UNOFFICIAL F3000 INFORMATION

 NEWS

[Click here for NEWS ARCHIVES]

 June 30th 2000 - International F3000:

Bourdais takes first pole at Magny-Cours Gauloises Formula driver Sebastien Bourdais was comfortably quickest in qualifying for round 6 at Magny-Cours today. The French F3 champion, fresh from qualifying second at Monaco a month ago, took his first pole position on the Prost team's home track in his rookie F3000 season. Nicolas Minassian (Super Nova) was 2nd ahead of Fernando Alonso (Astromega), David Saelens (Super Nova), Mario Haberfeld (Fortec) and Franck Montagny (DAMS). It was rookie Alonso's best qualifying performance of the season and an impressive return for Haberfeld, who missed the last two races through injury. Championship leader Bruno Junqueira (Petrobras Junior) ended up only ninth fastest. Bourdais was quickest in the first session, and it appeared his position was safe as the second session begun with slower track conditions. As the session progressed times improved, allowing Minassian, Saelens and Haberfeld to improve their positions, although Bourdais remained at the top of the timesheets throughout with his unbeatable time of 1:27.071. The non-qualifiers were Kristian Kolby (DAMS), Yves Olivier (Witmeur KTR), Viktor Maslov (Arden) and Andreas Scheld (Fortec). Kolby's second session was prematurely ended after a badly judged passing attempt by Olivier. As Kolby turned into the Adelaide hairpin Olivier rammed into the Dane's right rear wheel and was launched over the top of the DAMS machine. Both cars were significantly damaged and neither driver continued. Ricardo Mauricio (Red Bull Junior) missed the first session and some of the second with a mechanical problem, eventually qualifying down in 21st place. Other drivers in trouble were Andre Couto (Gauloises Formula) and Kevin McGarrity (Nordic) who both went off separately at the fast Estoril right-hander. Andrea Piccini (Kid Jensen Racing) was stranded in the first session after a spin into the gravel. Qualifying times are here.

Walfisch competes in '99 chassis Astromega driver Fabrice Walfisch has decided to enter an ex-Draco Lola B99/50 chassis from last season in round 6 at Magny-Cours. The car competed in qualifying today in the same yellow colours Walfisch raced with in 1999, albeit with Astromega sponsorship decals. Walfisch is still unhappy with the chassis he has been racing this season. He felt there was a problem with the chassis and the team drafted in Dino Morelli to identify it at the A1-Ring tests. After driving the car Morelli was only 0.2 seconds behind Fernando Alonso and could not feel anything wrong with the car. Walfisch has suffered two big shunts this year, first in Barcelona qualifying and then in the Nurburgring race.

Morelli to stay with Durango Benetton Junior Dino Morelli will continue to race with the Durango Benetton Junior Team for the next two F3000 Italia rounds at Vallelunga and Donington. Morelli joined the team at Monza at the last minute, replacing Giovanni Montanari. The Ulsterman had only just tested for International F3000 team Astromega at the A1-Ring tests. (Source: Autosport)

Astromega ends Orbit partnership International F3000 team Astromega have ended their assault on the Italian F3000 series for this year. The team had partnered the Orbit Motorsport team with the driver pairing of Sascha Bert and Danilo Rossi, but Astromega boss Sam Boyle has decided to end the project. Astromega may return to the championship in the future. (Source: Autosport)

A correction The Italian F3000 Round 4 results have been amended to reflect the fact that Danilo Rossi competed for Monaco Junior Team rather than Orbit Motorsport as stated. Orbit have canned their Italian F3000 campaign (see separate story)

Haberfeld to return to racing Fortec Motorsport driver Mario Haberfeld will return to competition at Magny-Cours this weekend. The former British F3 champion missed the last two races after injuring his leg in qualifying at Barcelona, but will return after competing in last week's A-1 Ring test. (Source: Autosport)

Bourdais to make FIA GT debut Gauloises Formula F3000 driver Sebastien Bourdais will make his FIA GT Championship debut at the Hungaroring this weekend. The Frenchman will drive a N-GT class Porsche 911 GT3-R for the Larbre Competition team. He will fly straight to Hungary after the Magny-Cours F3000 round this Saturday. Bourdais finished fourth at Le Mans three weeks ago in a Pescarolo Courage and has previously driven a Larbre GT2 Porsche at Le Mans in 1999. (Source: Autosport)

A-1 Ring testing update; Alonso crashes Top 18 overall times have now been added here for the official two-day F3000 test at the A-1 Ring last week. Franck Montagny topped the overall times, but Fernando Alonso was lucky to escape from a huge shunt. The Astromega driver wrote off his Lola after hitting a tyre barrier in avoidance of Super Nova's David Saelens, whose car was broadside across the track. Dino Morelli tested for Astromega in order for the team to get a second opinion on a potential chassis problem identified by regular driver Fabrice Walfisch. (Source: Autosport)

Hughes wins to take championship lead Arden Team Russia driver Warren Hughes took his second successive F3000 Italia win at Monza yesterday. The win puts him into the lead of the championship with 24 points ahead of Gabriele Lancieri (Sighinolfi) on 21. Second in the race went to stunning rookie Tomas Scheckter. The Stewart Racing British F3 race-winner was making his debut for Da Vinci and qualified in fourth place. Third in the race was pole-sitter Rodrigo Sperafico (Draco), ahead of Gianluca Calcagni (Monaco), Lancieri and Manuel Giao (Monaco). Former Formula Nissan driver Angel Burgueno made his debut for Team Ghinzani while Dino Morelli made a welcome return in place of Giovanni Montanari at Durango Benetton Junior. Qualifying and race results here, report to follow.

Morelli returns to action Northern Irishman Dino Morelli made his return to F3000 competition in yesterday's Italian F3000 round 4 at Monza. The winner of the final round of last season replaced Giovanni Montanari in the Durango Benetton Junior Team. He qualified 17th and retired from the race. Morelli previously raced in International F3000 but his campaigns in 1995 and 1997 with Omegaland and DKS Racing respectively both ended prematurely with serious accidents. He has sinced raced sporadically with Auto Sport Racing and Coloni.

Tomas Scheckter to race at Monza British F3 front-runner Tomas Scheckter, son of 1979 F1 champion Jody, will make his Italian F3000 debut this weekend. The Stewart Racing driver will make a one-off appearance for the Da Vinci team, formerly Martello. He will partner former Barber Dodge Pro Series champion Derek Hill. (Source: Autosport)

Montagny fastest in Austria test DAMS driver Franck Montagny set the fastest time in the major two-day F3000 test at the A1-Ring in Austria which ended yesterday. Montagny set a time of 1m23.717s to head the times on Wednesday. The time eclipsed the fastest set by championship leader Bruno Junqueira on Tuesday. Mario Haberfeld returned for Fortec after missing the previous two races due to injury. He was 21st on Tuesday and 13th on Wednesday. Jamie Davies was still on hand to help out the team after subbing for Haberfeld at the Nurburgring and Monaco. Times are here.

Junqueira set for Ganassi CART seat? Recent rumours have suggested that Bruno Junqueira, the runaway F3000 series leader, may move to CART next year. He would drive for Chip Ganassi in place of Juan Montoya, if the Columbian is signed as expected for Williams in F1. Speaking to the Indianapolis Star, Junqueira emphasised that his future is undecided at present: "I am just trying to concentrate on the F3000 championship until the end of our season in August. For sure, the two best categories for open-wheel racing in the world are F1 and CART. I would like to be in F1 next year, but if the opportunity came for Indy cars [Champ Cars], I would do it." Junqueira, as current Williams test driver, could be used as a bargaining tool to bring Montoya over to Europe. Frank Williams recently told Autorace.com that the Brazilian's career was out of his hands and in the control of Brazilian petroleum company Petrobras. Petrobras have supported him throughout his SudAm F3 and F3000 career. Williams said: "We don't control him. He's semi-managed by Petrobras, who are in the sport primarily to help fund the careers of young Brazilians. They will decide his path into Formula One. It's not really my part to do that". Montoya may yet stay in America for a third season. Chip Ganassi told Motoring News: "Juan has a three-year contract with me. He knows that and Williams knows that. It means that he is not free to leave at the end of the year". Read the Indianapolis News article here.

