FIA F3000 International Championship
Round 5 (of 10)
Monaco, May 26^th.
Race Release. 

Round five of the FIA F3000 International Championship, held on the tight and twisty streets of Monaco, saw Coca-Cola Nordic Racing drivers Ryan Briscoe and Zsolt Baumgartner retire from the 45 lap race with accident damage. 

Neither Ryan nor Zsolt had raced at Monaco before so in qualifying both drivers spent time getting to grips with the circuit. Unfortunately for Zsolt, he found out early in the opening session that you cannot get too close to the barriers and he missed important qualifying time after an early incident, finishing up 18^th on the grid, whilst Ryan was 14^th. 

In the race, both drivers made a good start only to fall foul of the dreaded barriers, Zsolt on lap five and Ryan on lap 26 of 45. 

Team Manager Chris Mower said: “ With only seven classified finishers, it was a race of attrition. It is obvious how important experience is around the streets of Monaco when you see that there were no rookies in the seven cars that finished the race. Unfortunately Ryan and Zsolt were both casualties of the unforgiving Armco and as a result had no chance of finishing in the points today. The first time you race at Monte Carlo is such an overwhelming experience it is difficult to take it all in. however, the next time they have the privilege of racing here, the experience and lessons learnt this weekend will be invaluable. We now have to concentrate on our upcoming test at Monza on the 12^th and 13^th of June which we will use wisely to improve our results prior to the European GP on the 22^nd June.