FIA INTERNATIONAL FORMULA 3000 ROUND 3 - BARCELONA, SPAIN

27th April 2002


Following Sebastien's great qualifying performance yesterday where he put his car on pole again for the third race running, himself and the team were hoping to make it two wins in a row.  At the start of the race Sebastien got away cleanly ahead of Enge.  On the second lap Enge was overtaken by Giorgio Pantano and he began to challenge Sebastien for the lead.  Sebastien drove faultlessly despite struggling with the car holding off Giorgio right up until the very final lap when he went off track.  Pantano and Enge passed him but luckily Sebastien got his car back on the track to cross the line in third place. He is now equal second in the championship with Pantano.  

Tiago was always going to have a tough race starting in fifteenth place.  He got away well but going into the third corner of the first lap Zsolt Baumgartner in the Coca-Cola Nordic car mounted his rear wheel and damaged Tiago's rear wing and gearbox.  He pitted at the end of the lap but unfortunately could not continue.

Sebastien Bourdais P3

"I have to be satisfied, we took points even though we had problems with the car.  I think it was the most difficult race of my life and it was good to finish on the podium.  I had a good start and all I need to remember is that and the following thirty-one laps.  The rear of the car was very bad throughout the race and at the end the car started sliding at the front as well, I just tried to keep calm and not open the door, but he was much quicker than me and I'm very pleased for him and pleased for me too as I was lucky to have finished having gone so far off on the gravel."

Tiago Monteiro DNF

"Not a good weekend at all overall.  The main objective was to finish the race and get some experience but I couldn't do it.  I didn't have a bad start, I overtook one car and going into the third corner I was overtaking Kiesa and for some reason Baumgartner went over my rear wheel while I was in full acceleration.  I don't understand why he didn't see me but he took off my rear wing and that destroyed the race for me.  It's a shame as I didn't complete any laps so not a great race for me."

Team Manager - David Sears

"What a fantastic nerve racking and exciting race we had today in Barcelona.  Sebastien Bourdais led all the way under immense pressure from Giorgio Pantano until he made one mistake and ran wide half way round the last lap, dropping him back to third place at the flag.  Now Sebastien Bourdais and Giorgio Pantano are joint second on fourteen points with Rodrigo Sperafico still leading the championship on 16.

Tiago was rudely assaulted from behind by Zsolt Baumgartner on the first lap destroying his rear wing and damaging his gearbox leading to instant retirement.  Things can only get better for the team in Austria in two weeks time."


FIA International Formula 3000 2002
Race 3: Barcelona - 26th & 27th April
Race Classification after 32 laps

Pos.
Driver
Nat.
Team
Time
Best Lap
Lap
1

G. Pantano
ITA
Coloni F3000
51:44.572
1:35.318
2
2

T. Enge
CZE
Arden International
51:45.560
1:35.415
3
3

S. Bourdais
FRA
Super Nova Racing
51:52.731
1:35.307
3
4

R. Mauricio
BRA
Red Bull Junior Team
51:56.532
1:35.739
3
5

M. Haberfeld
BRA
Team Astromega
52:04.256
1:36.053
2
6

E. Toccacelo
ITA
Coloni F3000
52:04.956
1:36.206
2
7

Rodrigo Sperafico
BRA
Durango Formula
52:09.755
1:35.704
3
8

B. Wirdheim
SWE
Arden International
52:10.889
1:36.108
3
9

Ricardo Sperafico
BRA
Petrobras Junior Team
52:11.202
1:36.253
3
10

A. Pizzonia
BRA
Petrobras Junior Team
52:16.107
1:35.992
3
11

P. Friesacher
AUT
Red Bull Junior Team
52:22.752
1:36.064
3
12

R. Briscoe
AUS
Coca-Cola Nordic Racing
52:24.558
1:36.783
3
13

T. Schmidt
GER
PSM Racing Line
52:42.569
1:37.320
4
14

R. Nguyen
AUS
Team Astromega
51:08.928
1:36.664
3
15

A. Sperafico
BRA
European Minardi F3000
51:31.658
1:38.137
3
16
D. Saelens
BEL
European Minardi F3000
47:38.465
1:35.735
2


Not Classified


Driver
Nat.
Team
Time
Best Lap
Lap

A. Muller
GER
Durango Formula
40:44.291
1:36.054
3


N. Kiesa
DEN
PSM Racing Line
31:31.956
1:36.093
3


T. Monteiro
POR
Super Nova Racing
2:09.636
-



Z. Baumgartner
HUN
Coca-Cola Nordic Racing
-
-



Fastest Lap


S. Bourdais
FRA
Super Nova Racing
1:35.307
Lap 3