FIA International F3000 Round 4: Nurburgring (D), 20th May 2000

Bruno Junqueira stretched his championship lead at the Nurburgring with his second successive win, but it was not all plain sailing… The race was transformed into a lottery after a chaotic first corner and a downpour of rain during the race, yet Junqueira someone kept a level head and took a commanding victory, despite three narrow escapes during the race.

At the start David Saelens made a poor start from pole, allowing Enrique Bernoldi into the lead ahead of Junqueira and Tomas Enge. Saelens braked late into the Castrol S to try to make up for his bad start, but left it too late and took to the gravel before spinning back onto the track in front of the field. Mayhem followed, with Soheil Ayari, Kevin McGarrity, Ricardo Mauricio, Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber and Jeffrey van Hooydonk out on the spot. Red Bull Junior's Mauricio was lucky to escape uninjured after Astromega's Alonso mounted his car at high speed. Alonso's front right wheel came to rest just inches behind Mauricio's crash helmet. Amidst the chaos Jamie Davies suffered a badly damaged left-hand sidepod but was able to rejoin the track. The safety car came out with a much-depleted field trailing behind it.

As the safety car pulled in, the leading duo of Bernoldi and Junqueira began to pull away. Franck Montagny (DAMS), who was helped into third by the first-corner crashes, was suffering from a misfire and Enge passed him into the first corner while Andre Couto passed Jaime Melo behind. The racing didn't last long before the safety car was deployed for a second time. On lap 10 Bas Leinders spun in front of Nicolas Minassian. Minassian almost avoid the Belgian by diving around the outside, but his rear right clipped the Kid Jensen Racing car. Both were out on the spot and the cars were deemed to be in a dangerous position.

After the second restart Justin Wilson began to scythe through the field, first passing Sebastien Bourdais and then passing Stephane Sarrazin into the first corner. At the front however disaster was to strike race leader Bernoldi. He spun into the tyres exiting the Veedol chicane through no fault of his own. The TV replays showed clearly that his left rear suspension had broken. It was a bitter blow for the Brazilian who had also been robbed of the lead in the previous round. Junqueira inherited the lead but now there was more drama; the rain started to fall. Wilson was caught out by the damp surface and spun. Attempting to get his engine restarted he rolled forwards onto the track, to be clouted broadside by Montagny. The impact was spectacular, with wheels and bodywork flying everywere, but fortunately at an angle. Both drivers escaped uninjured unlike Mario Haberfeld in a similar accident two weeks earlier. Montagny appeared to be concentrating on his two-abreast battle with Sebastien Bourdais and didn't see Wilson on the edge of the track. The safety car once again came out while the wreckage was cleared. Junqueira had just had his first escape of the day, spinning at the Veedol chicane but keeping his lead. He came into the pits for wets, and was joined before the safety car period by Andreas Scheld and Fabrizio Gollin. It was a decision that would transform the race. Very few drivers opted to pit for wets during the caution period.

At the restart the track was soaked, and the runners still on dries were visibly disadvantaged. The top five - Enge, Couto, Bourdais, Sarrazin and Christijan Albers - were soon overwhelmed by the wet-shod drivers. Enge was so slow at the start of the straight approaching the chicane that a very nasty accident ensued. Fabrice Walfisch, a lap down but on wets, was caught out by the spray as he charged through the field. He hit Enge from behind and his car was launched into a vertical flight through the air. Thankfully he remained upright throughout the accident, and simply bounced back down and slid off the track onto the grass. Enge then spun wildly out of control and turned into a high speed mobile barrier for Junqueira who was making his way back up the order. Junqueira threw his car into a high-speed spin to avoid the Czech, his car miraculously emerging back onto the track just past the Veedol chicane. By this time Andreas Scheld, who had only qualified for one of the previous three races, was the surprise leader. The German put in a remarkable performance on his home track considering his lack of single-seater experience, and kept the lead for a number of laps before champion elect Junqueira got past on on lap 29.

Junqueira therefore took control, but Scheld and Gollin, also benefitting from their early change to wets, both drove with maturity and kept their cars on the road and in podium positions until the end of the race. On his way to victory Bruno Junqueira suffered his third major scare when Andrea Piccini spun in front of him. Instead of diving to one side Junqueira kept his cool and backed off until Piccini had stopped gyrating. Behind Christijan Albers threw away a points finish, as he had at Silverstone, allowing Stephane Sarrazin through. The Frenchman finally took his first points finish of 2000 after passing Jamie Melo for sixth. Scheld's second place was the Fortec team's first ever podium in F3000 and the inexperienced German was clearly delighted with his achievement, while F3000 veteran Fabrizio Gollin took his best ever finish for Coloni in third. Scheld was to be robbed of his finish however, after Coloni protested over a minor technical infringement. Early in the race he had pitted for a new nose assembly, but the team overlooked the presence of a small piece of masking tape on the front wing endplate. Team boss Richard Dutton said: "The tape is there to mask the wing angle position during transportation and gave absolutely no advantage." Gollin was thus promoted to second, Couto to third, Bourdais to fourth, his first ever points finish, Sarrazin to fifth and Melo to sixth.

Junqueira now leads the standings with 28 points from Minassian's 16, with Webber on 14. The series resumes in two weeks' time in the showpiece Monaco event.

QUALIFYING:

(All cars Lola B99/50-Zytek)

RACE RESULT:

Key: R=Retired, DQ=disqualified

(All cars Lola B99/50-Zytek)

Scoring: 10-6-4-3-2-1.

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: