UNOFFICIAL F3000 INFORMATION

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

 

QUALIFYING:

David Saelens (Super Nova) took his first ever pole position at the Nurburgring. His time was set in the dry first session, before the rain fell. The second session started wet but dried out near the end. Justin Wilson (Nordic) was bumped from third to fifth after Tomas Enge (McLaren) and Enrique Bernoldi (Red Bull Junior) set faster times in the dying minutes. Championship leader Bruno Junqueira (Petrobras Junior) settled for second on the grid. Further back, Imola winner Nicolas Minassian (Super Nova) and Silverstone winner Mark Webber (European Arrows) could only qualify 9th and 16th. Stephane Sarrazin (McLaren) was again off the pace in 15th position. Jamie Davies made his 2000 debut, filling in for the injured Mario Haberfeld at Fortec. He qualified 18th and hopes to race again at Monaco if Haberfeld has not recovered. British F3 champion Marc Hynes made his F3000 debut at WRT, replacing Hidetoshi Mitsusada. He failed to make the cut as he had done no previous testing, his seat was badly fitted and he also had the rain to cope with. His seat caused his braking foot to rub against the steering column, forcing him to cut a piece of the sole of his boot off before he went out in the second session. Hynes last tested an F3000 car when he was in a pre-season shoot-out with Warren Hughes for an Italian F3000 seat at Arden. He was joined in not qualifying by teammate Ananda Mikola, former F3 rival Kristian Kolby (DAMS) and Viktor Maslov (Arden)

RACE: JUNQUEIRA SURVIVES THE CHAOS

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:

Pos

Driver

Team

Time

1

David Saelens (B)

Super Nova

1m 30.043s

2

Bruno Junqueira (BR)

Petrobras Junior

+0.232

3

Tomas Enge (CZ)

mySAP.com Team (McLaren junior)

+0.320

4

Enrique Bernoldi (BR)

Red Bull Junior

+0.364

5

Justin Wilson (GB)

Nordic

+0.411

6

Franck Montagny (F)

DAMS

+0.511

7

Soheil Ayari (F)

Coloni

+0.524

8

Fabrice Walfisch (F)

Astromega

+0.685

9

Nicolas Minassian (F)

Super Nova

+0.715

10

Kevin McGarrity (GB)

Nordic

+0.716

11

Jaime Melo Jr. (BR)

Petrobras Junior

+0.741

12

Ricardo Mauricio (BR)

Red Bull Junior

+0.759

13

Sebastien Bourdais (F)

Gauloises Formula (Prost junior)

+0.818

14

Fabrizio Gollin (I)

Coloni

+0.825

15

Stephane Sarrazin (F)

mySAP.com Team (McLaren junior)

+0.890

16

Mark Webber (AUS)

European Formula (Arrows junior)

+0.898

17

Bas Leinders (B)

Kid Jensen Racing

+0.961

18

Jamie Davies (GB)

Fortec

+1.088

19

Andre Couto (MAC)

Gauloises Formula (Prost junior)

+1.169

20

Fernando Alonso (E)

Astromega

+1.183

21

Christijan Albers (NL)

European Formula (Arrows junior)

+1.223

22

Jeffrey van Hooydonk (B)

Witmeur KTR

+1.293

23

Andreas Scheld (D)

Fortec

+1.364

24

Andrea Piccini (I)

Kid Jensen Racing

+1.449

25

Darren Manning (GB)

Arden

+1.597

26

Yves Olivier (B)

Witmeur KTR

+1.882

Non-qualifiers:

27

Kristian Kolby (DK)

DAMS

+1.902

28

Ananda Mikola (RI)

WRT

+2.252

29

Marc Hynes (GB)

WRT

+2.460

30

Viktor Maslov (RUS)

Arden

+2.954

(All cars Lola B99/50-Zytek)

 

RACE RESULT:

Pos

Driver

Team

Time (after 45 laps)

1

Bruno Junqueira (BR)

Petrobras Junior

1h:24m:07.032s

DQ

Andreas Scheld (D)

Fortec

technical infringement

2

Fabrizio Gollin (I)

Coloni

+10.882s

3

Andre Couto (MAC)

Gauloises Formula (Prost junior)

+58.538s

4

Sebastien Bourdais (F)

Gauloises Formula (Prost junior)

+59.120s

5

Stephane Sarrazin (F)

mySAP.com Team (McLaren junior)

+1m:28.695s

6

Jaime Melo Jr. (BR)

Petrobras Junior

- 1 lap

7

Yves Olivier (B)

Witmeur KTR

- 1 lap

8

Jamie Davies (GB)

Fortec

- 1 lap

9

Andrea Piccini (I)

Kid Jensen Racing

- 5 laps

R

Christijan Albers (NL)

European Formula (Arrows junior)

29 laps - spin

R

Tomas Enge (CZ)

mySAP.com Team (McLaren junior)

22 laps - collision

R

Fabrice Walfisch (F)

Astromega

22 laps - collision

R

Darren Manning (GB)

Arden

22 laps - spin

R

Justin Wilson (GB)

Nordic

17 laps - collision

R

Franck Montagny (F)

DAMS

17 laps - collision

R

Enrique Bernoldi (BR)

Red Bull Junior

13 laps - suspension

R

Bas Leinders (B)

Kid Jensen Racing

9 laps - spin

R

Nicolas Minassian (F)

Super Nova

9 laps - collision

R

David Saelens (B)

Super Nova

0 laps - collision

R

Soheil Ayari (F)

Coloni

0 laps - collision

R

Kevin McGarrity (GB)

Nordic

0 laps - collision

R

Ricardo Mauricio (BR)

Red Bull Junior

0 laps - collision

R

Mark Webber (AUS)

European Formula (Arrows junior)

0 laps - collision

R

Fernando Alonso (E)

Astromega

0 laps - collision

R

Jeffrey van Hooydonk (B)

Witmeur KTR

0 laps - collision

Fastest Lap: Junqueira (1m32.151s, 110.62mph)

Key: R=Retired, DQ=disqualified

(All cars Lola B99/50-Zytek)

 

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

 

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:

Standings after Round 4 of 10

(revised after Scheld disqualification from round 4)

Pos

Driver

Team

Points

1

Bruno Junqueira (BR)

Petrobras Junior

28

2

Nicolas Minassian (F)

Super Nova

16

3

Mark Webber (AUS)

European Formula (Arrows junior)

14

4

Fabrizio Gollin (I)

Coloni

7

5=

Darren Manning (GB)

Arden

6

 

Justin Wilson (GB)

Nordic

6

7=

David Saelens (B)

Super Nova

4

 

Jaime Melo Jr. (BR)

Petrobras Junior

4

 

Andre Couto (MAC)

Gauloises Formula (Prost junior)

4

10=

Sebastien Bourdais (F)

Gauloises Formula (Prost junior)

3

 

Enrique Bernoldi (BR)

Red Bull Junior

3

 

Jeffrey van Hooydonk (B)

Witmeur KTR

3

 

Andre Couto (MAC)

Gauloises Formula (Prost junior)

3

14=

Stephane Sarrazin (F)

mySAP.com Team (McLaren junior)

2

 

Tomas Enge (CZ)

mySAP.com Team (McLaren junior)

2

 

Sebastien Bourdais (F)

Gauloises Formula (Prost junior)

2

17=

Soheil Ayari

Coloni

1

 

Franck Montagny (F)

DAMS

1

 

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