2001 International Formula 3000 Championship
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The 2001 International Formula 3000 Championship was the 35th season of the second-tier motorsport feeder championship of
Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
and the 17th season to be held under the series name. It featured the 2001 FIA
International Formula 3000 Championship The Formula 3000 International Championship was a motor racing series created by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) in 1985 to become the final preparatory step for drivers hoping to enter Formula One. Formula Two had become t ...
, a one-make motor racing series, recognised by the sport's governing body, the
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; en, International Automobile Federation) is an association established on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users. It is the governing body for ...
(FIA), as the second highest class of competition of single seater racing cars. A total of 37 drivers representing 13 teams contested 12 races, starting in Brazil on 31 March and ending in Italy on 15 September as they competed for the Drivers' and Teams' Championships. The calendar featured two significant changes from the 2000 season. They were the inclusion of a season-opening round at the
Autódromo José Carlos Pace The Autódromo José Carlos Pace, better known as Interlagos, is a motorsport circuit located in the city of São Paulo, in the neighborhood of Interlagos. It was inaugurated on 12 May 1940, by the federal intervener Adhemar de Barros. The t ...
in Brazil to bring the series to South America for the first time in the modern era and a year-ending race at Italy's
Autodromo Nazionale di Monza The Monza Circuit ( it, Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, , National Automobile Racetrack of Monza) is a race track near the city of Monza, north of Milan, in Italy. Built in 1922, it was the world's third purpose-built motor racing circuit after ...
. Three teams withdrew from the championship before the season:
Fortec Motorsport Fortec Motorsport Ltd. is a motor-racing team that races in the GB3 Championship. The team was bought in 1995 by current owner Richard Dutton. Past drivers for the team include Juan Pablo Montoya, Gianmaria Bruni, Danny Watts, Jamie Green, Jame ...
withdrew after they were unable to sign any suitable drivers and desired to focus on other junior series. MySap.com pulled out when owner David Brown left its parent company
McLaren McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...
to join the
Jordan Grand Prix Jordan Grand Prix was a Formula One constructor that competed from 1991 to 2005. The team was named after Irish businessman and founder Eddie Jordan. The team was based at Silverstone, UK but raced with an Irish licence. In early 2005, the t ...
team in Formula One and the World Racing Team withdrew due to a lack of financing and driver stability. Justin Wilson of the Coca-Cola Nordic Team won three races over the course of the season and secured the Drivers' Championship with one race to go. He became the first British driver in history to win the International Formula 3000 Championship and accumulated a record-breaking 71 points. The runner-up was
Super Nova Racing Super Nova Racing was a British racing team that has competed in Formula 3000/ GP2 and the A1 Grand Prix series. Super Nova first entered racing in 1991. Super Nova was a new incarnation of the pre-existing David Sears Motorsport, sponsored by ...
driver Mark Webber, who was 32 points behind Wilson, after a series of accidents eliminated him from title contention in the final third of the season. Wilson's teammate
Tomáš Enge Tomáš Enge (; born 11 September 1976) is a Czech former professional racing driver who has competed in many classes of motorsport, including three races in Formula One. He has twice been sanctioned professionally for drug offences. Career Born ...
in third tied with Webber on championship points with two race victories. Coca-Cola Nordic Team took the Teams' Championship with two rounds remaining, ahead of
Petrobras Junior Team Petrobras Junior Team was a team in the FIA Formula 3000 Championship, run by the Petrobras as part of their Brazilian drivers development programme. Named after Williams Formula One team then sponsor, Petrobras, the team was active for the three ...
and Super Nova Racing.


Teams and drivers

The following teams and drivers were under contract to compete in the 2001
International Formula 3000 Championship The Formula 3000 International Championship was a motor racing series created by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) in 1985 to become the final preparatory step for drivers hoping to enter Formula One. Formula Two had become t ...
. As the championship was a spec series, all competitors raced with a Lola B99/50 chassis with a
V8 engine A V8 engine is an eight-cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. The first V8 engine was produced by the French Antoinette company in 1904, developed and us ...
developed by
Zytek Gibson Technology is an automotive and motorsport company based at Repton, Derbyshire, England. It was founded by Bill Gibson as "Zytek Engineering" in 1981. In 1981 Gibson founded the "Zytech Group" with two main divisions: Zytek Automotive, b ...
. Teams competed with tyres supplied by Avon.


