FIA INTERNATIONAL FORMULA 3000
ROUND 8 QUALIFYING AT MAGNY-COURS, FRANCE

19th July 2002

Qualifying for round eight of the FIA International Formula 3000 Championship took place in sunny positions at the Circuit de Nevers in France. Tiago Monteiro had a great qualifying session finishing the afternoon as the quickest rookie in eighth position. Having been to this circuit before in Formula Three he was able to push from the start of the first session enabling him to be quick when it was needed.

Tiago Monteiro 1:26.916 (P8) "It has been a good day for us and it feels good for me to be placed where I know I should be. I felt much more confident and I was able to push hard right from the beginning although the car is really different to what I have driven here before. It was a good job that I did push hard on the first few laps, as there was a yellow flag and then a red one, which meant that I couldn't improve the time. Eighth is not too far from the front and apart from the first two who are quite far away the others are all close. In the second session we tried to improve the car and I liked the feeling of it and with the new tyres I pushed harder and did a better job but the track was not there. I was only three tenths of my best time and hardly anyone improved. I will be starting with a different pack of guys tomorrow who are a bit more mature and will be going for points and hopefully not doing crazy stuff like at the back. My main aim tomorrow is to finish in the race and hopefully gets some points as well."

Team Manager - David Sears: "Tiago Monteiro made his best dry qualifying performance of the year so far with an excellent eighth position and having also tested very successfully early in the week in England perhaps this will be the turning point of the season for Tiago who is hoping to score his first points of the year in tomorrow's race. Tiago also hopes to continue to be the best rookie at the remaining races."