APRIL 3, 2000
Minardi on sale again?
The two known bidders were a group led by US automotive parts magnate Tony Johnson and a European technology consortium involving the Dutch software company ICL. This group is being fronted by former Tyrrell commercial manager Rupert Manwaring.
It remains to be seen whether Telefonica will allow Minardi to slip through its fingers but there has been little sign of any conclusion to the talks in recent months, during which Spaniard Joan Villadelprat and Giancarlo Minardi have each been trying to convince Telefonica that they should run the team and the other should not be involved. Villadelprat's idea was to rename the team and relocate the entire operation to Barcelona while Minardi argued that the organization should remain in Italy and that Telefonica should build on the already well-established Minardi brand.
Telefonica is running an identical car to the Minardi in CART this year with one of Cal Well's PrecisionÊPreparationÊInc.ÊMotorsports Reynard-Toyotas for Oriol Servia.