Team changes

A total of 30 entries spread across 13 teams were initially entered into the championship with the publication of a drivers' list on 2 December 2000. MySap.com withdrew from the championship after its team principal David Brown left its parent company
McLaren McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...
and moved to the
Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
team in
Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
. Car owner and former sports car driver Gabriele Rafanelli withdrew the World Racing Team (WRT) from the series to focus on the
American Le Mans Series The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The American Le Mans' hea ...
operation, tired of F3000 due to a lack of financing and driver stability. European Formula Racing ended its partnership with the Arrows Formula One team, causing team owner
Paul Stoddart Paul Stoddart (born 26 May 1955) is an Australian businessman, airline owner and former Minardi Formula One team boss. Personal life Born in Coburg, Melbourne, Australia, and attended Preston Technical School and St Joseph's College Melbou ...
to re-brand the team European Minardi F3000.
Fortec Motorsport Fortec Motorsport Ltd. is a motor-racing team that races in the GB3 Championship. The team was bought in 1995 by current owner Richard Dutton. Past drivers for the team include Juan Pablo Montoya, Gianmaria Bruni, Danny Watts, Jamie Green, Jame ...
were included on the initial entry list before the team withdrew from the championship because they could not locate any suitable drivers to sign and they wanted to focus on other junior series.
Prost Grand Prix Prost Grand Prix was a Formula One racing team owned and managed by four-time Formula One world champion Alain Prost. The team participated in five seasons from 1997 to 2001. History Purchase of Ligier As early as 1992, Alain Prost had ambitio ...
changed the name of its team from Gauloises Formula to F3000 Prost Junior Team after they lost sponsorship backing from the tobacco company
Gauloises Gauloises (, "Gaulish" eminine pluralin French; ''cigarette'' is a feminine noun in French) is a brand of cigarette of French origin. It is produced by the company Imperial Tobacco following its acquisition of Altadis in January 2008 in most co ...
.


