Asiatech claims AT02 is powerful alternative.

The hard-trying Minardi team has a clear-cut goal over the next four seasons, and that goal involves moving up the Formula One grid in terms of competitiveness.

A key element in the package that will allow the team to progress quickly is the power unit and, for the coming season, the Italian minnow has entered a partnership with Asiatech for the supply of its latest AT02 V10 engines.

"The new KL Minardi-Asiatech PS02 is the result of a close collaboration between the technical staffs of the two organisations and, so far, we are very satisfied with the outcome," Asiatech president John Gano admitted.

"This is only the first step in a year-long campaign, however, and we now look forward to building on the relationship with our colleagues at Minardi in order to ensure a positive and productive 2002 season that will help boost both companies to stronger, more competitive positions within the Formula One hierarchy. It is a significant challenge, but one that we look forward to with enthusiasm."

The new AT02 shares the same 72-degree, included-angle configuration for the light alloy cylinder block as its predecessor, but there the similarity ends. In line with the most recent trends in grand prix engine design, the latest offering from Asiatech's extensively equipped headquarters in Velizy, south of Paris, features different bore and stroke dimensions from its predecessor, as well as all-new cylinder heads, inlet and exhaust manifolds, camshafts, crankshaft and engine internals.

As a result, it is lighter, more efficient, more compact and capable of producing higher power outputs than the engine it replaces. That, in turn, is very good news for Minardi and its technical staff, who have been able to focus their pre-season efforts on optimising the design of the team's latest PS02 chassis around the Asiatech engine and integrating such important areas as the cooling, electronics and hydraulics systems. The engine is mated to Minardi's ground-breaking, titanium-cased gearbox, which ran with complete reliability in its very latest form at the final Formula One race of last season in Japan.

"We are extremely pleased with the way the new car and engine package has come together," comments technical director Gabriele Tredozi.

"The Asiatech engine is very good - compact with a low centre of gravity - and that really helped us when it came to packaging the back end of the car since it gave the designers a little more room with which to work. We feel we have taken a big step forward technically with the 2002 Minardi and the Asiatech engine has been a key component in allowing us to make that progress."