Giancarlo Minardi
Encyclopedia
Giancarlo Minardi is the founder and former Managing Director of the now-defunct Minardi
Formula One
team.
Minardi was born in Faenza (Ravenna), Italy
and has spent his life with cars. As a young boy, his family managed a Fiat
dealership and an Agip
fuel station, and currently manages Iveco
and Selenia dealerships. His father, Giovanni Minardi, who died when Giancarlo was young, was also heavily involved in motor racing.
Giancarlo Minardi began his career as a business man, running a successful truck dealership in Italy.
He began his racing career in 1968, buying a Faccioli tuned Fiat 500
, achieving good results in the various hillclimbs
he competed in. Subsequently he began rallying a Fiat 124
, after which he turned his attention to leading the Scuderia del Passatore racing team. Between 1972 and 1974 he led the Scuderia del Passatore team to good results in Formula Italia, being runner-up in the 1972 championship and then in 1973 going on to win the title with Giancarlo Martini as driver. After a name change to Scuderia Everest in 1975, his team raced a BMW
March in the European Formula Two
Championship for two years.
In 1980 he formed the Minardi
racing team with financial backing from well known Italian motor racing patron Piero Mancini. Giancarlo led the Minardi team to four successful Formula Two
seasons, the most notable success being a 1981 win at the Misano round.
Formula One
was the next logical step for Minardi in 1985. In 1991, Ferrari
provided Minardi with V12
engines.
Money woes hit and in 1994 Minardi joined his team with Scuderia Italia in an effort to survive. In 1996 money ran short again and by year's end Minardi was forced to sell 70% of his team to a new investor consortium. Giancarlo retained 14.5% with the remaining 15.5% distributed between the Scuderia Italia investors (Emilio Gnutti, Giuseppe Lucchini and Vittorio Palazzani) and Defendente Marniga. The Minardi team was then controlled by Flavio Briatore
.
From 1997 to 2000, Minardi and Gabriele Rumi shared the General Director role for the alliance.
2001 saw another change in the ownership of the Minardi team with Australia
n Paul Stoddart
buying the company, although Giancarlo retained the role of Managing Director, with particular emphasis on the development of young drivers. He left Minardi after the take over and renaming to "Toro Rosso" by the Red Bull energy drink concern in 2006. Subsequently he offered support to both Minardi Team by GP Racing in Euro F3000 and Minardi Piquet Sports in GP2
resulting in significant success for both teams, most notably with Nelson Piquet Jr himself in GP2 who finished runner up to Lewis Hamilton
in the 2006 championship.
Driver development is an area in which Giancarlo is considered to have significant aptitude. He has identified and given breaks to many drivers who subsequently went on to achieve successes with other teams and in other formulas. Drivers such as Giancarlo Fisichella
, Fernando Alonso
, Mark Webber
and Jarno Trulli
all had their Formula One debut with Minardi.
Giancarlo currently resides in Faenza, Italy. He is married to Mara and has one son named after his father Giovanni. He has two brothers: Giuseppe, who has taken over the Fiat dealership and Nando who now runs the truck concession. Giancarlo was the chairman of the football club Faenza Calcio.
In 2010, he ran for Mayor of Faenza.
Minardi
Minardi was an automobile racing team and constructor founded in 1979 by Giancarlo Minardi. It competed in the Formula One World Championship from 1985 until 2005 with little success, nevertheless acquiring a loyal following of fans...
Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
team.
Minardi was born in Faenza (Ravenna), Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and has spent his life with cars. As a young boy, his family managed a Fiat
Fiat
FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...
dealership and an Agip
Agip
Agip is an Italian automotive gasoline and diesel retailer established in 1926. It is a subsidiary of the multinational petroleum company Eni.In 2003, Eni S.p.A...
fuel station, and currently manages Iveco
Iveco
Iveco, an acronym for Industrial Vehicle Corporation, originally an alliance of European commercial vehicle manufacturers such as Fiat , Unic and Magirus. Iveco is now an Italian truck, bus, and diesel engine manufacturer, based in Turin...
and Selenia dealerships. His father, Giovanni Minardi, who died when Giancarlo was young, was also heavily involved in motor racing.
Giancarlo Minardi began his career as a business man, running a successful truck dealership in Italy.
He began his racing career in 1968, buying a Faccioli tuned Fiat 500
Fiat 500
The Fiat 500 is a car produced by the Fiat company of Italy between 1957 and 1975, with limited production of the Fiat 500 K estate continuing until 1977. The car was designed by Dante Giacosa....
, achieving good results in the various hillclimbs
Hillclimbing
Hillclimbing is a branch of motorsport in which drivers compete against the clock to complete an uphill course....
he competed in. Subsequently he began rallying a Fiat 124
Fiat 124
The Fiat 124 is a mid-sized family car produced by the Italian manufacturer Fiat between 1966 and 1974. It was the replacement of the Fiat 1300 and Fiat 1500...