Webber to test Arrows F1 car European Arrows driver Mark Webber will have his first test in the Arrows-Supertec A21 at Silverstone on the 6th July. This will be the first outing for the Arrows test driver in 2000, although the Australian tested for the team last year at both Silverstone and Barcelona. The Silverstone F3000 winner has driver the Arrows two-seater F1 car this year. Mark commented: "I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on the Arrows A21. The cars are performing very well and we really saw their potential in Montreal over the weekend. It's an exciting time to be part of the Orange Arrows team, and I know how important the team's test programme is. I am still third at the halfway stage of the F3000 championship and so it would be timely to make a good impression in my first test of the A21." Webber will also test at Varano in Italy from the 19th to the 21st July where the team will carry out straight-line testing. (Source: www.arrowsf1.com)

Ayari takes break from Indy Lights Soheil Ayari, uniquely contesting both the International F3000 and Indy Lights championships this year, is to concentrate on his F3000 campaign with Coloni for the remainder of the F3000 season. The Frenchman missed the Indy Lights race at Detroit last weekend, despite there being no clashing F3000 event, and will also miss the Portland (25th June) and Michigan (22nd July) races. Ayari does not want to compromise his chances in F3000 with what he feels is a competitive car, and feels the travelling involved with crossing back and forth across the Atlantic will have an effect on his results. The two-day A1-Ring F3000 official test is just before the weekend of the Portland event, and Ayari has opted only to drive in Austria rather than race for Brian Stewart Racing. The Michigan race meanwhile is on the weekend between the A1-Ring and Hockenheim F3000 races. Ayari will compete in Indy Lights in the final five races of the season, after the F3000 championship finishes at Spa in August. These races are: Vancouver (3rd September), Laguna Seca (10th September), Madison (17th September), Houston (1st October) and Fontana (29th October). Read this article (French) from www.F3000.com for more details.

Mixed results for F3000 drivers at Le Mans The current F3000 drivers competing in this year's Le Mans 24 Hours suffered mixed results in the race that finished yesterday. Highest placed finisher was Gauloises Formula driver Sebastien Bourdais who finished fourth with Olivier Grouillard and Emmanuel Clerico in the Henri Pescarolo Courage-Peugeot. The DAMS Cadillac of the French team's F3000 driver Franck Montagny, who drove with Emanuel Collard and Eric Bernard, was classified 20th. The team's other car, that of their other F3000 driver Kristian Kolby, Marc Goossens and Christophe Tinseau, caught fire just four laps into the race. Tinseau escaped with minor burns as fire enveloped the cockpit, but the car was totally destroyed as the marshals were unable to extinguish the fire for a considerable length of time. The fire meant Kolby never had a chance to drive, making it a bad day for the Dane as he had earlier spun in practice. The ORECA Reynard 2KQ of Super Nova star Nicolas Minassian stopped after just 1 lap with an oil pressure problem. Italian F3000 driver Yann Goudy was a late addition to the entry list in a Debora in the LMP675 class. The car retired after 24 laps with an oil leak. The race was a whitewash for the Audi team. The German marque took all three podium places after a dominant display, the car of Frank Biela, Emanuele Pirro and Tom Kristensen taking the win.

Max Wilson to test for Arden Brazil's Max Wilson will make a surprise F3000 return at the official A1-Ring test in Austria on 20th/21st June. The former Edenbridge and Petrobras Junior star will test for Arden Team Russia to help out their lead driver Darren Manning. The All-Japan F3 champ has struggled this season to find a set-up except for at Silverstone where he took pole and second in the race. Wilson is driving for the Ascari sportscar project this year before making his Champ Car debut next year with the new Sigma team. (Source: Autosport)

Hynes parts company with manager British F3 champion Marc Hynes has parted company with his manager, ex-Andrea Moda F1 driver Perry McCarthy. The split is said to be amicable. Hynes is driving for WRT on a race-by-race basis this season after Hidetoshi Mitsusada was dropped by the team. His meagre funds took a dent in his first start at Monaco when he crashed heavily following a rear wheel failure. (Source: Autosport)

