Minardi to debut titanium gearbox.

The tiny Minardi outfit has chosen what could soon be its home event to introduce its new titanium gearbox to the Formula One world.

The plucky midfield team officially presented the unit - which has been tested extensively in recent weeks - to the press for the first time yesterday [Thursday]. The result of a nine-month study and development programme, the gearbox ran for the first time in testing at Fiorano in April, after staff at the Faenza factory worked flat-out to ensure it was raceworthy in the shortest possible period. The team also benefited from the assistance of neighbouring giants Ferrari and technical partner CRP Technology in realising the project.

The Minardi team, commonly considered the Cinderella of Formula One, is proud to have first brought to the sport a highly advanced technology, said team boss Gabriele Rumi, Availing itself of the technical know-how derived from the applications employed in the space industry, the team has at its disposal parts manufactured in titanium castings.

Already, in the 1999 championship, various parts were introduced, among which were the uprights. Now [we can introduce] the gearbox casing. This represents a technical leap that even the top teams will eventually have to copy, and proves that our capabilities and courage will allow us to continue our climb in performance.

The technical co-operation with Scuderia Minardi Fondmetal of Faenza, which has existed for more than two years already, led CRP to become the first company in the world to produce a gearbox casing in titanium casting alloy, revealed CRP spokesman Franco Cevolini, This breakthrough is the result of an appropriate study carried out on expendable models we obtained thanks to a thorough knowledge in the realisation of sintered prototypes - now widely employed in wind tunnel aerodynamic studies of modern F1 cars.

I praise my collaborators, whose contribution made such a glamorous result possible, and I also thank the Scuderia Minardi Fondmetal, who help has made it possible to achieve such an ambitious target.

Minardi is sponsored by Spanish telecom giant Telefonica, and is surrounded by rumours suggesting that it will relocate to the Iberian peninsular in time for next years Spanish Grand Prix.