Driver changes

The 2001 season saw several driver changes. Defending series champion
Bruno Junqueira Bruno Junqueira (born November 4, 1976) is a Brazilian race car driver who most recently competed in the IRL IndyCar Series. He is a former Formula 3000 champion and three-time runner-up in the Champ Car World Series. Racing career Early c ...
left the
Petrobras Junior Team Petrobras Junior Team was a team in the FIA Formula 3000 Championship, run by the Petrobras as part of their Brazilian drivers development programme. Named after Williams Formula One team then sponsor, Petrobras, the team was active for the three ...
and moved to
Championship Auto Racing Teams Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) was a Governing body, sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 1979 to 2003. It sanctioned the PPG Indy Car World Series from 1979 until dissolving after the 2003 CART season, ...
(CART) to drive for
Chip Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing, LLC (CGR), also sometimes branded as Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, is an American auto racing organization with teams competing in the IndyCar Series, NTT IndyCar Series, International Motor Sports Association, IMSA WeatherTech ...
(CGR). His teammate
Jaime Melo Jaime Melo, also known as Jaime Melo Jr. (born 24 April 1980), is a Brazilian professional racing driver best known for his success in grand tourers as Ferrari driver. In 2006, he won the FIA GT Championship in the GT2 class driving for AF Cor ...
left the team to join
Durango Durango (), officially named Estado Libre y Soberano de Durango ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Durango; Tepehuán: ''Korian''; Nahuatl: ''Tepēhuahcān''), is one of the 31 states which make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated in ...
on a one-year contract with the option to extend by another season afterwards, partnering series debutant Gabriele Lancieri, who progressed from the Italian Formula 3000 Championship. Italian series champion
Ricardo Sperafico Ricardo Sperafico (born 23 July 1979) is a Brazilian professional racing driver. Career Born in Toledo, he resides in a family of racers, twin brother of Rodrigo, and with two cousins, Alexandre and the late Rafael. He began his career in Euro ...
drove the second Petrobras car; his twin brother
Rodrigo Sperafico Rodrigo Sperafico (born 23 July 1979) is a Brazilian professional racing driver. He currently drives in the Stock Car Brasil series. He belongs to the Sperafico family of racing drivers, which includes twin brother Ricardo (with whom his career ...
moved from the same championship to join Coloni and partnered
Fabrizio Gollin Fabrizio Gollin (born 28 March 1975 in Camposampiero, Province of Padua) is an Italian racing driver who shared the FIA GT Championship with Luca Cappellari in 2004 while driving for BMS Scuderia Italia. He also is a winner of the Spa 24 Hours ...
.
Fabrice Walfisch Fabrice Walfisch (born 9 February 1973) is a French racing driver. Racing record Complete International Formula 3000 results ( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap.) References 1973 births ...
, who drove for Coloni and later Astromega, joined the
European Touring Car Championship The European Touring Car Championship was an international touring car racing series organised by the FIA. It had two incarnations, the first one between 1963 and 1988, and the second between 2000 and 2004. In 2005 it was superseded by the World T ...
in
2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...
, and
André Couto André Couto (; born 14 December 1976) is a MacaneseTomáš Enge Tomáš Enge (; born 11 September 1976) is a Czech former professional racing driver who has competed in many classes of motorsport, including three races in Formula One. He has twice been sanctioned professionally for drug offences. Career Born ...
from MySap.com to replace the outgoing Kevin McGarrity.
Team Astromega Team Astromega was a racing team from Belgium, headquartered in Heist-op-den-Berg and created in 1995 by Mikke Van Hool. The team competed in A1 Grand Prix and Formula Renault 1.6 Belgium. History Team Astromega was created in 1995 by Belgian In ...
changed their entire line-up. They signed the
German Formula Three The German Formula Three Championship was the national Formula Three championship of Germany, and the former West Germany, from 1950 to 2002, then as Formel 3 until 2014. In 2003, the series had merged with the French Formula Three Championship to ...
(GF3) champion
Giorgio Pantano Giorgio Pantano (born 4 February 1979) is an Italian professional racing driver who drove for the Jordan Formula One team for much of the 2004 season before being replaced by Timo Glock. He also raced in Formula 3000. He retired from racing at t ...
to drive his first season in the championship and the WRT driver
Ananda Mikola Ananda Mikola (born 27 April 1980 in Jakarta) is an Indonesian racecar driver. Mikola competed in the Italian and International Formula 3000 series from 1999 to 2001 and was champion of Asian F3 in the 2005 season. He was out of racing for a cou ...
joined him. Driver
Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso Díaz (; born 29 July 1981) is a Spanish racing driver currently competing for Alpine in Formula One. He won the series' World Drivers' Championship in and with Renault, and has also driven for McLaren, Ferrari, and Mi ...
went to Formula One to join
Minardi Minardi was an Italian automobile racing team and constructor founded in Faenza in 1979 by Giancarlo Minardi. It competed in the Formula One World Championship from 1985 until 2005 with little success, nevertheless acquiring a loyal followin ...
, and
Marc Goossens Marc Goossens, nicknamed The Goose (born 30 November 1969), is a Belgian professional racing driver that currently competes in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series, driving the No. 14 Chevrolet Camaro for SpeedHouse in the EuroNASCAR PRO class. Ra ...
left the team.
DAMS A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, ...
also had a new line-up in its team.
