1FIA INTERNATIONAL FORMULA 3000 OFFICIAL FIA TEST AT IMOLA, ITALY 

Day 1 - Wednesday 6th March 2002 

The Super Nova team had a very productive day at the Imola circuit in Italy today. The team have now received both new Lola's and therefore both Sebastien Bourdais and Tiago Monteiro had a full days testing each. The weather was not at it's best at the beginning of the day and the track was very wet so the team used the time to test the cars in the wet conditions. The track was very slow to dry out but when it did, all drivers began to go out on slick tyres and the fastest times were set at the end of the session. Sebastien finished the morning quickest in front of Tomas Enge. The afternoons track conditions were much better and Sebastien went second fastest on his first set of tyres. He improved his time further on his second set and finished the day third quickest. Tiago has never driven at this track before so used both the morning and afternoon session to get to know the circuit and the car. He only used one set of new tyres this afternoon whereas most other drivers used two. He finished the afternoon sixteenth quickest. 

Sebastien Bourdais 1:37.981 

"I think it has been a good day, we started with a car which was efficient but hard to drive because we had a lot of oversteer and we finished the day with a car that had a big improvement to the dynamics. I am quite confident with the balance of the car now, it improves by finding the smallest of details. I am looking forward to tomorrow and it's nice to be back working again!" 

Tiago Monteiro 1:40.924 

"It has been another interesting day, I had a new track to learn again. It is a very tricky track with a lot of kerbs you have to use. There are a lot of places to lose time easily. We decided not to used the second set of tyres because I am still trying to get to know more about the track and the car and therefore my time was not very good, but that's not what were here for now. Tomorrow I will be fresher and we can work a lot on the data, I'm looking forward to it." 

Team Manager - David Sears 

"Sebastien did a super job today, finishing less than a tenth of a second behind Ricardo Mauricio. He looks very much like a championship contender. 

Tiago Monteiro was still getting used to the power of his new F3000 machine and only used one set of new tyres during day, but has three sets to use tomorrow and is confident of improving his time." 

Testing times are enclosed. 


FIA INTERNATIONAL FORMULA 3000 
OFFICIAL TEST AT IMOLA, ITALY 

6th March 2002 


Pos. 
Driver 
Team 
Morning Time 
Afternoon Time 

1. 
R. Mauricio 
Red Bull Junior Team 
2:06.062 
1:37.917 

2. 
Rodrigo Sperafico 
Durango Formula 
1:49.008 
1:37.965 

3. 
S. Bourdais 
Super Nova Racing 
1:47.043 
1:37.981 

4. 
P. Friesacher 
Red Bull Junior Team 
1:47.833 
1:38.129 

5. 
A. Muller 
Durango Formula 
1:48.863 
1:38.145 

6. 
R. Briscoe 
Nordic Racing 
1:48.201 
1:38.209 

7. 
E. Toccacelo 
Coloni 
1:50.478 
1:38.348 

8. 
B. Wirdheim 
Arden Team Russia 
1:48.956 
1:38.405 

9. 
Ricardo Sperafico 
Petrobras Junior Team 
1:49.217 
1:38.469 

10. 
T. Schmidt 
PSM Racing Line 
1:54.205 
1:38.733 

11. 
A. Pizzonia 
Petrobras Junior Team 
1:57.102 
1:38.735 

12. 
T. Enge 
Arden Team Russia 
1:47.230 
1:38.771 

13. 
M. Haberfeld 
Team Astromega 
1:51.466 
1:39.092 

14. 
R. Njegen 
Team Astromega 
1:49.987 
1:39.532 

15. 
Z. Baumgartner 
Nordic Racing 
1:49.284 
1:39.621 

16. 
T. Monteiro 
Super Nova Racing 
1:53.080 
1:40.924 

17. 
N. Kiesa 
PSM Racing Line 
1:56.049 
1:43.087 


For further information please contact Sarah Newsum. Tel +44 1953 882954