Paul Stoddart

Paul Stoddart, born May 26, 1955, is an Australian millionaire airline magnate, and former owner of the Minardi Formula One racing team. He later took the Minardi brand into the Champ Car World Series after his purchase of the former CTE-HVM team which he has renamed Minardi Team USA.

Biography

Early life and establishment of European Aviation

Born in Coburg, Melbourne, Australia, and attended Preston Technical School, Stoddart's first business was a car dealership; he was a racing patron from the start and entered a number of his own GT cars in various local competitions. One day, without apparent precedent, the Royal Australian Air Force offered to sell Stoddart an unused fleet of BAC 1-11 aircraft. Stoddart agreed, intending to sell them at a profit to an airline or charter service, but as he got no immediate offers he decided to begin a charter service himself for the express purpose of shuttling gamblers to and from Tasmania, the only Australian state which allowed gambling at the time. After Stoddart moved to England, this company became European Aviation and has had much success as a VIP charter service.

Historic racing

Stoddart returned to racing in 1996 when he purchased ten old Tyrrell F1 cars, a Minardi, a Benetton, and a Brabham for his own use. European Aviation sponsored Tyrrell in 1997; the same year, Stoddart entered his numerous F1 cars in an F1 Historical Championship; he established his own team, European Formula Racing, whose driver Nigel Greensall won the championship in 1997 and 1998.

Formula One sponsor

Tyrrell had almost adopted Stoddart and European Aviation as a technical partner, and were planning a team wind tunnel at the company's headquarters, when in early 1998, British American Tobacco bought out the Tyrrell family and established its own team, British American Racing. Stoddart bought much of the old Tyrrell equipment and became a sponsor of Jordan Grand Prix in 1999; he also entered two drivers in the Formula 3000 championship.

European Aviation moved on to sponsor Arrows in 2000 and his European Racing became the Arrows Junior Team, with driver Mark Webber.

Minardi team owner

Stoddart realized his dream to become a Formula One team owner when Minardi shareholder Gabriele Rumi sold out to him shortly before the 2001 season began. Under Stoddart, the team struggled from 2001 to 2005, remaining a perennial backmarker due to its shortage of lucrative sponsorship. Stoddart almost sold European Aviation at the end of 2002 and Wilux became Minardi's title sponsor. Longtime Minardi sporting director John Walton died on the eve of the 2004 British Grand Prix; the team ran a sponsor-free tribute livery for that race, but Wilux subsequently ended its sponsorship, stating that they would rather have been informed beforehand. A lack of sponsorship once again left Minardi's future very much in doubt. For most of what would turn out to be Minardi's final season on the grid, the black cars were emblazoned with OzJet, an airline in Australia owned by Stoddart, that flew for a few months but is now operating as a Charter service. On September 12, 2005, Stoddart announced that he had sold his team to Red Bull Racing owner Dietrich Mateschitz.

In March 2006, less than a year after selling his team to Red Bull, Stoddart announced his intentions to return the Minardi name to Formula One after lodging an entry with the FIA for the F1|2008 championship season. However, rival entry Prodrive were awarded the 12th and final place on the grid (which they ultimately did not use).

Move to North America

In December 2006 Stoddart purchased the CTE-HVM ChampCar team which he renamed Minardi Team USA - Giancarlo Minardi retains the rights to use the name in some formulae and markets, Stoddart in others. The team was successful, Robert Doornbos finishing 3rd overall and taking the Rookie of the Year honours. However, a month before the 2008 season, ChampCar was absorbed by the rival Indy Racing League. Although enthusiastic about the future of the series, Stoddart opted not to enter it, fearing that he and the other ex-ChampCar teams would be unable to be competitive. [http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/65634]

References