Franck Montagny Franck Montagny (born 5 January 1978) is a retired French professional racing driver. He briefly raced for the Super Aguri Formula One team in 2006. Early career Born in Feurs, Loire, Montagny started racing karts there in 1988, winning the cade ...
switched to the
World Series by Nissan The World Series Formula V8 3.5, formerly the World Series by Nissan from 1998 to 2004, the Formula Renault 3.5 Series from 2005 to 2015 and the Formula V8 3.5 in 2016 and 2017, was a motor racing series promoted by RPM Racing (1998–2004) and R ...
and
Kristian Kolby Kristian Kolby (born 9 October 1978) is a Danish racing driver from Ringkøbing in Denmark. Career Kolby was based in the United Kingdom for many years and was a successful junior single seater racer. He was British Formula Ford champion f ...
competed in the American
Indy Lights Indy NXT, previously Indy Lights, is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as Firestone Indy NXT Series for sponsorship reasons. Indy Lights is the highest step on the Road to Indy, a program ...
. The 1997 Barber Dodge Pro Series champion Derek Hill and the Gauloises Formula racer
Sébastien Bourdais Sébastien Olivier Bourdais (born 28 February 1979) is a French professional racing driver. He is one of the most successful drivers in the history of American open-wheel car racing, having won 37 races. He won four successive championships ...
replaced them. Antonio García graduated from the World Series by Nissan to join the
Red Bull Junior Team The Red Bull Junior Team is a driver development program run by the energy drink company Red Bull GmbH in an attempt to identify potential future racing stars in open wheel racing. The similar Red Bull Driver Search, now ended, was an American ...
to pair with GF3 driver
Patrick Friesacher Patrick Friesacher (born 26 September 1980) is an Austrian racing driver. He is the longest-serving Red Bull driver, and also drove for the Minardi Formula One team during the first half of the 2005 season. After his departure from Formula One, ...
. He replaced
Enrique Bernoldi Enrique Antônio Langue e Silvério de Bernoldi (born 19 October 1978) is a Brazilian professional racing driver who raced for the Arrows Formula One team in 2001 and 2002, and was the test driver for British American Racing (later Honda) be ...
, who moved to the Arrows Formula One team.
Super Nova Racing Super Nova Racing was a British racing team that has competed in Formula 3000/ GP2 and the A1 Grand Prix series. Super Nova first entered racing in 1991. Super Nova was a new incarnation of the pre-existing David Sears Motorsport, sponsored by ...
signed Mark Webber from European Arrows and Mário Haberfeld from Fortec. European Minardi employed
David Saelens David Saelens (born 2 July 1975 in Ypres, West Flanders) is a racing driver from Belgium. He drove in several racing classes such as Formula Three, International Formula 3000, American Le Mans Series, DTM and most recently the 2018 Porsche Super ...
from Super Nova, to partner
Andrea Piccini Andrea Piccini (born 12 December 1978 in Sansepolcro) is an Italian racing driver who is the part-owner and team principal of the Iron Lynx Motorsport Lab ELMS and Italian F4 team. Single Seaters Piccini began his single seater career in 1994, ...
, who left Kid Jensen Racing (KJR) after two seasons.
Nicolas Minassian Nicolas Minassian (born 28 February 1973) is a French professional racing driver of Armenian descent. After finishing 2nd place in the 1993 Formula Renault Eurocup, Marseille-born Minassian graduated to the French Formula Three Championship whe ...
left Super Nova and the series to join CART as teammate to Junqueira at CGR. KJR released
Bas Leinders Bas Leinders (born 16 July 1975) is a retired professional racing driver from Belgium. He was a Formula One test and reserve driver in for the Minardi F1 team, taking part in the Friday practice sessions during Grand Prix weekends, making 17 appe ...
and he moved to KTR to partner
Joël Camathias Joël Camathias (born 9 February 1981) is a Swiss race car driver born in Lugano. In 2001 he raced in the International Formula 3000 championship and in 2002 in the European F3000 series. In 2003 he made 7 starts in the American Champ Car series fo ...
, who transferred from the World Series by Nissan. Financial concerns meant
Jeffrey van Hooydonk Jeffrey van Hooydonk (born 1 October 1977) is a Belgian racing car driver. A native of Antwerp, Van Hooydonk began racing karts in 1990 and graduated to open-wheel racing five years later. For the next three seasons, he was successful in Formula ...
was unable to secure a seat in the championship and he went to drive in
Belcar The Belgian Racing Car Championship (formerly Belcar Endurance Championship or Belgian GT Championship) is a national sports car racing championship primarily in Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom ...
; his compatriot Yves Olivier and Christijan Albers of European Arrows entered the
Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM, German Touring Car Masters) is a grand touring car series sanctioned by ITR e.V. who have been affiliated to the DMSB-FIA since 1984. The series is based in Germany, with rounds elsewhere in Europe. The ser ...
. Italian F3000 competitors Gabriele Varano and
Nicolás Filiberti Nicolás Filiberti (born April 11, 1977 in Buenos Aires) is an Argentine racing driver. He began his career in Formula Honda Argentina in 1994. He then went on to South American Formula Three. In 1998 he traveled to Europe to compete in the E ...
joined the championship by signing for the Prost Junior Team. KJR employed the
Formula Palmer Audi Formula Palmer Audi, officially abbreviated to FPA, and sometimes informally abbreviated to Palmer Audi, was a one-make class of open wheel Formula racing founded in 1998 by former Formula One driver, Jonathan Palmer. It was based in the United ...
driver
Justin Keen Justin Keen (born 4 August 1972 in Epping) is a British auto racing driver. Career Keen first started racing in 1992 with Formula Vauxhall for the Jim Russell racing school. He won the Championship against James Thompson and Jan Magnussen ...
and Yann Goudy from Italian F3000 to fill the seats vacated by Piccini and Leinders.


