Mazzacane Made For Minardi.

Having lost one Argentine driver, Italian minnows Minardi have apparently earmarked another to take his place.


Little known F3000 driver Gaston Mazzacane is thought to have signed a contract with Minardi to occupy one of its seats in 1999, although further details are sketchy. Mazzacane has only a middling record in the lower formulae, despite competing around Europe for several seasons, and it is thought unlikely that he will automatically qualify for the necessary F1 superlicence. The same situation faced former Minardi driver Esteban Tuero prior to the 1998 campaign, but was overcome by intensive testing.


Mazzacane's deal looks likely to rule Ferrari test driver Luca Badoer out of the running for a drive with the team, despite conducting the shakedown test of its new car this week. Shinji Nakano also looks unlikely to re-sign for the team, leaving Spain's Marc Gene and Uruguayan F3000 star Gonzalo Rodriguez to find the sponsorship to fill the second seat.


Minardi, having already delayed its original launch, now plans to reveal its 1999 challenger at Barcelona next week, along with a final driver line-up.