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Gaston Mazzacane, Argentina's last F1 driver, is best known as a "pay driver" and one of the few to sport a mullet. However, The Authoritive Gaston Mazzacane Webpage is a look at Mazzacane overall and to investigate every detail of Gaston Mazzacane. Like any webpage, it is a work in progress! |
| Gaston Mazzacane, 2000. | |
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| Gaston Mazzacane History -- Mazzacane takes to F1 with Minardi and Prost | |
Gaston Mazzacane began his F1 career in 1999 as a relative unknown and mere test driver. Countryman Esteban Tuero had just left the team. Mazzacane was the official test driver for the Scuderia Minardi that year. Then, in late February 2000, Mazzacane was announced to the world to be Marc Gene's teammate that year as the team unveiled their yellow M02 at the same time. "I intend to learn over the first half of the season and then I feel I will have the confidence to perform well," Mazzacane told the press at Minardi's showy car debut at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. |
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Born: 8 May 1975 Height: 1.73m Weight: 68kg Residence: La Plata, Argentina Band: Rolling Stones  |
Mazzacane's debut year in F1 was average. A broken gearbox at the Melbourne GP was tempered with a 10th place at Brazil. Mazzacane outqualified teammate Gene at Imola, the first of four times. Mazzacane quietly kept posting finishes in his Minardi, which is more than better than the likes of later drivers such as Alex Yoong who put them in the wall! Mazzacane spent his year the disregarded member of the rookie trio of himself, Nick Heidfeld (Prost, and Jenson Button (Williams), the latter he outqualified at Melbourne. Germany was a relative high point for Mazzacane. After outqualifying his teammate, Mazzacane ran well and finished 11th. Despite an aged two-year-old Ford powerplant, Mazzacane had placed himself 13th of 19 cars still running as of lap 29 -- three laps after a crazy man ran across the track and caused a yellow flag. That lap, Diniz and Alesi had a coming together, and Mazzacane was actually ahead of the wreck and sat just two cars behind Button. Mazzacane triumphantly finished the day last in 11th, but on the lead lap, and with an average lap that was only down four KM/H from winner Barrichello. |
Mazzacane went on, and had a remarkable stint in the USGP of racing defending WDC Mika Hakkinen for third place at Indy. Mazzacane was yet to pit, but Hakkinen never managed to pass Gaston, shaking his fist at the driver. This helps prove my theory that Minardi were always greatly harmed by having to start dead last, because F1 does not foster much overtaking in the races. However, when Mazzacane went into the pits, he ran over two of his crew members. "I made a big mistake under braking at the second stop and I locked my wheels, running over two guys from my crew," he later told the press.
Mazzacane ended the year with two crummy finishes nonetheless.
However, Mazzacane finished 11 of the 17 races that year
(more stats here) and ranked third among
drivers with the most kilometers raced, only behind the McLaren boys.
The following year, Mazzacane optioned for Arrows by doing a couple tests, but finally settled into the Prost team,
taking over the seat of rookie-of-the-year rival Nick Heidfeld.
The "new" Prost team was one that looked to be on its last legs. Finishing behind Minardi in the 2000 championship, the team suffered the lost of many sponsors, including longtime sponsor cigarette maker Gualoises. Pedro Diniz, in his first year out of the cockpit, had linked himself up with the team, and Prost looked for a good driver who also was backed by a good sponsor.
Enter Mazzacane.
Mazzacane beat out CART's Oriol Servia for the Prost spot, and was announced as the second driver in January.
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Mazzacane qualified the first two races of 2001 in 20th spot, which meant he was off the back row. He even outqualified the much better funded Jaguar of Luciano Burti for Melbourne, even if Mazzacane was the first one to DNF in the race. Mazzacane again qualified 20th at Imola in ahead of old foe Jenson Button, but it would be his final F1 race. Alain Prost, by using a performance clause in Mazzacane's contract, kicked him out. The vacany was filled by the also-disposed Luciano Burti. Burti lost his seat at Jag when they put their test driver Pedro de la Rosa in. Ironically, when Mazzacane tested at Arrows earlier that year, it was Pedro de la Rosa's seat there that he could have taken over. So, what happened then? Well, Prost imploded at the end of 2001, and a new team run by Tom Walkinshaw and Chris Nickerson bought up Prost's assets. This new team, Phoenix (later renamed DART), signed Mazzacane to a contract with plans to race in the 2002 season. Mazzacane would be reunited with the AP04 he raced the year before. "A lot of things are being said and there is a lot of speculation, but there is a signed contract and the truth is that the team will take part in the Formula One World Championship," said Jack Kremer in March 2002. Kremer is Mazzacane's manager. However, it was not to be as the team was barred from racing. Likewise, as the year went on, Arrows imploded itself and did not race the final five GPs. The last we have heard of what Mazzacane is up to is the IRL, where he completed his rookie test in October at Kentucky Speedway for Sam Schmidt Motorsports, topping 217 mph. "He had never been on an oval, period," said his team owner Sam Schmidt "After his first few laps, he came in and was just in awe because of the speeds." Welcome to the IRL, Mazzacane. |
STATS!! Under construction |