Brian Smith plans F3000 return In a recent article Brian Smith announced plans to return to F3000 after he abandoned Europe for the Turismo Carretera in his native Argentina. Ex-British F3 driver Smith, who had a disappointing part-season with Nordic in 1998, is now a central part of an ambitious project to set up an Argentine team in F3000. The team would be funded by the TV channel that owns F1 broadcasting rights throughout Latin America. Hugo Cuervo, owner of the team that runs Rafael Verna and Alejandro Occhionero in Turismo Carretera, is involved along with chassis builder Christian Avila. In order to compete in International F3000 the team would have to buy out or merge with another outfit, since grids are now limited to 30 cars. If negotiations with top teams such as Super Nova, Red Bull Junior and European Arrows do not reach any conclusion, the outfit may compete in Italian F3000. The team will run two South American drivers, Smith alongside "a Colombian or Mexican driver, or even another Argentinean". Smith continued: "The time to conclude negotiations would be in October, which is the usual time to exchange contracts in the category". (Source: http://argentina2.sportsya.com/)

Ralf plans to race on in Canada Ralf Schumacher is confident he will race in Canada this weekend, reducing the chances of Bruno Junqueira filling the injured German's seat. Williams spokesman Nav Sidhu said: "Last week Ralf's chances were 50-50, now I would say they are 70-30 in his favour." Schumacher and Junqueira are currently in Montreal, and the decision on who races will be made after Schumacher takes a full medical with Professor Sid Watkins tomorrow (Thursday). Schumacher will be passed fit to race if he can pass certain tests, including quickly escaping from an F1 cockpit and jumping off a chair and landing on one leg. (Source: www.autosport.com)

Junqueira still has Williams chance Bruno Junqueira may still race for Williams in the Canadian GP in place of the injured Ralf Schumacher. The Brazilian F3000 series leader continued testing at Monza and practiced starts and pit-stops. The team claimed nothing should be read into Junqueira's exercises, and that Jenson Button practiced the same routines. Button finished fourth on 1m25.459 while Junqueira was seventh with 1m25.941. Williams announced today that Schumacher will be travelling to Montreal and that any decision to race will be postponed until he arrives. The team said of his injured leg: "He couldn't walk on it Monday or Tuesday, but he is starting to now. Seeing how far he has come this week there is no knowing how far it might improve in the next four or five days. We are hopeful." (Source:www.itv-f1.com/)

Bernoldi may race for Sauber in 2001 Red Bull Junior driver Enrique Bernoldi is being considered for promotion from test-driver to race-driver at Sauber for next year. The Brazilian impressed team boss Peter Sauber in a test prior to the Monaco Grand Prix at Valencia. Mika Salo is in the first year of a two-year contract, so an F1 drive would have to come at the expense of Pedro Diniz. Weighing against Bernoldi's chances is the US$10 million Diniz brings to the team each year in sponsorship. Bernoldi has had an impressive season in F3000 this year, despite having few results to show for it. He was robbed of the lead at both Barcelona and the Nurburgring by mechanical problems, while he threw away a points finish at Monaco. (Source: Autosport)

Le Mans looms for F3000 drivers At least four current F3000 drivers will be among the entry list for this year's Le Mans 24 Hours on June 17th/18th. In the LMP900 class Franck Montagny (DAMS/ Cadillac Northstar LMP, #3), Kristian Kolby (DAMS/Cadillac Northstar LMP, #4), Nicolas Minassian (ORECA/Reynard-Mopar 2KQ-LM, #6) and Sebastien Bourdais (Pescarolo Promotion/ Courage-Peugeot C52, #16) will compete. Qualifying takes place on Wednesday 14th and Thursday 15th June. DAMS driver Kolby, who has been struggling in his rookie season, tested the team's Cadillac for the first time at Silverstone next week. He was joined by DAMS F3000/Le Mans teammate Montagny who was carrying out tyre tests. (Source: Autosport)