Mid-season driver changes

KJR replaced Yann Goudy with Gianluca Calcagni for the
Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari The Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, better known as Imola, is a motor racing circuit in the town of Imola, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, east of Bologna. It is one of the few major international circuits to run in an an ...
round. The team later withdrew from the championship before the
Circuit de Catalunya The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya () is a motorsport race track in Montmeló, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. With long straights and a variety of corners, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is seen as an all-rounder circuit. The track has stands ...
event due to ownership problems and Calcagni driving for them in
Imola Imola (; rgn, Jômla or ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, located on the river Santerno, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. The city is traditionally considered the western entrance to the historical re ...
, which created tension with the series' governing body. Shortly before the
A1 Ring The Red Bull Ring is a motorsport race track in Spielberg, Styria, Austria. The race circuit was founded as Österreichring (translation: Austrian Circuit) and hosted the Austrian Grand Prix for 18 consecutive years, from to . It was later ...
round, Ananda Mikola's sponsorship money did not arrive in time at Astromega and a poor performance resulted in Astromega replacing him with
Dino Morelli Dino Morelli (born June 6, 1973, Ballymoney, County Antrim, Northern Ireland), is a former racing driver who competed sporadically in Formula 3000 between 1995 and 2001. Career Morelli began racing in karts in the late 1980s before joining Ir ...
for the next four events.
Enrico Toccacelo Enrico Toccacelo (born 14 December 1978 in Rome) is an Italian auto racer with karting, GT and Formula 3000 experience. He won three F3000 events and briefly led Vitantonio Liuzzi in the 2004 championship before Liuzzi went on to win the next thr ...
later drove in Morelli's place for the rest of the season.
Stéphane Sarrazin Stéphane Jean-Marc Sarrazin (born 2 November 1975) is a French professional racing driver. He has won races across a number of single-seater, sportscar and rallying disciplines and competitions, was French Formula Renault champion in 1994, and ...
made a one-off appearance for Prost at the
Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
round as a replacement for Filiberti, who was absent due to "personal issues". Prost later replaced the underperforming Filiberti with
Zsolt Baumgartner Zsolt Baumgartner (born 1 January 1981) is a Hungarian former racing driver who raced for the Jordan and Minardi teams in Formula One. He remains the only Hungarian driver to have competed and to have scored a point in Formula One. Career Baum ...
for the rest of the year from the
Nürburgring The is a 150,000 person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Formula One, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long "North loop" track, built in the 1920s, around t ...
round and the French Formula Three champion and
Porsche Supercup The Porsche Supercup (officially known as Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, known as Porsche Michelin Supercup prior to 2007) is an international one-make sports car racing series supporting the FIA Formula One World Championship organized by Porsche ...
driver
Jonathan Cochet Jonathan Cochet (born 4 January 1977 in Alençon, France) is a French racing driver. He won the Championnat de France Formule Renault in 1997. He was a test driver for Prost Grand Prix in 2001, and he was also a test driver with the Renault ...
drove Variano's car. Prost backed the initiative of one of its major sponsors to promote Latin American drivers in its team and the GF3 series winner
Norberto Fontana Norberto Edgardo Fontana (born 20 January 1975) is an Argentine racing driver. He participated in four Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 29 June 1997 but scoring no championship points. His opportunity to race came as a result of two separat ...
was drafted in place of Cochet for the season's final three rounds. Before the Monaco round, Red Bull terminated García's contract, and they replaced him with
Ricardo Maurício Ricardo Maurício (born January 7, 1979) is a Brazilian racing driver. He currently drives in the Stock Car Brasil series, which he won in 2008, 2013 and 2020. Prior to this he raced in several European single-seater formulae, winning the Spani ...
. European Minardi was represented by the
Formula Nippon The Japanese Super Formula Championship is a formula racing series. It is considered as being the top level of single-seater racing in Japan and regional motorsports in Asia. The series is sanctioned by the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) and ...
racer and
Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...
test driver
Tomas Scheckter Tomas Scheckter (born 21 September 1980) is a South African former racing driver best known for his time in the IndyCar Series. Early years Scheckter was born in Monte Carlo to 1979 Formula One World Champion Jody Scheckter and his first wife ...
in one of its cars for the
Hockenheimring The Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg () is a motor racing circuit situated in the Rhine valley near the town of Hockenheim in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located on the Bertha Benz Memorial Route. Amongst other motor racing events, it has hos ...
race after Saelens sustained an injury in an accident during the
Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Towcester on the former A43 main road, from the M1 motorway junction 15A and about from the M40 motorway junction 10, Northampton, Milton Keynes and B ...
event. Rodrigo Sperafico ended his campaign after the same event and was replaced at Coloni by Goossens for the rest of the season with new sponsorship brought to them. García replaced Melo at Durango from the
Hungaroring The Hungaroring is a motorsport racetrack in Mogyoród, Pest County, Hungary where the Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix is held. In 1986, it became the location of the first Formula One Grand Prix behind the Iron Curtain. Bernie Ecclestone wan ...
round on, and GF3 driver
Jaroslav Janiš Jaroslav "Jarek" Janiš (born 8 July 1983) is a Czech auto racing driver. In 2006 he is racing in the FIA GT Championship. He has taken three pole positions Brno, Dijon and the Hungaroring turning two of them into victories, teamed with Sascha ...
drove Enge's Nordic car at the season-ending
Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...
event, while Enge substituted for
Luciano Burti Luciano Pucci Burti (born 5 March 1975) is a Brazilian racing driver who briefly raced in Formula One. He is now a commentator for TV Globo. Early career Burti's early career saw him graduate through the usual channels and he found himself i ...
at the Prost Formula One team after the latter was injured at the .


Season calendar

A 12-race season calendar was released by the
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; en, International Automobile Federation) is an association established on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users. It is the governing body for ...
(FIA; the series' governing body) at a meeting of the
FIA World Motor Sport Council The World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) is a major organ within the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's governance structure. Its primary role is amending current regulations and drafting new regulations for all of international motor spor ...
in
Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...
on 4 October 2000. All events were held in
support Support may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Supporting character Business and finance * Support (technical analysis) * Child support * Customer support * Income Support Construction * Support (structure), or lateral support, a ...
on the Saturday of Formula One races. The series expanded from 10 to 12 races: a South American event to begin the season was at the
Autódromo José Carlos Pace The Autódromo José Carlos Pace, better known as Interlagos, is a motorsport circuit located in the city of São Paulo, in the neighborhood of Interlagos. It was inaugurated on 12 May 1940, by the federal intervener Adhemar de Barros. The t ...
in Brazil for the series' first race to be held outside of Europe in the modern era. The season-ending round was held at Italy's Autodromo Nazionale di Monza. Drivers and teams had most of June off as the
Toyota Atlantic Championship The Atlantic Championship is a formula race car series with races throughout North America. It has been called Champ Car Atlantics (after its former name), Toyota Atlantics (due to the series' previous history of using Toyota-powered engines) ...
supported the .


