Ranking the 10 greatest races of F3000

During its 20-year run as Formula 1’s main training school, what came to be known as International Formula 3000 staged 206 races. Circuits ranging from well-known F1 staples to quirky one-offs, such as Helsinki’s harbourside track (1997) and Albacete’s oversized go-kart venue (1992), hosted a championship that helped polish the edges on a generation of talent.

Among them were two future F1 world champions and numerous stars of sportscars, touring cars and Indycars.

To devise our list of F3000’s very best races, we prioritised those that featured lead changes and maintained interest throughout. Memorable contests with spikes of drama, such as the controversial 1996 Hockenheim decider, miss out on the second of these criteria.

The even split of races staged during the open-chassis era of 1985-95 and single-make period of 1996-2004 is unintentional.

10. 1989 Pau

Maiden win for Alesi plus a fierce fight for third

Apicella (6) staged a superb recovery from a pitlane start to finish runner-up to Alesi (4)

Photo by: LAT Photographic

Jean Alesi’s maiden F3000 win, which set him on the way to the 1989 title, was the result of a typically eventful contest in Pau. Heavy attrition typified F3000’s visits to the idiosyncratic French street track, and the 1989 event was no different.

That a mere seven cars reached the end owed much to an opening lap pile-up, but the race retained interest to its conclusion with a virtual dead-heat deciding third position.

Several factors conspired to push this race into our list, above Magny-Cours 1993 and Spa 1997. First was the oil leak that forced poleman Marco Apicella into a pitlane start with his First Racing Reynard. His superb recovery to finish runner-up, 9s back from Alesi, evoked memories of Roberto Moreno’s charge from the pits to second in Birmingham in 1987. 

Another was a lap 17 tangle between Didier Artzet and Paul Belmondo that blocked the track sufficiently to ensnare leader Eric Bernard. By the time his DAMS Lola had been restarted, Alesi’s Eddie Jordan Racing Reynard was long gone. Bernard was now eighth, but the result was far from settled.

As Alesi ticked off the laps, behind him the two recovering aces, whose shared fastest lap was over a second quicker than anybody else, made rapid progress. Bernard even demoted Apicella, but a misjudged bid to wrest second from Mark Blundell resulted in mutually damaging contact.

Apicella took full advantage, while Thomas Danielsson (Madgwick Motorsport Reynard) pipped JJ Lehto of Pacific Racing to complete the rostrum by 0.04s after a marathon defence.

9. 1999 Imola

Excitement peaks early for Heidfeld in curtain-raiser

Heidfeld was surprised not to be punished for clouting rival Wilson

Photo by: Charles Coates / Motorsport Images

A Nick Heidfeld victory in 1999 was no rare feat. Yet the West Competition/McLaren driver’s triumph in the first race for Lola’s B99/50 didn’t follow the template of his title campaign’s other three wins, since two other drivers had taken turns to lead.

Heidfeld was the heavy favourite after taking title winner Juan Pablo Montoya to the wire in 1998, but was beaten to pole by Max Wilson (Den Bla Avis) and had to start third due to the year’s split qualifying format.

Kevin McGarrity, for Nordic Racing, surprised everybody by topping the alternate group, then launched superbly to lead Wilson and Heidfeld early on. McGarrity couldn’t keep Wilson or Heidfeld at bay, however, giving him a box seat for what followed.

Heidfeld admits that he was surprised not to be penalised for his move to the inside of Wilson at the first Rivazza. The German was committed, but Wilson shut the door and contact dumped the Brazilian into a gravelly retirement.

Heidfeld went on to set the fastest lap by 1.227s on the penultimate tour, and believes that, despite his steering being “a little bit off” after the contact, it “made the car better rather than worse”. McGarrity and Fabrice Walfisch (Draco) completed the podium, but neither would repeat those highs in F3000. 

A bad day for Heideld’s likely challengers – Bruno Junqueira and Jason Watt retired early in separate clashes with Norberto Fontana, while Gonzalo Rodriguez spun back to fifth – set the tone for a one-sided year that could never eclipse the excitement of its curtain-raiser.