Davies helps out Fortec Jamie Davies, who took Fortec's best ever result of 2nd at Monaco, will continue to help the team despite the expected return of Mario Haberfeld at the next round at Magny Cours. The Brit will work with the team to help Andreas Scheld get up to pace. Haberfeld, injured in qualifying at Barcelona, will return in the official A1-Ring test on 20th/21st June. Davies is to head to the United States in search of a Champ Car drive. He told Autosport: "I have spoken to quite a few teams and hope I might even be able to race over there before the end of the season." The 26-year old had previously stated he saw no point in going to America to race in Indy Lights. (Source: Autosport)

Naspetti and de Simone signed for Durango SRWC team Former Jordan F1 test-driver Fabrizio de Simone has been signed by Durango to pilot its Sports Racing World Cup Lights chassis. He will join fellow F3000 veteran Emanuele Naspetti, a sometime Jordan F1 driver, in the team. The GMS-BMW entered by the veteran Italian team, this year competing in F3000 Italia, will finally make its debut at Brno in August. (Source: Autosport)

Webber and Albers on show at Zandvoort European Arrows drivers Mark Webber and Christijan Albers will perform demonstration laps on Sunday at Zandvoort. Webber will drive the Arrows F1 two-seater while Albers will drive the F3000 Lola. They are joining Arrows F1 star Jos Verstappen who will demonstrate the Arrows A21. (Source: Autosport)

Dufour aims for F3000 drive Former British F3 front-runner Jeremie Dufour was at Monaco looking for an International F3000 drive. He is also considering options in Formula Nissan. (Source: Autosport)

Junqueira carries on testing as Zonta escapes huge shunt F3000 championship leader Bruno Junqueira continued testing for Williams at Monza today, setting the 11th fastest time with 1m26.420. The test was marred by yet another serious accident involving 1997 F3000 champion Ricardo Zonta. The Brazilian crashed at Parabolica at high speed after his front suspension failed. His BAR-Honda was totally wrecked in the impact with the tyre barrier but he emerged unscathed. The session had to be halted for 30 minutes. It is the fourth major accident Zonta has suffered in his short F1 career. In Brazil last year he crashed and injured his leg, while an accident in Belgian GP qualifying saw him cartwheel through Eau Rouge. In testing earlier this year at Silverstone he suffered a similar accident to today's shunt. His suspension failed into Stowe at 185mph and his car vaulted over the retaining fence. (Source: http://www.formula-1.co.uk/ )

Junqueira set for Canadian F1 debut? Bruno Junqueira, the current F3000 points leader, may make his F1 debut in the Canadian Grand Prix, as Williams driver Ralf Schumacher's injury sustained at Monaco is worse than first thought. Schumacher crashed at St Devote and a suspension strut pierced the tub and his lower leg. The cut is about 5cm deep, although a check-up today confirmed there was no carbon fibre or metal in the wound. Schumacher said: "At present I am not in a position to tell if I will be at the start of the Canadian Grand Prix". Junqueira, as Williams test driver, will drive in Canada if Schumacher has not recovered. The Monaco F3000 race winner tested at Monza today, subbing for Schumacher. He set the 12th best time, with 1m26:88s compared to former Williams shoot-out rival Jenson Button's 1m26.15s. Junqueira will not be racing in F3000 on the Canadian GP weekend as the F3000 championship is taking a month's break before the Magny-Cours round. BAR test drivers Darren Manning and Patrick Lemarie also tested at Monza, setting 10th and 14th best times respectively. (Source: www.autosport.com / BBC Ceefax)

Haberfeld to test fitness Fortec's Mario Haberfeld, who injured his leg in qualifying at Barcelona, will test for the team at the A1 Ring in Austria in two weeks time. The Brazilian is to test his fitness ahead of his planned comeback in the Magny-Cours round in a month's time. Jamie Davies has been filling in for Haberfeld in the previous two races and scored the team's best ever finish in F3000 with a second place at Monaco. (Source: www.autosport.com)