Regulation and sporting changes


Technical changes

Cars were required to have their wheels attached to their primary structures by means of a single
tether A tether is a cord, fixture, or flexible attachment that characteristically anchors something movable to something fixed; it also maybe used to connect two movable objects, such as an item being towed by its tow. Applications for tethers includ ...
for each wheel to prevent them from becoming detached in case of an accident. They also had thick anti-intrusion panels installed onto the
monocoque Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell". First used for boats, ...
sides.


Sporting changes

Teams who finished 12th or higher in the 2000 International Formula 3000 Teams' Championship were granted automatic entry into the 2001 series. The final three slots were allocated to new entries or those who had won national Formula 3000 series. Had there been not enough entries via that process, the final three teams in the 2000 season received invitations to compete in the order they finished in the championship. The time for a practice session was lengthened, two 45-minute qualifying sessions held in late afternoon took place the day before the event and the overall race distance was decreased to .


Season report


Pre-season

The first official pre-season test took place at the
Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari The Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, better known as Imola, is a motor racing circuit in the town of Imola, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, east of Bologna. It is one of the few major international circuits to run in an an ...
from 14 to 15 February 2001. The two days saw Wilson lap fastest at 1 minute, 37.850 seconds and he later damaged the rear of his car in a collision with a tyre wall. Fernando Alonso helped Minardi's Formula 3000 team with chassis setup and provided its two drivers with a performance benchmark. A second official pre-season test was held at the Silverstone Circuit between 12 and 13 March 2001. Bourdais led overall for DAMS with a 1 minute, 36.326 seconds lap in variable weather.


Opening rounds

The season began in Brazil. Brazilian drivers took the first four positions in qualifying with Melo claiming
pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the rac ...
for the first time in his career from Ricardo Sperafico, Rodrigo Sperafico and Pizzonia. The stewards neutralised the race on lap one with the safety car to clear the track when Pizzonia swerved to avoid Ricardo Sperafico's vehicle; the latter swerved to avoid other competitors, causing him to spin and crash into the barrier at the bottom of the Senna S
chicane A chicane () is a serpentine curve in a road, added by design rather than dictated by geography. Chicanes add extra turns and are used both in motor racing and on roads and streets to slow traffic for safety. For example, one form of chicane is ...
. Melo slowed sharply and allowed Pizzonia, Rodrigo Sperafico and Enge to pass him under safety car conditions. At the lap four restart, Wilson overtook Melo into the first corner, and moved into first when Pizzonia, Rodrigo Sperafico and Enge each incurred ten-second stop-and-go penalties for their earlier transgressions. Wilson led the rest of the race to win in motor racing for the first time since the 1998 Formula Palmer Audi, and was the first British driver to win in International Formula 3000 since
Jamie Davies Jamie Davies (born 16 February 1974, in Yeovil) is a British racing driver. Career Single-seaters Davies began his career competing in karting, winning the South West Championship in 1988, the British Junior Championship in 1989 and the Brit ...
won at the
Autodromo di Pergusa The Autodromo di Pergusa is an automobile and motorcycle circuit that encircles the only Sicilian natural lake, Pergusa Lake. The circuit is also known as Enna-Pergusa, as the lake is located near the city of Enna. Overview During the 1960s, t ...
in the 1997 season. He lost control of his car afterwards and avoided hitting the pit lane wall. Webber, the pre-season favourite, took second from Melo in third, who had engine problems. The stewards later imposed a 25-second time penalty on Webber for passing David Saelens before the start/finish line after the safety car entered the pit lane for the restart. He moved from second to seventh. Webber took his first Formula 3000 pole position in qualifying for the Imola round by leading both sessions with Patrick Friesacher second and
Darren Manning Darren Manning (born 30 April 1975) is a British motor racing driver who has raced in the IRL IndyCar Series for Chip Ganassi Racing and Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. Career history Early career Manning was born in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, ...
third. He led every lap of the race to take his first win of the season after he took
painkillers An analgesic drug, also called simply an analgesic (American English), analgaesic (British English), pain reliever, or painkiller, is any member of the group of drugs used to achieve relief from pain (that is, analgesia or pain management). It i ...
to ease the effects of a
broken rib A rib fracture is a break in a rib bone. This typically results in chest pain that is worse with inspiration. Bruising may occur at the site of the break. When several ribs are broken in several places a flail chest results. Potential complicati ...
. The victory drew him to within one point of Wilson. A crash for Varano after losing control on the kerbs on the exit of the Tamburello chicane caused him to become dizzy and prompted the safety car's deployment. In an
accordion effect In physics, the accordion effect, also known as the slinky effect, concertina effect, elastic band effect, and string instability, occurs when fluctuations in the motion of a travelling body causes disruptions in the flow of elements following it. ...
behind the safety car, Hill made contact with the rear of Calcagni's car, who had turned to the right to avoid hitting slower cars ahead of him. Both drivers avoided hitting
marshals Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used for elevated o ...
tending to Varano. Nordic locked out the front row for the first time at the following race in Spain with Wilson on pole position and his teammate Enge second. Enge passed Wilson at the start of the race at the first turn and maintained the lead throughout a processional round for his second Formula 3000 victory. Enge passed Webber for second in the drivers' championship and was one point behind his teammate Wilson. An error from Wilson allowed Bas Leinders to pass him for second. The A1 Ring in Austria hosted the fourth round of the 2001 championship. Wet weather affected the second qualifying session and a lap from Sébastien Bourdais in the first session was fast enough to earn him the second pole position of his career. A first-lap collision between Bourdais and Friesacher at Castrol Kurve corner caused eight cars to retire and allowed Leinders to move into the lead, just as Wilson progressed to second. After a safety car period to clear the area, Wilson passed Leinders on the outside on the fifth lap and he held off the latter to win for the second time in International Formula 3000. The victory further extended Wilson's championship lead to seven points over his Nordic teammate Enge. During qualifying at Monaco Webber took a second pole position of 2001 despite crashing at the outside of La Rascasse turn late in the second session in a desire to better his lap. Webber held off Wilson at the start of the race and led every lap for his second victory of the year by eight-tenths of a second. Webber thus overtook Enge for second position in the drivers' championship. Two safety car periods for a first lap five-car accident at a
hairpin A hairpin or hair pin is a long device used to hold a person's hair in place. It may be used simply to secure long hair out of the way for convenience or as part of an elaborate hairstyle or coiffure. The earliest evidence for dressing the hai ...
and for separate crashes involving Darren Manning and Antônio Pizzonia slowed the race.


