AUGUST 12, 2002
Pantano wins for charity
F3000 star Giorgio Pantano won Minardi's second annual charity event, Thunder in the Park, Sunday with former WBO Middleweight Boxing champ Chris Eubank as his passanger.
Pantano beat out 1996 Formula One champion Damon Hill, current Minardi drivers Mark Webber and Alex Yoong, Paul Stoddart, and F1 hopefuls David Saelens, Matteo Bobbi and Christian Albers, all driving two seater Minardis in the "simulated" race at Donington Park.
The professionals had celebrities like Eubank, music artist Gabrielle, and ITV F1 reporter Beverley Turner as passangers, as well as charity auction winners, who bid for their seats, and a contest winner.
The three day event raised more than half a million dollars for the Brain & Spine Foundation and the Down's Syndrome Association.
American Bryan Herta and 2001 F3000 champion Justin Wilson also completed some demonstration runs in a pair of PS01 Minardis for the crowd of 25,000.