Minardi owner Paul Stoddart has boldly predicted a top 10 finish for the Formula One team next season.

The expatriate Australian has based his forecast solely on securing Ford-owned Cosworth engines, which will be similar to those used by the Jordan team.

Minardi, having staved off collapse this year, has most of its budget for the new season starting in Melbourne on March 6-9 and will have to pay about $A25 million for a year's supply of the Cosworth V10 motors.

Stoddart said the deal would give his cars a 70-horsepower improvement on the Asiatech units they had this year.

He has not named either of his drivers for 2003, but the frontrunners from a list of 21 possibilities are lanky Englishman Justin Wilson and a Dutchman - either rookie Christian Albers or the experienced Jos Verstappen.

Stoddart hopes that, whoever races for Minardi, the team will be competing with midfielders British American Racing, Jordan, Jaguar and perhaps Ferrari-powered Sauber.

"We see it (the engine deal) as a massive step, in that the whole package gives us the confidence that it would not be beyond the realms of possibilities to see a Minardi qualify in the top 10 - at least in one race next year," Stoddart told Britain's Autosport magazine.

"I think you will regularly see us qualifying off the back row, and that is probably the most important single issue.

"If you do qualify in a reasonably good position you can be challenging for points in your own right without counting on the misfortune of others.

"You need luck to score points, but we've always had a bit of that."

Webber scored two points on his debut with Minardi at this year's Australian GP, taking a memorable fifth place in a race of attrition.

"I don't want to be too optimistic, but we're hoping we can be racing Jaguar, BAR, Jordan, Sauber perhaps, depending on who is having a good or bad day," Stoddart said.

"You could see mixed grids at the back."

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