Mid-season

Heading into round six, Wilson led Webber in second by eleven points and was another two points in front of the third-placed Enge. Pole position for the Nürburgring event was taken by Enge after a duel with Webber and Ricardo Sperafico. Wilson was down in seventh place after he ran wide at a chicane. Enge was unchallenged throughout a noncompetitive race and achieved his second win of the season. The result moved Enge past Webber and into second position in the championship. He stood three points behind his teammate Wilson, who spun into a gravel trap and subsequently retired with a sheared peg on the front-left wheel. One week later at the
Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours is a motor racing circuit located in central France, near the towns of Magny-Cours and Nevers, some from Paris and from Lyon. It staged the Formula One French Grand Prix from 1991 (succeeding Circuit Paul Ricard ...
in France, Enge carried his form over from the Nürburgring round to qualify on pole position for the second race in succession on his second lap of the session with no slower traffic to impede him. Webber, Patrick Friesacher and Wilson were in positions two to four. Webber overtook Enge at the first corner to take the lead and Wilson passed Freisacher for third position. Webber pulled away from the rest of the field to claim victory and drew to within one championship point of Wilson, who finished second after Enge ran wide at a hairpin on the final lap. Enge took another pole position when he set the fastest lap, ahead of his teammate Wilson and Bourdais at the Silverstone round in the United Kingdom. A major airborne accident at Becketts corner involving Saelens in qualifying caused a long stoppage to allow for him to be extricated from his car with FIA doctor
Sid Watkins Eric Sidney Watkins (6 September 1928 – 12 September 2012), commonly known within the Formula One fraternity as Professor Sid or simply Prof, was an English neurosurgeon. Born in Liverpool, Watkins enrolled at the University of Liverpoo ...
supervising. Saelens was transported to
Northampton General Hospital Northampton General Hospital is a district general hospital in Northampton, Northamptonshire, England. It is managed by the Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust. History The hospital was established in a townhouse on George Row in 1744. After ...
and was withdrawn from the race with ninth vertebrae and wrist ligament damage. In the race, the Nordic cars of Enge and Wilson collided at Stowe turn on the fourth lap. Wilson ran wide onto the gravel and this elevated Bourdais to second position. A brief rain shower on lap nineteen caused Enge to go onto the gravel at Copse corner and Bourdais took the lead. He held off Wilson to take his first Formula 3000 victory as Enge's engine cut out on the final lap and gave his compatriot Antônio Pizzonia third.


