chassis date from 2002. Not the design, mind you, the actual tubs. The customer Cosworth engine is also long past due and gives away about 200 hp to its rivals. “The way we go racing is unbelievable,” says senior race engineer Andy Tilley, an affable Brit who’s put in time at Reynard, Lotus, Jordan, and Sauber. “Honestly, I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Others who were quoted in the story……
Gian Carlo Minardi: “We keep always alive the creativity, the fantasy, of racing in Formula 1,” he says. “Minardi has the habit of exploiting 120 percent of what the team has. Our goal is to be as close as we can to the pole position and to improve our performance from the previous season. To be honest, it’s been very hard in recent years. When the car manufacturers entered Formula 1, the cost skyrocketed. And the teams without a car manufacturer as a partner fared poorly.”
Sandro Parrini…who oversees the mechanics: “At F*****I you have a specific job, and that’s it. Here, you work on the whole car. In fact, I consider each car here my own. And this is not merely my job. It is my second home. I have had offers to leave, but I would never abandon my family.”
“We have fans in San Francisco, Canada, everywhere! Perhaps it is the reputation we have – the hard-fighting team. In Italy, everybody roots for F*****i. We are the black sheep.”
Pierluigi Martini: “ I finished ten times in the first six positions in Formula 1,” he says.
“To me, all the points I scored for Minardi were victories.”
John Walton: “ According to John Walton, Minardi’s sporting director, who died of a heart attack two weeks after the U.S. GP, “Formula 1 needs teams like Jordan and Minardi – the independents – because they bring new people into the sport. Somebody has to open the door to get into Formula 1. Maybe we should market Minardi as an acafemy for inexperienced drivers.”
The last few paragraphs describe Zolt’s drive at Indy. I really liked the last paragraph of the article……the previous paragraph dealt with the celebration in the Minardi pits.
“A Bridgestone tire buster standing nearby murmurs to his companion, “That is bloody amazing, isn’t it?” It’s not clear whether he’s referring to the eighth-place finish, the unbridled celebration, or the mere fact that the chronically underfunded, technologically overmatched Minardi team is still here, still fighting, still refusing to say die. All three, maybe. It is amazing. And a little bit gratifying.”
Nice job, Mr. Lerner….grazie
Ger…… got ya a copy of the mag and will put it in your CARE package…… do ya want me to autograph my picture?????
hehehehehe...... if I find a crayon, I could probably forge Emmo's autograph as well...........
Forza Minardi!
MCSF fellas you better tell me if there's a way to get that magazine here in South America, I'd look in their webpage but actually my hopes are thin
I am still seeing last month's issue everywhere I go. Where have you been able to find them Emmo?
My support for the TEAM has never been in question, I'd say the reason I get so wound up is because I feel that the present leadership is not being true to the hard work put in at Faenza........
My support for, in my opinion 'inept' leadership, is of course a different matter entirely.
EDIT: not sending a copy to Faenza would be a bit unprofessional, I hope thay will catch up.
[Edited on 14/2/2005 by yokosuna]