8. 1987 Le Mans

Sala’s success keeps slim championship hopes alive

Demoted at the start, polesitter Sala took the win on the Bugatti Circuit

Photo by: Getty Images

Without Tertre Rouge, Indianapolis and the Porsche Curves, the Le Mans Bugatti Circuit exists firmly in the shadow of the full circuit that hosts the 24 Hours. But its six years on the F3000 calendar produced several enjoyable contests that kept everybody guessing. The 1987 race was a case in point and, unlike the sodden 1991 event, didn’t require inclement weather.

Onyx March drivers Pierre-Henri Raphanel and Stefano Modena both led the season’s penultimate round but were out of luck, before Luis Perez-Sala delivered victory for Lola. This retained his slim mathematical hopes of denying Modena the title, and injected further intrigue into a Jarama decider that almost made this list. 

Raphanel was largely outclassed by his rookie team-mate in 1987, but from fifth on the grid made an excellent start to lead poleman Sala. The Spaniard’s attempts to get back on terms only delayed both, allowing Modena through. But his hopes of tying up the championship one race early were dashed by an engine failure that handed the initiative to Sala.

Roberto Moreno meanwhile advanced to second but, in keeping with his season of appalling misfortune, the factory Ralt driver’s race was undone by a slow puncture. Now Raphanel, who had benefited from gearbox failure for Olivier Grouillard’s ORECA March, looked safe in the runner-up position, until a broken valve spring caused his pace to collapse.

Russell Spence, up from 13th on the grid in his Mountleigh Motorsport March, therefore took second and, when Raphanel failed to complete the final lap, Michel Trolle’s GDBA Lola inherited third.

7. 1992 Magny-Cours 

Gounon reaps benefit from Montermini-Badoer clash

Impending contact between Badoer (left) and Montermini eliminated them both from the race

Photo by: Sutton Images

Luca Badoer had already sealed the 1992 championship in the previous round at Nogaro, and his defeated adversary Andrea Montermini was out for revenge at the Magny-Cours finale. A lengthy scrap between the Italians ended in tears, setting the stage for another captivating battle that continued to the flag.

Forti Corse Reynard driver Montermini surged into the lead over Badoer’s Crypton Engineering Reynard at the lights, beginning a dogfight that was remarkably their first on-track duel of the year. Badoer clipped the kerb and ran wide on his first attempt at passing on lap 21, but was more successful with a beautifully executed dummy pass six tours later.

Montermini didn’t give up, however. The third-year veteran kept Badoer in his sights, eager to equal the rookie’s tally of four wins. As they came up to lap Hideki Noda on lap 31 of 47, Montermini spied an opportunity to retaliate.

His lunge, from impossibly far back, took Badoer by surprise. Contact as Badoer turned in eliminated both, putting DAMS Lola pilot Jean-Marc Gounon in control. But he wouldn’t have it easy either; Apomatox Lola pair Emmanuel Collard and Olivier Panis filled Gounon’s mirrors, his fellow Frenchmen equally keen to end a tough year on a high.

Gounon had to get his elbows out to edge Collard wide at the hairpin and ultimately beat Panis to Lola’s first win since 1990 by just 0.37s, with David Coulthard’s Paul Stewart Reynard behind in third.

6. 2003 Hungaroring

Friesacher’s fightback in Hungary thriller

Slow stops forced Red Bull Juniors Liuzzi and Friesacher into recovery drives

Photo by: Sutton Images

It was clear by August 2003 that F3000 did not have a long future. Two teams had fallen by the wayside that year, while two others were only able to field one Lola B02/50 apiece at the Hungaroring due to budget shortfalls.

Yet even with a 14-car grid, the event was a thriller that belied the twisty circuit’s reputation for dull racing. The arrival of mandatory tyre changes, intended to inject life into the campaign’s final two dead rubbers, had the desired effect. 

Coloni-run Red Bull Juniors Vitantonio Liuzzi and Patrick Friesacher controlled proceedings initially, but both suffered slow pitstops, the Italian due to a failed wheelgun and the Austrian a sticking nut.

On fresher rubber, Friesacher passed Giorgio Pantano (Durango) for second before taking early-stopping champion Bjorn Wirdheim (Arden) with a virtually identical pass into Turn 1 for an overdue first win in his third season. 

Poleman Liuzzi’s recovery was more dramatic, if less successful, as Wirdheim led a four-car train for second. After ambushing the Swede’s Arden team-mate Townsend Bell for fourth into the final corner, the frustrated Liuzzi spun as he attempted to clear Pantano around the outside of the fast Turn 4 sweeper.

