18/07/2006
NEWS STORY
The Minardi F1x2 Team has been more than a little busy over the past few days.
Last Thursday, a pair of cars from Paul Stoddart's unique fleet of eight Formula One two-seaters were on track at Silverstone, drivers Zsolt Baumgartner and Bas Leinders providing 22 passengers with the ride of a lifetime around the high-speed Northamptonshire circuit.
Today (Tuesday), the Minardi F1x2 Team is at Donington Park, scene of the memorable 1993 Grand Prix of Europe, to help launch an exciting new initiative, GPlive, whose aim is to bring the world of Grand Prix motor racing back to Donington and closer to fans of the sport. The team has two cars present, an F1x2 chassis, driven once again by Belgium's Bas Leinders, and a Minardi Cosworth PS04B Formula One car, which last raced in the 2005 Bahrain Grand Prix.
"We are very pleased to support the launch of GPlive," says Paul Stoddart. "One of the key objectives for the F1x2 Team from its inception, and for the Minardi F1 Team while I was the owner, was to try to make Formula One more accessible to the fans. As that is also a stated aim of GPlive, there is very much a unity of purpose about what we are trying to achieve, and we feel it makes good sense to combine our efforts. The fact that individuals of the stature of Sir Stirling Moss, Jochen Mass and Richard Morgan are lending their weight to an initiative to bring Grand Prix cars back to Donington, which was the scene of the F1x2 team's highly successful Thunder in the Park events of 2001 and 2002, means this is a highly credible undertaking. It is therefore one with which we are more than pleased to be involved. I genuinely believe GPlive is an inspired concept, and like many great ideas, you are left wondering why someone hasn't thought of it already."
Following today's announcement, the next appearance for the Minardi F1x2 cars will be at the Hungaroring, on August 23-24, following which, the Ledbury-based team will launch into a series of events in the final four months of the year. For those with a desire to experience Formula One performance first hand, there are still a few places available on the Hungaroring programme, with prospective passengers able to purchase a one, two or three-lap ride around the challenging circuit near Budapest, which is home to the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Further information can be found at MinardiF1x2.com