The 1997 International Formula 3000 season was the thirty-first season of the second-tier of Formula One feeder championship and also thirteenth season under the International Formula 3000 Championship moniker. The championship[1] was a ten-round series contested from 11 May to 25 October 1997. The Drivers' Championship was won by Brazilian Ricardo Zonta of Super Nova Racing, who won three races.

Drivers and teams

The following teams and drivers contested the 1997 FIA Formula 3000 International Championship. The Lola T96/50 Zytek-Judd was used by all teams,[2] as was mandatory under the championship regulations.

Team No. Driver Rounds
Austria RSM Marko 1 Australia Craig Lowndes All
2 Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya All
United Kingdom Super Nova Racing 3 Brazil Ricardo Zonta All
4 France Laurent Redon All
Belgium Team Astromega 5 France Boris Derichebourg All
6 France Soheil Ayari All
Italy Draco Engineering 7 France Cyrille Sauvage All
8 Portugal Pedro Couceiro All
France Apomatox 9 France Fabrizio Gollin 1-3, 9
France Emmanuel Clérico 4
10 France Jean-Philippe Belloc 1-4
United Kingdom Edenbridge Racing 11 South Africa Werner Lupberger All
12 Brazil Max Wilson All
United Kingdom Pacific Racing 14 Austria Oliver Tichy 1-8
15 Spain Marc Gené 1-2
France DAMS 16 France Grégoire de Galzain All
17 United Kingdom Jamie Davies All
Italy Durango Formula 18 South Africa Stephen Watson All
19 United Kingdom Gareth Rees All
Italy Auto Sport Racing 20 Argentina Gastón Mazzacane All
21 Denmark Tom Kristensen All
United Kingdom Nordic Racing 22 Italy Thomas Biagi 1-3
Spain Marc Gené 4-6, 10
Austria Mario Waltner 7-8
Italy Gianluca Paglicci 9
23 Portugal Rui Águas All
United Kingdom Bob Salisbury Engineering 24 United Kingdom Oliver Gavin 1-3
United Kingdom James Taylor 4-10
25 Norway Thomas Schie All
Denmark Den Blå Avis 26 Denmark Jason Watt All
United Kingdom DC Cook Motorsport 27 United Kingdom David Cook All
28 France Patrick Lemarié 9-10
Italy Coloni Motorsport 29 Austria Markus Friesacher All
30 Argentina Emiliano Spataro 1-9
Austria Oliver Tichy 10
Italy Ravarotto Racing 31 France Anthony Beltoise 1-7
32 France Patrick Lemarié 1-5, 7
Italy GP Racing 33 Italy Thomas Biagi 4-10
Spain Elide Racing 34 Spain Miguel Ángel de Castro 10
United Kingdom Arden International 35 United Kingdom Christian Horner All
Belgium KTR 36 Belgium Kurt Mollekens All
United Kingdom Redman & Bright F3000 37 Uruguay Gonzalo Rodríguez 1, 3-7, 9-10
United Kingdom DKS Racing 38 United Kingdom Dino Morelli 1-4
Sources:[3][4]

Calendar

RoundCircuitDateLapsDistanceTimeSpeedPole PositionFastest LapWinnerWinning TeamReport
1 United Kingdom Silverstone Circuit 11 May 40 5.140=205.600 km 1'21:15.501 151.990 km/h Brazil Ricardo Zonta Spain Marc Gené Denmark Tom Kristensen Italy Auto Sport Racing Report
2 France Pau Grand Prix 19 May 75 2.760=207.000 km 1'32:44.230 133.927 km/h Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya Austria RSM Marko Report
3 Finland Helsinki Thunder 25 May 65 3.180=206.700 km 1'38:32.881 125.847 km/h Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya France Soheil Ayari Belgium Team Astromega Report
4 Germany Nürburgring 29 June 4 4.556=18.224 km 0'07:57.334 137.443 km/h Brazil Ricardo Zonta Brazil Ricardo Zonta Brazil Ricardo Zonta United Kingdom Super Nova Racing Report
5 Italy Autodromo di Pergusa 20 July 41 4.950=202.950 km 1'04:48.310 187.902 km/h United Kingdom Jamie Davies United Kingdom Jamie Davies United Kingdom Jamie Davies France DAMS Report
6 Germany Hockenheimring 26 July 31 6.823=211.513 km 1'04:33.262 196.591 km/h Denmark Tom Kristensen Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya Brazil Ricardo Zonta United Kingdom Super Nova Racing Report
7 Austria A1 Ring 3 August 48 4.319=207.312 km 1'12:39.794 171.183 km/h Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya Brazil Ricardo Zonta Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya Austria RSM Marko Report
8 Belgium Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps 22 August 29 6.968=202.072 km 1'05:19.036 185.622 km/h Denmark Tom Kristensen Portugal Rui Águas Denmark Jason Watt Denmark Den Blå Avis Report
9 Italy Mugello Circuit 29 September 40 5.245=209.800 km 1'09:03.576 182.277 km/h Brazil Ricardo Zonta Brazil Ricardo Zonta Brazil Ricardo Zonta United Kingdom Super Nova Racing Report
10 Spain Circuito de Jerez 25 October 44 4.428=194.832 km 1'13:47.224 158.428 km/h Brazil Ricardo Zonta Brazil Ricardo Zonta Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya Austria RSM Marko Report
Source:[5]