But he wasn’t done yet. Liuzzi retook Bell on the final lap, then crashed into Pantano, gifting Bell a maiden podium he accepts was rather fortunate.

An F3000 race would never get close to offering the same drama again, largely thanks to Liuzzi’s utter domination of the 2004 campaign.

5. 2000 Nurburgring

Junqueira joined by strangers to the podium

Junqueira is flanked on the podium by Gollin (right) and yet-to- be-disqualified Scheld

Photo by: Sutton Images

The first of three wet races on our list, the German Grand Prix support race was claimed by F3000’s eventual champion of 2000. But there, all suggestion that it fitted with the narrative of the campaign ends. That much is evident from the drivers who joined the victorious Bruno Junqueira (Den Bla Avis) on the rostrum.

Fortec Motorsport’s Andreas Scheld, later disqualified, never started higher than the 23rd position from which he lined up for this race, while Fabrizio Gollin (Coloni Motorsport) had failed to qualify on nine occasions dating back to 1996 (and later added a 10th). Both gained handsomely by stopping early for wet-weather tyres.

Junqueira inherited the lead after suspension failure pitched Enrique Bernoldi off, but victory seemed unlikely when, on lap 23, he had to throw his Lola B99/50 onto the grass to avoid Tomas Enge’s stricken machine. The Czech’s brave decision to persevere with slicks on a soaking wet road ended in catastrophe when the lapped Fabrice Walfisch, charging hard on wets but unsighted in spray, vaulted over him. 

Somehow, Junqueira didn’t hit anything and rejoined unscathed from his sixth-gear rotation. He chased down Scheld, whose replacement front wing after incurring early damage still had tape attached to the endplate, and went on to victory.

After Coloni successfully protested Scheld’s front wing, to widespread sympathy from rivals, Andre Couto was eventually credited with third as the best slick-shod runner. Almost a minute off the lead, the Apomatox/Prost journeyman narrowly pipped rookie team-mate Sebastien Bourdais.

4. 1985 Zandvoort

Danner denies Thackwell in track’s only F3000 hurrah

Danner leads Ralt Racing’s John Nielsen and Ferte in Zandvoort one-off

Photo by: LAT Photographic

Zandvoort never returned to the F3000 calendar after 1985, which, based on that event, was a crying shame. The inaugural campaign’s penultimate round began in wet but drying conditions, featured five different leaders, and was only decided by a final change of lead with two laps remaining. 

BS Automotive March man Christian Danner surged back to defeat Mike Thackwell after delaying a switch to slick tyres that had given the works Ralt a handy buffer into the closing stages.

“My timing was perfect,” enthuses Danner, who went on to seal the title at Donington. “I didn’t lose any time on tyres that eventually ended up being too cold.”

His third of four wins that season was arguably the best, after he had made life difficult for himself by dropping from pole to fifth on the opening lap. Michel Ferte (ORECA March) headed the early stages, via a jumped start, the pack swarming behind him until Philippe Streiff’s AGS (which had displaced Thackwell) battled past. 

With a conventional pitstop, Streiff would likely have won. But a sticking rear wheel instead handed the initiative to early stopper Thackwell (once he had negotiated Alessandro Santin, on a doomed gamble to stay out on ancient wets). Yet Thackwell’s full wet settings were no match for Danner following his own stop eight laps later. 

Even with 20s in hand, Thackwell’s struggles to lap Lamberto Leoni meant a charging Danner, who had suffered earlier with his dry set-up, moved ahead after a 14-lap pursuit. Streiff settled for third.

3. 2002 Monza

Three vie for title while Wirdheim takes first win

Coloni driver Pantano’s pressure on Arden man Wirdheim was unrelenting

Photo by: Sutton Images

Even without the off-track drama surrounding Tomas Enge at Monza in 2002, after news of his positive drugs test from Hungary broke on the eve of the event, the three-way title decider had all the ingredients for a thriller.

Arden driver Enge arrived trailing Sebastien Bourdais (Super Nova) by a point, with outside bet Giorgio Pantano of Coloni Motorsport seven points adrift. Enge’s uncertain fate added further intrigue.

