Well, he's back. I wouldn't normally do this, but the sheer comedy value of it means this story is deserving a thread of its on. Stefanovic has annouced that he's going ahead with his racing team and will be present in Bahrain - despite the fact that he doesn't have a 2010 entry. And so I submit for your consideration: Zoran Stefanovic is the heir apparent to Andrea Sassetti, owner and operator of the worst team in Formula One history.
And no, I'm not kidding.
Stefan Grand Prix wants 2010 slot
Stefan Grand Prix, the 2010 F1 entry run by Zoran Stefanovic, says it still hopes to be on the Formula 1 grid next year despite failing to be granted a place by the FIA.
Stefanovic, who complained to the EU about the FIA’s insistence that the new teams for 2010 use Cosworth engines, says his company are, “acting like they are already in for the 2010 championship.”
He added: “don’t forget, people tried to convince the Wright brothers that they would never fly.”
Will Stefan Grand Prix get off the ground in 2010? It seems doubtful at this late stage, and their press release hasn’t got quite the air of professionalism you expect from an F1 team.
But no-one really expected Manor Motorsport to get a place for 2010, so who knows? If the rumours about Toyota pulling the plug on their F1 team are true, maybe the FIA will go looking for another new entry.
Press release
We are alive and ready
Talking with Mr. Zoran D. Stefanovic from Stefan Grand Prix, in light of new information about FIA 2010 Formula 1 World Championship, regarding some remarks from Mr. Ecclestone’s interview to BBC in which he points that “one or two team’s will not make it to Bahrain next year”.
Head of Stefan Grand Prix Mr. Zoran D. Stefanovic wanted to share his thoughts about this matter, because everybody from SGP strongly believe that what SGP has to offer to F1 can be very interesting from every angle.
Nobody from SGP including myself, will just try to convince anybody why should we have to be in F1 next year, but we would like everybody to know that we are not just ready, but we also did a lot of work in last couple of months. We will try to share our thoughts and apply to logics and common sense of everybody who want to know for example how did we raised money for next year already, in other words how did we found title sponsorship without even being accepted from FIA for the 2010 Championship.
When you have all the pieces of the puzzle right: when you have one of the biggest shows on the face of the earth – the F1 brand – which is in my opinion organized almost perfectly, and when you come from an extremely interesting part of the world like Central – Eastern Europe, you have something fresh, something new, something worth looking at. And that is the essence of our effort. The idea of F1 car from Serbia makes everybody start thinking very fast. You must agree that what we have is something never seen before, something far more interesting than you usually expect, something very unique.
Therefore, almost over-night, you find yourself in the spotlight of the right eyes. Soon enough sponsors will recognize your position and they will follow you, like they did. We are in an area populated with over 400 million people, including Russia that is a brotherly nation with Serbia, so we have 800 millions eyes focused on something that was unimaginable for this area just a year ago.
This is the main reason why we have raised funds, why we have continued work on our car, and why we have our mind set to work as we are looking to be in Bahrain next year, because we think we will have two cars there.
Don’t forget, people tried to convince the Wright brothers that they would never fly, said Mr. Stefanovic.
What F1 must understand is that they will have the unique new team and will conquer, geographically, a very important part of the world. But if you ask who will really profiting, proper answer is – the fans, Mr. Stefanovic said.
He also continue, ‘The everyday normal, smart man from all Central – Eastern Europe, from Russia, is just waiting for a strong emotional connection with something, and we think that our F1 project is exactly what they have been looking and waiting for. We want to develop SGP into a strong recognizable F1 brand and we are determined to do so. Don’t forget, we have 400 million reasons to do it.
In the end, Mr. Stefanovic says that they will keep pushing, that SGP will make their car, and that they are acting like they are already in for the 2010 championship, and he finishes with words:
"Success is very predictable. You need to know what is the nature of your business, and you need to sell your product. We have unique product, which we already sold, so it is predictable that we expect to be in F1."
I am so going to write a guest article for Jamie and Enoch on this joker. Who knows, maybe they'll publish it this time ...
