Heidfeld in sight of record after win

In Magny Cours the German romped to his third win of the season and the sixth of his career.

He has six more races this year in which to register the two wins that would take him above 1998 champ Juan Pablo Montoya in the league of all-time winners.

'It's nice to know that I'm close to that,' he said, 'but my main priority is simply to win the championship, whatever that takes.'

Heidfeld was helped by his rivals' misfortunes in a race that started behind the Safety Car on a wet track.

Pole winner Bruno Junqueira (Petrobras) was knocked out in a first-lap clash with Jason Watt (Super Nova) and his closest rival Gonzalo Rodriguez (Astromega) was delayed by an early accident before eventually spinning into retirement.

'I took it easy in the conditions,' said Heidfeld, who pitted for slick tyres on lap 29 of 49 as the track finally dried.

'The track was tricky, but I was able to pace myself as I was under no real pressure.'

Tomas Enge (WRT) survived a clash with Heidfeld's team-mate Mario Haberfeld to take second place.

'He just hit me at the hairpin as I was lapping him,' said Enge. 'I thought my race was run, but fortunately I didn't stall.'

Enge's former team-mate David Saelens took third place in his first race for Super Nova after passing fellow Belgian Jeffrey van Hooydonk (Witmeur KTR) on lap 42.

Stéphane Sarrazin (Gauloises Formula) and Bas Leinders (Witmeur KTR) completed the top six.

Front-runners who failed to score included Marc Goossens (Lukoil Arden) and Max Wilson (Petrobras). Both ran in third place during the afternoon but both spun off after having switched to slicks.

Justin Wilson (Astromega) took 10th place. He was the only British driver to finish after Kevin McGarrity spun off.

The series continues at Silverstone on July 10.

F3000 Results from Magny Cours