Pantano gave his all to repeat his thrilling 2001 victory, the only outcome that could put him in a championship-winning position. He was the constant shadow of leader Bjorn Wirdheim (Arden), ready to pounce on any misjudgement. None came. “I was super-confident that weekend,” 2003 champion Wirdheim recalls of his first win, achieved after a late safety car triggered a one-lap shootout.

A first-corner melee that caused Enge and Bourdais to visit the escape road left both battling back up the order. Enge was fourth and Bourdais fifth, the Arden racer set to provisionally win the title on a tiebreaker, when engine failure sidelined the Frenchman.

Following the restart, Antonio Pizzonia (Den Bla Avis) demoted Pantano before Enge beat the Italian in a drag race to the finish line by 0.033s. It was a fight Enge didn’t have to pick, but one he embraced anyway. “That said a lot about him,” remarks Wirdheim. “He just shrugged his shoulders and did it for fun.”

Enge was classified second after Coloni protested Pizzonia’s inverted rear wing, but a 10-point deduction from Hungary handed Bourdais the title.

2. 2000 Hockenheim

McLaren on form as mixed conditions mix it up

In a thrilling climax, Enge demoted McLaren team-mate Scheckter

Photo by: LAT Photographic

Another mixed-conditions thriller from 2000. This was F3000’s penultimate visit to the ‘old’ Hockenheim layout, and could scarcely have produced better entertainment had it been scripted. Two divergent strategies converged on the final lap, when Tomas Enge passed McLaren team-mate Tomas Scheckter in an unforgettable climax to the German Grand Prix support race. 

McLaren’s form had dipped perplexingly since Nick Heidfeld’s promotion to F1, and it parted company with expected title contender Stephane Sarrazin mid-season. Neither his replacement, Scheckter, nor Enge had troubled the podium prior to Hockenheim. But qualifying suggested an upturn in fortunes, with Enge taking pole.

Following a safety car start (organisers had learned the lessons of 1998’s horrendous pile-up), Enge paced the field and established a handy lead over Mark Webber (European Arrows) until a safety car eradicated his margin. Enge recognised that his wet-weather Avon tyres were wearing faster than those of his pursuers and, when Scheckter passed Webber after the restart, the Czech elected to pit for slicks.

“I knew the slicks would be massively quicker,” he remembers. “We were all struggling with wets because the line was dry.”

Enge spun while generating tyre temperature, but was soon scything through the pack and retook his erstwhile lead at the start of the final lap. Webber finished third, while championship protagonists Bruno Junqueira and Nicolas Minassian both failed to score. They were in good company, with Justin Wilson and Fernando Alonso among the many caught out.

1. 1985 Enna-Pergusa

Fights for the lead like snakes and ladders

Pirro, with his March’s mixed-blessing aero set-up, leads Danner in Sicily

Photo by: Sutton Images

The 15 cars that took the start at Enna-Pergusa in 1985 was one of the lowest entries for an F3000 race in the championship’s history. But the entertainment they produced demonstrates that big grids aren’t always everything. 

Chaos was never far away at the anachronistic Sicilian circuit, whether due to poor track surface (1990) or mass punctures (1991). But the 1985 race, in which all bar three runners were driving Marches, was a racing equivalent of snakes and ladders, with four changes of lead. The winner, Mike Thackwell, ran sixth approaching half distance and his Ralt finished with a badly overheating engine. 

Poleman Thackwell’s lead lasted until lap six, when he was overtaken by Lamberto Leoni (Corbari March). The Italian’s lap 23 overshoot then promoted Christian Danner (BSA March), before a paper bag blocking Leoni’s radiator cruelly caused his retirement from second with an overheating DFV.

That meant he was unable to profit from Danner’s fuel vaporisation problems. The German’s pace dipped alarmingly, dropping him into the battle between Emanuele Pirro (Onyx March) and Thackwell (gifted places back by Ivan Capelli’s engine failure and electrical woes for Olivier Grouillard). 

Pirro’s unique Indycar-inspired aerodynamic package bolstered his straightline speed, but had dire consequences for tyre life that allowed Thackwell to pass him and Danner. But Thackwell couldn’t pull away and they finished 0.63s apart at the flag, with a frustrated Danner third. It was unpredictable F3000 at its peak.

For more information about Formula 3000, check out the new book charting its evocative history by James Newbold. At 416 pages, featuring 350 stunning colour photographs and overviews of spin-off championships in Japan, Britain and Italy, it is available to order from Evro Publishing at £75.

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