- Paul Stoddart
Paul Stoddart, born
May 26 ,1955 , is an Australian millionaire airline magnate, and former owner of theMinardi Formula One racing team. He later took the Minardi brand into theChamp Car World Series after his purchase of the former CTE-HVM team which he has renamedMinardi 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, theRoyal Australian Air Force offered to sell Stoddart an unused fleet ofBAC 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 becameEuropean 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, aMinardi , a Benetton, and aBrabham for his own use.European Aviation sponsored Tyrrell in1997 ; the same year, Stoddart entered his numerous F1 cars in an F1 Historical Championship; he established his own team, European Formula Racing, whose driverNigel Greensall won the championship in1997 and1998 .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 ofJordan Grand Prix in1999 ; he also entered two drivers in theFormula 3000 championship.European Aviation moved on to sponsor
Arrows in2000 and his European Racing became the Arrows Junior Team, with driverMark 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 the2001 season began. Under Stoddart, the team struggled from 2001 to2005 , remaining a perennial backmarker due to its shortage of lucrative sponsorship. Stoddart almost sold European Aviation at the end of 2002 andWilux became Minardi's title sponsor. Longtime Minardi sporting director John Walton died on the eve of the 2004British 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 withOzJet , an airline in Australia owned by Stoddart, that flew for a few months but is now operating as a Charter service. OnSeptember 12 ,2005 , Stoddart announced that he had sold his team toRed Bull Racing ownerDietrich 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 entryProdrive 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 rivalIndy 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
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