RECORD ATTENDANCE OF MORE THAN 17,000 FOR THE EIGHTH EDITION OF THE HISTORIC MINARDI DAY. 440 HISTORIC CARS PRESENT, 38 OF THEM FORMULA 1

A record edition for the eighth Historic Minardi Day, more than 17,000 people present over the two days, that confirms it is an event of reference for the calendar of both Imola’s Enzo and Dino Ferrari Circuit, and the fans who, with great enthusiasm and passion, filled the paddock, the pits and the terrace to experience as protagonists 36 years of the Formula 1 World Championship and almost 50 years of Motorsport.

It was a certified success also for the number of cars present – more than 560 – which included historic Formula 1 cars, plus two racing cars kindly provided by the Racing Bulls in static versions, one of which dedicated to the pit-stop tests.

Inaugurating the eighth edition with a lap of the track was Gian Carlo Minardi aboard a 1968 Ginetta G4 driven by Roberto Farneti, acting as the trailblazer for the fifteen daily sessions which saw extraordinary F.Junior, F. Abarth, F. Italia, F2, F3, F4, GP3, GP2, F3000, Prototipi, GT Storiche, GTS – also thanks to the participation of Scuderia del Portello, Scuderia Tazio Nuvolari e Registro Italiano Alfa Romeo R.I.A.R – and  Supercars and the Pagani Huayra Roadster BC Hypercar, Lamborghini – Urus, Huracan Tacnica and Revuelto, Dallara Stradale and Pambuffetti PJ-01 taking to the track. The paddock was also graced by the presence of the Pagani Zonda S, Pagani Zonda F and Pagani Utopia.

It was a record of presences of historic Formula 1 cars that warmed the hearts of the fans in the pits and during the five rounds on the track starting with the 1975 Embassy Hill GH2, a one off piece, up to the two 2011 Williams FW33 driven by Pastor Maldonado and Rubens Barichello, passing through the Ensign, March 761, Tyrrel P34/02 and P34/05, Shadow DN8, Theodore TR1, Wolf WR7,  Merzario F1A3, Shadow DN12, Ferrari 312 T5, Ensign MN 180B, Osella FA1E, Alfa Romeo 184T-2, Arrows A10, Ferrari 126 C4, McLaren Mp4/3, Minardi M189, Williams FW 12C, Monteverdi F1, Fondmetal Fomet 1, BMS Dallara 190 and 192, Ferrari F92A, the 19p3 Lotus 107, Ferrari 412 T1, McLaren MP4/09, Jordan 197, Williams FW21, McLaren MP4/15 (replica), Minardi PS02 and Minardi PS04/B.

Despite the conjunction with the Dutch Formula Grand Prix, there was noteworthy participation by people who have written pages of worldwide motorsport and have always been linked to the world of Minardi, not failing to make their presence felt at the Historic Minardi Day. The President of ACI Angelo Sticchi Damiani, the engineers Aldo Costa, Gabriele Tredozi, the CEO of Aprilia Massimo Rivola, Andrea Levy, Arturio Merzario, Benito Battilani, Beppe Gabbiani, Fabio Babini, Francesco Bergami, Frits Van Eerd, Fulvio Maria Ballabio, Gabriele Lancieri,  Gianni Giudici, Giorgio Francia, Giovanni Lavaggi, Lamberto Leoni, Luca Badoer, Marco Antonelli, Marco Apicella, Massimo Ciccozzi, Miguel Angel Guerra, Pietro Corredig and Sonia Borghese, Nicolò Piancastelli, Pierluigi Martini, Paolo Delle Piane, Raffaele Giammaria, Riccardo Patrese, Roberto Farneti, Roberto Ravaglia, Sergio Campana, Siegfried Stohr and Thierry Boutsen. Amongst the protagonists there was also the famous illustrator and cartoonist “Matitaccia” Giorgio Serra and Brando Badoer.

There were many exciting moments including the assignation of the 3^rd Memorial “Nando Minardi” to Frits Van Eerd., friend and the biggest collector of Minardi F1 cars, to the Minardi Clubs Bertinoro, San Francisco, Montreal and Lauria for their continued support¸ Club Motori Modena – Scuderia Modena Corse for the active support in the days following the 2023 flood through their intervention with machinery and cultural initiatives helping the population of Faenza. Arturo Merzario returned to the wheel of the Lucchini Alfa Romeo (Scuderia del Portello); Pierluigi Martini alternated at the wheels of the Tyrrell P34/02 and the P34/05, the Minardi M198 on the Saturday and the F3 Ralt with which he won the 1983 European Championship: Miguel Angel Guerra at the wheel of Pierluigi Martini’s M189 made his debut with a Minardi F1 car, as well as driving the March 761; on Sunday afternoon Thierry Boutsen took to the track aboard Alain Prost’s MP4/03.

There was also intense activity in the paddock in the “augmented reality areas” thanks to IMOLA VR EXPERIENCE and “pit-stop” together with the presence of the maxi screen for the Formula 1 GP and in the screening of the documentary series dedicated to Roland Ratzenberger, made by German director Peter Levay.

As per tradition, at the conclusion of the two days of the Historic Minardi day there were the 123 historic cars protagonists of the Raduno Terre di Romagna (Lands of the Romagna Rally (within the ACI Storico Festival, a day entirely dedicated to passion, culture and the territory organized by AC Ravenna, in collaboration with ACI Storico, With the departure from the Imola Circuit, the convoy wound through the countryside of the Romagna, passing though Faenza, Errano, Brisighella and Riolo Terme before returning to the track with the closing parade of the event.

Gian Carlo Minardi: “This edition of the Historic Minardi Day exceeded all expectations and I thank my brother Giuseppe and niece Elena, together with all the team of Formula Imola for the great work done in these months. Such exponential growth, in terms of cars, the public and specialists in the field, was unthinkable compared to the past edition that already represented an excellent result. I was extremely pleased to see even the mew generation enthusiastic because there many young people present who looked around the pits and admired the many cars that had written the history of motorsport. This result is also a good sign on the front of the economic income generated in the territory, with the accommodation facilities benefitting from the full house at Imola and in the surrounding territory. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the local council administration, starting with Imola’s Mayor, Marco Panieri, the President of Con Ami Fabio Bacchilega for their constant support together with ACI’s President Angelo Sticchi Damiani, whose presence and compliments gave me great pleasure. Now all that remains is to get to work on the 2025 edition, with the objective of moving the date to mid-September, on the weekend of the 13^th and 14^th.”