Wednesday February 16th, 2000

The Minardi Formula One team unveiled their new MO2 car on Wednesday, hoping to get more than one point this season and presenting Argentine Gaston Mazzacane as a potential surprise package.

Mazzacane, 24, was confirmed as team mate to Spaniard Marc Gene on Monday.

The Argentine was the Italian team's test driver last season, when Minardi scored their first point in almost four years, and chief designer Gustav Brunner said he could follow in the footsteps of other talents discovered by the team.

"It is not new for Minardi to bring on new drivers. (Italians) Jarno Trulli and Giancarlo Fisichella have come through here and they are good drivers," he said.

Trulli has now joined Jordan after a spell at Prost while Fisichella is at Benetton.

"I think Gaston may well surprise a few people this season. He is very confident," said Brunner.

Minardi's last Argentine driver was Esteban Tuero, who made his debut as a 19-year-old in 1998. He completed a season and then quit for personal reasons.

Mazzacane's career includes 10th place overall in the Sportscar Racing World Cup in a Ferrari 333ST and a handful of Formula 3000 races with Autosport Racing in 1998 and 1999.

"I hope to repay the faith Minardi have shown in me," said Mazzacane at the team's launch at Bilbao's Guggenheim Museum. "I intend to learn over the first half of the season and then I feel I will have the confidence to perform well."

Mazzacane, who is replacing Italian Luca Badoer, won his chance after impressing team bosses at recent testing sessions. He was chosen ahead of fellow Argentine Norberto Fontana and Brazilian Max Wilson.

Spanish telecommunications giants Telefonica, who are Minardi's main sponsors, had also sought an Argentine driver to help their expansion into South America.

Progress for the perennial tail-enders, sporting a new lime-green colour scheme, will undoubtedly be a struggle since they are relying on an old specification Ford engine after negotiations for a later version fell through.

Gene, who won Minardi's 1999 point at the European Grand Prix at the Nuerburgring, said he realised that he and Mazzacane will have a battle on their hands.

"I admit that it is going to be tough to get the results this year, but there are two ways of doing so," said Gene.

"One is on circuits that don't require lots of power, and the other is at the beginning of the season when other teams may have reliability problems.

"We have got to take advantage of these."

"I don't feel sorry for myself, but I do for the team. They deserve much better than this," he added.