IMOLA, Italy - It's a muggy afternoon in early May and the air is thick with the fluffy white seeds from poplar trees. Flurries of the cotton-like substance float through the gates of the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Northern Italy and clump together in the shadow of the circuit's iconic race tower. Another storm should clear the air in the next hour or so, but in the meantime heavy clouds hang low over the terracotta roofs of the local neighbourhood.
Within the paddock, preparations are in full swing for the annual staging of the Historic Minardi Day.