Toccacelo to Minardi

[BSchneiderFan]

According to www.autosport-atlas.com, Minardi have signed Enrico Toccacelo as their third driver for the rest of 2005. Interesting and unexpected move.

[Kicking-back]

Minardi has confirmed the news.


Toccacello has decent credentials too.

A good choice.

[BSchneiderFan]

Better than Nissany, anyway!

[Skam85]

I'm better than Nissany!

[arthurive]

Toccacelo was the 2004 vice-champion in F3000.
He had quite a few podiums and a win or two.
Supposedly he has a reputation of being quick but erratic.

At least he has a background that warrants a shot at F1.

If he looks "too" good, they may let him race this year.
I mean, Doornbos can't be on too firm a footing can he?

[Kicking-back]

Doornbos is solid to the end of the year

[climb]

Well, it's somehow amazing the great number of drivers aiming at doing something with a team that has currently no means to grant them any positive exposure

[BootsOntheSide]

It's a shme he hasn't had a chance to test an F1 car until now, as he's showed potential already. His name's been mentioned for the Eurointernational ChampCar team which is planning to run in 2006, but maybe he will use his findign to get a 2006 F1 seat instead if this goes well.

[BSchneiderFan]

I can't really see him in F1 for 2006; there's nothing that special about him (unless he has a rich daddy or something!).

[arthurive]

Originally Posted by BSchneiderFan

I can't really see him in F1 for 2006; there's nothing that special about him (unless he has a rich daddy or something!).

The best hope for Toccacelo would be some impressive performances on the upcoming Fridays, leading to a full time "Friday" driver role with
a better team in 2006.
An F1 race seat in 2006 is highly unlikely.

[climb]

But i'm not very confident Minardi will let him show any potential, as teh cars are real dogs.

[N I Tram]

Teams assess driver performances in the Minardi more on the basis of how you do relative to your team-mates and whether you stay on the track, rather than outright speed, so I think Enrico can gain from this. At the very least he increases his chance of a 2006 drive of some description, and perhaps makes it easier for he and Eurointernational to get decent funding for the ChampCar effort together.

[runshaw]

Originally Posted by BSchneiderFan

I can't really see him in F1 for 2006; there's nothing that special about him (unless he has a rich daddy or something!).

Well in his 3 full seasons of International F3000 he was a race winner in all of them, and this year already has a win to his name in the Renault World Series. He is certainly one of the better drivers Minardi has had. What would you classify as special?? I think 2nd place overall in 2004 F3000 series and a multiple F3000/F3 race-winner sounds pretty good IMO.

[BSchneiderFan]

Oh, don't get me wrong, Toccacelo's a good driver, but he's not Enge, Junqueira, Bourdais, Wilson, Liuzzi, Pantano... I'd put him on a par with people like Kiesa and Friesacher, so I can only see him in F1 as a result of a hefty sack of cash.

[BSchneiderFan]

And, as a side note, he was only a race winner in 2002 after Enge was excluded from the Hungary race for his narcotic transgression.

[runshaw]

Yes I know it was by default, but Enge was against the rules, so the winner was Enrico. As they say, a win is a win.

[BSchneiderFan]

True, true. My point is that he didn't have race-winner's pace in 2002 (unless one supposes that marijuana is a performance-enhancing drug...). But he's a decent driver.