On a sunny winter day, Atlas F1's Ross Stonefeld and his photographer David Cameron took the train down south to the small town of Faenza, for a guided tour of the Minardi factory. They came back with an exclusive look inside

Amongst the most prized equipment is the team's stereolithography machine. Also known as 3-D Imaging or 3-D systems, it utilises a liquid photopolymer and ultraviolet laser for protoype modeling from CAD designs in a matter of hours. While neither the equipment or materials used are inexpensive, the practical gains in time from not having to create a full composite or metal model are invaluable.

This example is a component of the steering rack.

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