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FIA F3000
International Championship.
Round 4 (of 12). A1-Ring, Austria.
Saturday 12th May 2001.
Circuit length: 2.688 miles
Race length: 35 laps = 94.08 miles.
“Round
4 goes to Nordic once again”
Coca-Cola
Nordic Racing drive Justin Wilson won the fourth round of the Federation
Internationale de l’Automobile Formula 3000 International Championship, held
at the A1-Ring in Austria.
In a race
that saw nine cars eliminated on the opening lap, Wilson drove a near faultless
race to record his second race victory of the season, increasing his lead at the
top of the Drivers Championship table from 15 pts to 25, seven points clear of
team-mate Tomas Enge, who finished in third place.
Problems
began on the opening lap when front-row qualifiers Sebastien Bourdais (DAMS) and
Patrick Friesacher (Red Bull Junior) ran wide at the first corner – as did the
fast-starting Tomas Enge who had managed to move up from fifth an the grid.
Friesacher felt that Bourdais had forced him over to the dirty side of the track
and as his tires dug in he was pitched into a spin. This spin caused a chain
reaction shunt that saw nine drivers out on the spot – Bourdais, Friesacher,
Mark Webber (Super Nova), Darren Manning (Arden Team Russia), Fabrizio Gollin
(Coloni), Antonio Garcia (Red Bull Junior), Mario Haberfeld (Super Nova),
Ricardo Sperafico (Petrobras Junior) and Joel Camathias (KTR).
Managing to
make his way through all the confusion Bas Leinders (KTR) found himself leading
Justin Wilson, Antonio Pizzonia (Petrobras Junior) and the recovered Tomas Enge.
Said Wilson:
“I was lucky as I could see that the cars in front were starting to spin
and I was able to brake just that little bit earlier.”
As expected
the Safety Car is deployed in order to clear the car park that had become the
first corner, leading around the remaining cars until lap five.
At the
restart Wilson immediately dives past Leinders going into Turn Two to take the
race lead with teammate Enge passing Pizzonia for third. At the end of the lap
Wilson leads Leinders, Enge, Pizzonia, David Saelens (European Minardi) and
Jaime Melo (Durango).
Said
Leinders: “I don’t know what wing and gear setting the Nordic cars are
using, but I could not stop Justin from coming past me. Then it was all I could
do to keep pace with him, my only chance of passing being under braking or if
Justin made a mistake.”
Dino
Morelli, in his comeback race with Astromega, now holds seventh place, just one
position away from a points finish.
For the next
19 laps there is little in the way of action. Melo took Saelens for fifth place
on lap eight, the Belgian driver being further demoted on lap nine by Morelli
and Viktor Maslov (Arden Team Russia), who took sixth and seventh. For Maslov,
this was the highest that he had ever run in an F3000 race before.
Things had
looked good for Morelli, but he was soon passed by Piccini (who had stalled at
the start), for sixth and would now run in seventh till the flag. “I was
hoping that I could at least grab a point,” said Morelli, who had until
recently been selling books of bingo tickets at his brother’s entertainment
park in Northern Ireland, thinking that his racing career was now over. “Still,
I am more than looking forward to Monaco now where I feel we should qualify
better.”
Wilson
soaked up all the pressure that Leinders could throw at him until lap 24 (of 35)
when going into Turn Two he was passed by the KTR driver under heavy braking.
However, at the exit of the turn he was back in front and for a brief moment it
looked as though Enge would follow him through into second. Leinders was
determined not to relinquish second and blocked Enge with a defensive move.
After 35
laps Wilson crossed the line 0.4 seconds in front of Leinders with Enge less
than a second behind the winner in third, ahead of Pizzonia, Melo, Piccini and
Morelli.
“It is
getting harder to find things to say,” said Wilson afterwards. “But
the truth of the matter is that the Coca-Cola Nordic Racing Team give both Tomas
and I a car that gets the job done. Next we have Monaco and to win this race
would be like a dream for me. However, to do that we need to be qualifying as
near to the front as possible and that is the first thing we must do when we get
there. These races are won or lost in qualifying, especially at circuits such as
Monaco, and I will be trying to take another pole. Then, perhaps, I can score my
first ever F3000 hat-trick.”
Teammate Enge was disappointed with himself for not being able to pass Leinders. “I tried very hard to pass Leinders, but was unable to do so. For this, I am sorry for the team.” The team, however, were more than happy with his performance. Team Manager Chris Mower said: “Tomas did everything in his power to pass Leinders, but he was just unable to do so. He raced with 100% commitment and I am sure that he will be going for the win in Monaco. Both Justin and he are great friends and this season is starting to turn into a friendly game between the two as to who will win the next round. This can only be good for the team, and the drivers, as it keeps everyone’s motivation strong.”
