FEBRUARY 11, 2004

New Minardi shows improvement

The new Minardi, dubbed the PS4B, was out running at Misano yesterday with Zsolt Baumgartner at the wheel. The Hungarian novice lapped the track in 1m11.080s which is 2.5 seconds faster than the best time recorded by the team at the track back in 2002. Gianmaria Bruni takes over the car today.

The new Minardi, dubbed the PS4B, was out running at Misano yesterday with Zsolt Baumgartner at the wheel. The Hungarian novice lapped the track in 1m11.080s which is 2.5 seconds faster than the best time recorded by the team at the track back in 2002. Gianmaria Bruni takes over the car today.

"The new car is more progressive in its driving characteristics than the PS03 I drove in Valencia last month," said Baumgartner.

The team used the test to do tyre and aerodynamic evaluation work.

"Zsolt did an excellent job, completing 64 trouble-free laps," said Paul Stoddart. "It is noteworthy that today's times were set on an engine that had run for nearly 700kms, giving us great faith that Cosworth has provided the team with a reliable, powerful engine that will be more than capable of coping with the new, long-distance requirements specified by this year's F1 rules. We were also very pleased with the performance of the Bridgestone tyres today, which undoubtedly contributed to Zsolt's excellent lap times."