Twenty years in F1
Among the best-known Italian teams in the history of Formula 1, the Minardi. Founded by Giancarlo Minardi in 1979, the Faenza company debuted in the Circus in 1985remaining there continuously until 2005. It was precisely at the end of that year that Red Bull took over the team to rename it 'Toro Rosso', which later became the current AlphaTauri, but Minardi also boasts other investments outside of single F1.
From single seaters to trucks
In more than 300 GPs contested in F1, the team became famous for having welcomed into the team some prominent names from Italian and world motorsport: Alessandro Zanardi, Michele Alboreto, Giancarlo Fisichella, Jarno Trulli, Mark Webber and, last but not least, Fernando Alonso. Less known, however, was his adventure which began in 1986, that is, one year after the debut in the top open-wheel series. It was then that Giancarlo Minardi decided to participate in the Dakar Rallythen known as 'Paris-Dakar'. An event that has just recently kicked off this season for the 46th edition, and therefore saw the participation of an F1 team 38 years ago, however engaged in the category Truck.
A 'friendly' project
He himself explained the conceived project Giancarlo Minardi in an interview with racingnews365.comrevealing that the main idea was that of a friend of his: “It wasn't easy to convert a truck that wasn't designed for racing into a fast racing truck – He admitted – it was a enormous challengewhich we had to face during the season in addition to F1 activities. However, we managed to create a vehicle that went fast on the dunes, despite the lack of experience. I think that we could have done well in the futurebut we simply wasted too much time with our Formula 1 project. That's why we couldn't undertake another full-time project focused on the Dakar. It was a friendly projectit certainly wasn't just about performance.”
One step away from the podium
A 'friendly' project which, however, was giving Minardi great satisfaction, at least until the accident which literally ruined a dream: “Towards the end of the rally we were even in second place in the truck rankings – he recalled – but the electrical wiring was not installed correctly, and this cost us dearly. Not having been installed completely perfectly, a fire broke out inside the truck. It was obviously a shame for the team, but also for our drivers. They could no longer change anything about the situation, and as a result our truck caught fire completely and the Dakar adventure ended for us. I believe that if we had had more time available in the following yearsthe – he finished – we could have been even more competitive. The engineers and mechanics of the team did everything without experience, but in the following years it would be different”.
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