Junqueira vanquishes rivals at Monaco Bruno Junqueira (Petrobras Junior) extended his championship lead in style on Saturday with his third consecutive F3000 victory. He controlled the race around the streets of Monaco after front-row starters David Saelens (Super Nova) and Sebastien Bourdais (Gauloises Formula) collided at the first corner after an ill-judged passing attempt by the French rookie. Bourdais was out on the spot while Saelens recovered after losing a few places. The Monaco circuit took its toll on drivers and cars with only 15 of the 26 starters finishing the race. Stephane Sarrazin (McLaren), Enrique Bernoldi (Red Bull Junior) and Mark Webber (European Arrows) all crashed out of points-scoring positions in separate incidents. The safety car was deployed on lap 32 after the crash of Bernoldi and the accident of Marc Hynes (WRT) who hit the pitwall. British F3 champion Hynes had been performing well in his first F3000 start until the accident. At the restart Junqueira remained in control, Jamie Davies settling for an excellent second place finish. It is only the Somerset driver's second race of the season, filling in for the indisposed Mario Haberfeld, yet he scored the Fortec teams best ever result. Third went to polesitter Saelens, who finished ahead of Kevin McGarrity (Nordic), Nicolas Minassian (Super Nova) and Franck Montagny (DAMS). Bruno Junqueira now has a dominant lead in the driver standings, 20 points ahead of closest rival Minassian. See the full qualifying and race results here (report will follow).

Takagi wins at Fuji Toranosuke Takagi took his third Formula Nippon victory of the year in round four at Fuji yesterday. The result maintains the PIAA Nakajima team's 100% winning record this season. The ARTA pair of Juichi Wakisaka and Katsutomo Kaneishi joined him on the podium. In fourth was Yuji Tachikawa (Cerumo) ahead of Naoki Hattori (Team Le Mans) and Ralph Firman (Morinaga NOVA). Qualifying and race positions are available here.

Godin in brief Indy Lights return Bertrand Godin, who competed for Durango in the 1998 F3000 championship, made a return to Indy Lights in recent testing at Lexington. The French-Canadian tested for Genoa Racing to assist with set-up for regular driver Cory Witherill. (Source: www.autosport.com)

Saelens on pole again at Monaco; Bourdais impresses Super Nova's David Saelens took his second successive pole position today in a hectic morning of qualifying in the Monaco Principality. He will be joined on the front row by Gauloises Formula/Prost junior driver Sebastien Bourdais. The French F3 champion, an F3000 and Monaco rookie, set the time late in the second session. Championship favourite Bruno Junqueira (Petrobras Junior) will start third ahead of Jamie Davies, in only his second appearance in the injured Mario Haberfeld's seat at Fortec. Stephane Sarrazin finally found his pre-season form and qualified fifth for McLaren, ahead of the ever consistent Enrique Bernoldi (Red Bull Junior). Marc Hynes, now expected to remain at WRT for the remainder of the season, qualified in 20th place after failing to qualify at the Nurburgring. The non-qualifiers are Kristian Kolby, Tomas Enge, Jaime Melo and Yves Olivier. The two sessions were packed with incident as the 30-car entry fought for grid positions. Even polesitter Saelens crashed out of the second session. In the first session Yves Olivier, Jeffrey van Hooydonk, Viktor Maslov and Tomas Enge all planted their cars into the barriers. In the second, Andre Couto crashed in the swimming pool complex, clipping his rear right on the barriers before spinning across the track. Soheil Ayari and Jaime Melo collided, the Frenchman rising up the side of the Brazilian's car. The incident occured at the same part of the track where Ayari executed a spin-turn in front of Kurt Mollekens back in 1998. Bas Leinders and Mark Webber both crashed into the barriers exiting the swimming pool, while various drivers suffered spins and slight contact with the barriers.

Teams prepare for Monaco Some of the F3000 teams have been testing on tight circuits in the past week to prepare for this weekend's Monaco round. Coloni drivers Soheil Ayari and Fabrizio Gollin tested at Magione in Italy. Kid Jensen Racing and European Arrows have been testing at Croix en Ternois in France. KJR driver Andrea Piccini said on Thursday: "We had a good test last week at Croix en Ternois which is similar to Monaco. We're ready for this weekend". (Source: Autosport/BBC Ceefax)  

[Click here for NEWS ARCHIVES]

HOME