JANUARY 10, 2002

Albers to rejoin Minardi test team

MINARDI announced Thursday that Dutchman Christijan Albers will test for the team when they begin their on track preparation for the 2002 season on January 15th. The team will begin their 2002 testing program in Valencia, Spain with Albers, team driver Alex Yoong, and several others during the four day session.

Albers, who was an official Minardi test driver in 2001, will carry out durability testing with an interim Minardi PS01B chassis in Valencia. The 22-year old won the German F3 Championship in 1999, competed in the International F3000 series in 2000, and the DTM in 2001, in addition to his testing duties.

Paul Stoddart commented, "Christijan is someone who is close to our team, and we continue to rate him highly. Now that our pre-season testing program is set to get under way in earnest, we thought it was an ideal opportunity to have another look at him while he helps us get through our scheduled workload, which is considerable. It's also useful that Christijan knows the team, the engineers, and our way of working, as he has tested for us before."

Albers said, "I am obviously very pleased to be asked to test again for Minardi. I know the team has made significant progress over the last year, and the new car should be a big step forward. I am really looking forward to helping with the test program and am excited at the prospect of experiencing the performance of a Formula One car again."