by Oberdan Golfieri and built by Antonio Lotti. Rino Ferniani drove it at the Circuito del Garda, retiring when he was leading the race. After his father’s death, Giancarlo took over the racing part of the family business. He took the reins of the Scuderia del Passatore in the early 1970s. He decided to start competing with a Brabham BT28 chassis and an Alfa Romeo engine in Formula Italia rather than Formula 3, like it was decided before. In 1972, the team finished runner-up with Giancarlo Martini, but he won in the following season. In 1974, Lamberto Leoni lost the championship due to a controversial black flag. In 1975, the team was renamed “Scuderia Everest” for sponsorship reasons. The promising Elio De Angelis raced for the team in 1977 and 1978 while Clay Regazzoni raced in 1978 and 1979. He ran with March chassis and BMW engines in Formula Two from 1975 to 1979. In 1976, the team briefly ran a customer Formula One Ferrari 312T with Giancarlo Martini, uncle of Pierluigi Martini. Martini Sr. qualified 15th for the Race of Champions at Brands Hatch but failed to start the race after an accident during the opening lap. The team then competed at the BRDC International Trophy in Silverstone where Martini finished 10th. In 1979, Minardi received financial backing from well known Italian motor racing patron Piero Mancini and set up the Minardi racing team as a Formula Two constructor. Racing history Formula Two (1980–1984) The team first competed under the Minardi name in the 1980 European Formula Two championship. Rather than using a customer chassis, the team commissioned a BMW powered design from Giacomo Caliri's FLY studios — previously responsible for the Fittipaldi Automotive team's F5A Formula One car. The first Minardi’s driver was Miguel Ángel Guerra, who achieved the 9th place in the standings with 10 points. In 1981, Caliri and Marmiroli designed the Minardi M281 driven by Michele Alboreto, Johnny Cecotto, Miguel Ángel Guerra, Roberto Farneti and Enzo Coloni: Alboreto won the Misano race and finished 8th with 13 points, Cecotto gained 3 points and moved to March in summer. A Ferrari Dino 206 engine was used for the new Minardi M282. The drivers were Alessandro Nannini and Paolo Barilla. Barilla didn’t score any point, Nannini got the 10th place with 8 points. The 1983 season saw several drivers racing with the Minardi M283: Alessandro Nannini (11