22 August 2003 14:43
MOTOR: Russian billionaire could buy Minardi
MELBOURNE, Aug 22 AAP - Australian Paul Stoddart is trying to offload his Minardi Formula One team to colourful
Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. As Minardi prepares to celebrate its 300th Grand Prix this weekend in Hungary,
Stoddart says the Russian oil tycoon - nicknamed Red Rom - can have the team for $A181.5 million. That's half the
price Abramovich paid recently to buy one of Britain's leading soccer clubs, Chelsea, which the Fleet Street press
now jokingly call Chelski. A keen fan of motor racing's premier division, Abramovich was a guest of F1 supremo
Bernie Ecclestone at a recent GP in Germany and visited the Minardi pit where his son was photographed in the cockpit of
one of the team's cars. Stoddart, an expatriate Melbourne aviation entrepreneur, rescued Italian-based Minardi from
collapse in early 2001 but is thought to have squandered much of his fortune in keeping the team on track. Ecclestone,
one of Britain's richest men, recently injected several million dollars into Minardi to save it from extinction.
Stoddart's invitation to Abramovich came via The Sun newspaper in London. "You can bail us out if you want
to," Stoddart was quoted saying to Abramovich in the paper. "We need someone who can put proper funding into
the team. "Minardi may be at the back of the grid, but the only thing which has ever stopped us progressing is the
lack of cash." Stoddart's attempt to entice Abramovich to buy Minardi comes after an unhappy experience last
year with another Russian oil business, Gazprom, which agreed to sponsor the team but reportedly failed to pay. "I
met Abramovich at the European GP and found him a charming person," Stoddart said. "He spent a lot of time in
our garage and we arranged for his young son to sit in the cockpit of our car while mechanics did a practice pit-stop.
"We spoke about F1 and he appeared to have a real interest in the sport." The Russian reportedly has plenty of
spare cash, even after his Chelsea purchase. It was announced 10 days ago that his Sibneft group was to merge with the
bigger Yukos oil company, potentially netting him another $A1.21 billion. Ecclestone has said that Stoddart is an
enthusiast who cannot afford to compete against the likes of Ferrari, McLaren and Williams teams with annual budgets of
about $A650 million each. Minardi gave Australian Mark Webber his start in F1, with a memorable fifth-place at last
year's season-opening GP in Melbourne before he joined Jaguar this season. Minardi has survived 18 years in F1,
often against miraculous odds, despite never having achieved a podium finish in a GP. Its cars have been perennial
tailenders, with 1993 its best season when it scored seven world championship points and achieved an all-time highest of
eighth in the constructors' championship. However, it has earned a reputation as a talent academy by introducing
several drivers who have ascended to stardom in recent years including Italians Giancarlo Fisichella and Jarno Trulli,
young Spaniard Fernando Alonso, Webber and lanky Englishman Justin Wilson, who a month ago joined the Australian at
Jaguar. Ecclestone has been in talks for several years about a potential Russian GP, either in Moscow or St Petersburg.
AAP rg/lc z
[AIW [Asia Africa Intelligence Wire]] |
RUSSIA IN FACTS
