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FIA Formula 3000 Championship
Round 2/12, Imola, Italy
Race, April 13 2002
Weather: sunny at first, increasingly cloudy 

Rob Nguyen: 11^th, 31 laps in 52m 53.548s
Mario Haberfeld: DNF, accident, lap 13 

Astromega driver Rob Nguyen scored the best result of his young career when he finished 11^th in the second round of the FIA Formula 3000 Championship – just 0.024 seconds outside the top 10. It was only Nguyen’s 11^th race of any kind. The young Australian competed nine times in the German-based Formula VW series last year before stepping up to Formula One racing’s approved feeder formula for 2002. Despite suffering a painful back injury in the opening race at Interlagos, Brazil, two weeks earlier, the 21-year-old was able to race hard at Imola, although the effort did cause a slight recurrence of his previous problem.

His team-mate Mario Haberfeld suffered worse, however. Fighting his way through the field after a rain shower stopped him repeating the excellent qualifying form he had shown in Brazil, Haberfeld was challenging for ninth place when rival David Saelens spun in front of him and sent Mario flying into retirement after they brushed wheels. The Brazilian sustained a dislocated finger that will have to be kept in a splint for five days. He remains third in the points standings, despite his mishap. 

Rob Nguyen

“I had a lot of fun today. I made a decent start but then had to run wide off the track on the second lap because another car spun in front of me. After that I got back into my rhythm quite quickly and was just focusing on catching the guys ahead. My car was much more comfortable than had been the case in Brazil, but the strain of racing was aggravating the bruising I picked up there and towards the end I was beginning to lose feeling on my left-hand side. The important thing is to finish, however, and I gained a lot of experience by racing in a group. There were four of us covered by little more than a second during the last few laps. It was hard work but I learned valuable lessons that will help me in the future.” 

Mario Haberfeld

“What can I say? I had made a good start and was picking my way through the field. I had no problem at all until I came up behind Saelens. He was making mistakes all over the place but every time I tried to draw alongside he just chopped across. At one point he forced me completely onto the grass and then, two laps later, he ran wide again. I tried to dive inside him but he cut across. I don’t think we touched initially, but he spun and I had to go round the outside of him. Unfortunately we brushed wheels and that launched me into the air. The car almost flipped and I banged a couple of fingers on the wheel at some point, which is what did the damage. Fortunately it is not a serious injury and I will be raring to go when we race again in Spain two weeks from now..” 

Sam Boyle, team manager