Final rounds

Ricardo Sperafico beat Wilson by 0.071 seconds to achieve the first pole position of his career in the next round at the Hockenheimring. Sperafico had excess
wheelspin A wheelspin occurs when the force delivered to the tire tread exceeds that of available tread-to-surface friction and one or more tires lose traction.This leads the wheels to "spin" and causes the driver to lose control over the tires that no lo ...
off the line; he kept the lead by blocking Wilson, who lost second place to his teammate Enge. Wilson and Pizzonia subsequently took first and second before the latter passed the former on lap three. Pizzonia lead the rest of the race to win for the first time in the series. A second-place result for Wilson and a non-finish for Webber after hitting the rear of Darren Manning's car increased his lead to ten points in the championship. The season resumed three weeks later at the Hungaroring in Hungary. Wilson emerged ahead of Webber in qualifying with pole position, and broke away from the start as Webber had less grip and fell behind Enge and Mauricio. Enge delayed Webber until he made an error at the final turn and the latter passed him. This resulted in contact between Enge and Webber and the latter was imposed a ten-second stop-and-go penalty dropping him to eleventh. With four laps remaining, Webber beached his car upon a kerb and promoted Bourdais to third. Wilson took his third career victory with a margin of 5 seconds over Mauricio. He extended his championship lead over Webber to 20 points and Nordic won the Teams' Championship with two races to go. Going into the Spa-Francorchamps round, Webber needed to win the final two races and for Wilson not to score any points to win the drivers' championship on countback with more race victories. Wilson required a sixth-place result in either race to secure the title regardless of where Webber finished. Petrobras took the first two positions in qualifying with Ricardo Sperafico on pole position and his teammate Antônio Pizzonia second. Wilson and Webber could only manage third and fifth respectively. The race began in inclement weather and the safety car was used for two laps to allow competitors to familiarise themselves with the wet track. An accident for Webber at Eau Rouge corner early on saw his car destroyed and him taken to a hospital in
Verviers Verviers (; wa, Vervî) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Ensival, Heusy, Lambermont, Petit-Rechain, Stembert, and Verviers. It is also the ...
for a precautionary x-ray scan that discovered knee ligament damage and no fractured bones. Wilson finished second to clinch the drivers' title with one race remaining as Sperafico led every lap of the event to achieve his first career win. Wilson was the first British driver in history to win the International Formula 3000 Championship. At the season-ending Autodromo Nationale di Monza race, a deluge caused localised flooding and strong winds blowing natural debris onto the circuit forced the postponement of qualifying. Qualifying was reformatted as a solitary 20-minute session on Saturday afternoon and the race began half an hour later than scheduled. Pizzonia qualified on pole position for the first time in his career and he was joined on the
grid Grid, The Grid, or GRID may refer to: Common usage * Cattle grid or stock grid, a type of obstacle is used to prevent livestock from crossing the road * Grid reference, used to define a location on a map Arts, entertainment, and media * News g ...
's front row by Wilson in second. The start was aborted twice and delayed for 23 minutes because several drivers stalled their cars on the grid. Pantano emerged a Formula 3000 race winner for the first time in his career after he overcame being put onto the grass by Pizzonia at the start, a manoeuvre which entailed a ten-second stop-and-go penalty for the latter. Wilson went on to finish second and Ricardo Sperafico placed third. Wilson finished on 71 points with Webber and Enge tied for second position with 39 points each. He eclipsed the record of
Juan Pablo Montoya Juan Pablo Montoya Roldán (; born September 20, 1975) is a Colombian racing driver. He won the International F3000 championship in 1998, the CART FedEx Championship Series in 1999 in his debut year in the series, and the IMSA WeatherTech S ...
from the 1998 season with the most points accumulated in an International Formula 3000 season, which he kept until
Björn Wirdheim Björn Karl Michael Wirdheim (born 4 April 1980) is a Swedish professional racing driver. He is the son of Örnulf Wirdheim, also a racing driver. Björn began racing karts, competing in his first race, at the age of 10. His main achievement to ...
improved on it en route to winning the 2003 championship.


Results and standings


Points system

Points were awarded to the top six classified finishers in every race, using the following structure:


Drivers' Championship

Driver did not finish the Race but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.


Teams' Championship


See also

* 2001 Euro Formula 3000 season


References


External links


2001 Race Results
Retrieved from www.teamdan.com on 7 September 2009 {{Formula 3000 years
International Formula 3000 The Formula 3000 International Championship was a motor racing series created by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) in 1985 to become the final preparatory step for drivers hoping to enter Formula One. Formula Two had become t ...
International Formula 3000 seasons
Formula 3000 Formula 3000 (F3000) was a type of open wheel, single seater formula racing, occupying the tier immediately below Formula One and above Formula Three. It was so named because the cars were powered by 3.0 L engines. Formula 3000 championships ...