, after which he turned his attention to leading the Scuderia del Passatore racing team. Between 1972 and 1974 he led the Scuderia del Passatore team to good results in Formula Italia, being runner-up in the 1972 championship and then in 1973 going on to win the title with Giancarlo Martini as driver. After a name change to Scuderia Everest in 1975, his team raced a BMW
BMW
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands...
March in the European Formula Two
Formula Two
Formula Two, abbreviated to F2, is a type of open wheel formula racing. It was replaced by Formula 3000 in 1985, but the FIA announced in 2008 that Formula Two would return for 2009 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship...
Championship for two years.
In 1980 he formed the Minardi
Minardi
Minardi was an automobile racing team and constructor founded in 1979 by Giancarlo Minardi. It competed in the Formula One World Championship from 1985 until 2005 with little success, nevertheless acquiring a loyal following of fans...
racing team with financial backing from well known Italian motor racing patron Piero Mancini. Giancarlo led the Minardi team to four successful Formula Two
Formula Two
Formula Two, abbreviated to F2, is a type of open wheel formula racing. It was replaced by Formula 3000 in 1985, but the FIA announced in 2008 that Formula Two would return for 2009 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship...
seasons, the most notable success being a 1981 win at the Misano round.
Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
was the next logical step for Minardi in 1985. In 1991, Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing....
provided Minardi with V12
V12 engine
A V12 engine is a V engine with 12 cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of six cylinders, usually but not always at a 60° angle to each other, with all 12 pistons driving a common crankshaft....
engines.
Money woes hit and in 1994 Minardi joined his team with Scuderia Italia in an effort to survive. In 1996 money ran short again and by year's end Minardi was forced to sell 70% of his team to a new investor consortium. Giancarlo retained 14.5% with the remaining 15.5% distributed between the Scuderia Italia investors (Emilio Gnutti, Giuseppe Lucchini and Vittorio Palazzani) and Defendente Marniga. The Minardi team was then controlled by Flavio Briatore
Flavio Briatore
Flavio Briatore is an Italian businessman. During the 1980s, he was convicted for multiple counts of fraud, receiving two prison sentences, only one of which he served. As a fugitive from Italy, he set up restaurants and then a number of successful Benneton franchises in the Virgin Islands and the...
.
From 1997 to 2000, Minardi and Gabriele Rumi shared the General Director role for the alliance.
2001 saw another change in the ownership of the Minardi team with Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n Paul Stoddart
Paul Stoddart
Paul Stoddart, born 26 May 1955, is an Australian millionaire airline magnate, and former owner of the Minardi Formula One racing team. He later took the Minardi brand into the Champ Car World Series after his purchase of a portion of CTE-HVM Racing which he renamed Minardi Team USA for 2007.-Early...
buying the company, although Giancarlo retained the role of Managing Director, with particular emphasis on the development of young drivers. He left Minardi after the take over and renaming to "Toro Rosso" by the Red Bull energy drink concern in 2006. Subsequently he offered support to both Minardi Team by GP Racing in Euro F3000 and Minardi Piquet Sports in GP2
GP2 Series
The GP2 Series, GP2 for short, is a form of open wheel motor racing introduced in 2005 following the discontinuation of the long-term Formula One feeder series, Formula 3000. The format was conceived by Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, while Ecclestone also has the rights to the name GP1...
resulting in significant success for both teams, most notably with Nelson Piquet Jr himself in GP2 who finished runner up to Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton, MBE is a British Formula One racing driver from England, currently racing for the McLaren team. He was the Formula One World Champion.Hamilton was born in Stevenage, Hertfordshire...
in the 2006 championship.
Driver development is an area in which Giancarlo is considered to have significant aptitude. He has identified and given breaks to many drivers who subsequently went on to achieve successes with other teams and in other formulas. Drivers such as Giancarlo Fisichella
Giancarlo Fisichella
Giancarlo Fisichella , also known as Fisico, Giano or Fisi, is an Italian racing driver. He has driven in Formula One for Minardi, Jordan, Benetton, Sauber, Renault, Force India and Ferrari. Nowadays, he drives for AF Corse's GT2 Ferrari in various sportscar events...
, Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso Díaz is a Spanish Formula One racing driver and a two-time World Champion, who is currently racing for Ferrari....
, Mark Webber
Mark Webber
Mark Alan Webber is an Australian Formula One driver.After some racing success in Australia, Webber moved to the United Kingdom in 1995 to further his motorsport career...
and Jarno Trulli
Jarno Trulli
Jarno Trulli is an Italian Formula One racing driver. He has been a regular in Formula One since 1997, driving for Minardi, Prost, Jordan, Renault and Toyota. He won the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix for Renault, his only Grand Prix victory to date. He is known for being a qualification expert...
all had their Formula One debut with Minardi.
Giancarlo currently resides in Faenza, Italy. He is married to Mara and has one son named after his father Giovanni. He has two brothers: Giuseppe, who has taken over the Fiat dealership and Nando who now runs the truck concession. Giancarlo was the chairman of the football club Faenza Calcio.
In 2010, he ran for Mayor of Faenza.