The Minardi Cosworth F1 Team has announced that it has signed Bas Leinders as its official Test Driver for the 2004 season. The 28-year-old, from Wavre, Belgium, will thus participate in Friday testing during Grand Prix weekends as well as in scheduled test sessions for the Faenza-based team. Leinders boasts an impressive motor racing career, having secured championship titles in British and European Formula Ford, European Formula Opel, and German Formula 3 in a steady climb to the sport’s top levels. Most recently, he has raced in the highly competitive Nissan World Series, where he finished third overall in both the 2002 and 2003 seasons.
“I had always held out hope that I would make it to Formula One at some stage, and I am obviously very pleased that Minardi has now given me a chance to show what I can do,” comments Leinders. “I’m sure that my experience in a variety of single-seater race cars will allow me to adapt quickly to the demands of F1, so that I can start to provide the team’s engineers and the Bridgestone technicians with useful information on car set-up and tyre performance. Hopefully, what we learn in testing on Friday will then benefit the team’s performance in the race on Sunday. It is the sort of work I really enjoy, and I’m certainly looking forward to my first run in the Minardi Cosworth.”
Team Principal, Paul Stoddart, says, “Minardi is very pleased to have concluded a contract with Bas that will see him become our regular Friday test driver, running in a third chassis alongside Gimmi (Bruni) and Zsolt (Baumgartner) at all Grand Prix weekends. He has a lot of useful, and relevant, racing experience under his belt, as well as the added advantage of knowing many of the F1 circuits from his time in the International F3000 Championship. I’m sure he will prove to be a real asset to the team and help us to develop the Minardi Cosworth PS04B quickly, so that we can start to maximise its potential as early in the season as possible. With what I believe is a strong driver line-up now in place, we can start to focus on the serious business of improving our performance.” - Ends -
Bas Leinders – Biographical DetailsDate of birth: July 16, 1975Born: Bree, BelgiumResides: Wavre, BelgiumHeight: 1.82mWeight: 70 kgMarital status: Single
Race Career 1989Belgian Junior Karting Championship,Champion1990European and Belgian Junior Karting Championships, Champion1992Formula A Karting, Belgian Champion, runner-up, European Championship1994Belgian Formula Ford, Champion; Benelux Formula Ford, Champion1995European Formula Ford, Champion; British Formula Ford, Champion1996European Formula Opel, Champion (8 wins) 1997German Formula 3 Championship, 7th overall1998German Formula 3 Championship, ChampionMacau Grand Prix (F3), fastest lap1999FIA F3000 International Championship2000FIA F3000 International Championship 2001FIA F3000 International Championship, 6th overall2002Nissan World Series, 3rd overall2003Nissan World Series, 3rd overall2004FIA F1 World Championship (Minardi Cosworth) – Official Test Driver
