FEBRUARY 2, 2005

Nissany and Minardi

As we predicted last week Minardi has signed a testing contract with Israel's Chanoch Nissany. The 41-year-old will help the team with its (limited) testing away from the races but wll not be involved at running on Grand Prix weekends. The team has yet to name its second and third thirds although the name of Nicolas Kiesa is being bandied around in relation to the second racing seat. That would give the team a decent racing line-up and sponsorship to get the job done.

Nissany has only been racing for a couple of years and is not a serious contender for the future but his involvement with Minardi will help to raise the profile of the sport in Israel.

"I derive considerable satisfaction from the fact that, once again, Minardi is able to contribute in a practical way to the very worthwhile goal of raising the awareness of Formula 1 in an area of the world where the sport has not previously had a significant profile," said team boss Paul Stoddart. "This can only be a good thing."