Note:

  • The Silverstone round was the Autosport International Trophy[2]
  • The Pau round was the 57th Grand Prix Automobile du Pau[2]
  • The Pergusa-Enna round was the 35th Gran Premio del Mediterraneo[2]

Season summary

After finishing the season with two wins in the last three races of 1996, Brazil's Ricardo Zonta entered 1997 as the pre-season title favourite with the Super Nova team. However, he endured a frustrating start with no points from the first three races. The early pace in the championship battle was set by Denmark's Tom Kristensen, who inherited the race victory at a damp Silverstone from the disqualified Zonta, and then finished behind Juan Pablo Montoya on the street circuit at Pau. After an attritional race in Helsinki won by Soheil Ayari, where most of the major title contenders failed to finish and just nine drivers made it to the chequered flag, the field endured another wet race at the Nurburgring. It was marred by a serious accident involving British drivers Dino Morelli and Gareth Rees, in which Morelli suffered severe leg injuries which would keep him out of racing for the rest of the season.[6] With the race abandoned after just four laps, Zonta was declared the winner, but with only half-points awarded.

By mid-season, the competitive start to the season left the championship battle wide open, with Kristensen and Enna winner Jamie Davies leading the standings halfway through the season ahead of Montoya, Zonta and Ayari. Zonta became the first driver to win twice with a dominant drive at Hockenheim, but left Germany a point behind the consistent Davies, who had been on the podium in four of the six races so far. However, at the A1-Ring, a disastrous qualifying left the British driver down in 24th place on the grid, leaving him out of contention for points. Montoya led home Zonta, who became the new championship leader.

The race at Spa-Francorchamps was another overshadowed by a large crash, as Kristensen crashed heavily while leading at the high-speed Blanchimont corner, triggering a pile-up, though no drivers were seriously injured.[7] Denmark's Jason Watt took his first Formula 3000 race win to enter title contention, as Zonta could only manage to finish fifth, and his rivals all failed to score points. However, a month later, a controversial round at Mugello settled the championship - Kristensen was excluded from the event for running an illegal spacer, while Davies and DAMS team mate Gregoire de Galzain were also excluded for failure to attend the drivers' briefing. Zonta's race win, with Montoya only finishing third behind Watt, meant that the Brazilian was declared champion. The Auto Sport and Durango teams protested Zonta and Watt's results for allegedly having used illegal fuel and car parts, but this protest was quashed and the results stood.[8] Montoya went on to win the final round at Jerez, securing second place in the championship. Watt finished third ahead of Davies, who had failed to score any points since taking the lead of the championship with four races to go.

None of the drivers who participated in the 1997 season were able to take seats on the 1998 Formula One grid. Zonta moved to the AMG Mercedes team in the FIA GT Championship, which he won jointly with Klaus Ludwig, and went on to drive for BAR in Formula One in 1999. Kristensen, who had won the 1997 24 Hours of Le Mans, moved into sportscar racing, while the remaining major contenders would return to Formula 3000 in 1998. Having won the 1996 Australian Touring Car Championship on debut, Craig Lowndes returned to Australia the following year and won a second ATCC title in as many attempts.

Drivers' Championship

Pos Driver SIL
United Kingdom
PAU
France
HEL
Finland
NÜR
Germany
PER
Italy
HOC
Germany
A1R
Austria
SPA
Belgium
MUG
Italy
JER
Spain
Points
1 Brazil Ricardo Zonta DSQ Ret Ret 1 2 1 2 5 1 Ret 39
2 Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya Ret 1 Ret 4 11 5 1 DSQ 3 1 37.5
3 Denmark Jason Watt 4 12 DNS 2 Ret 4 Ret 1 2 Ret 25
4 United Kingdom Jamie Davies 3 3 Ret 8 1 3 9 8 EX Ret 22
5 Brazil Max Wilson Ret 7 Ret 5 3 2 8 2 4 10 21
6 Denmark Tom Kristensen 1 2 Ret 3 Ret Ret 6 Ret EX Ret 19
7 Austria Oliver Tichy 8 8 2 9 Ret 7 5 Ret 2 14
8 France Soheil Ayari Ret 6 1 19 Ret Ret 10 Ret 6 Ret 12
9 France Laurent Redon Ret 4 Ret 21 6 Ret 3 14 5 11 10
10 Portugal Rui Águas Ret 9 5 7 Ret DSQ 4 9 12 5 7
11 Portugal Pedro Couceiro 2 Ret Ret 15 DNS Ret 11 7 Ret Ret 6
12 United Kingdom Dino Morelli 5 11 3 Ret 6
13 France Cyrille Sauvage 7 5 Ret Ret 8 Ret Ret 4 9 DSQ 5
14 United Kingdom Gareth Rees Ret Ret Ret Ret 16 11 Ret Ret 7 3 4
15 France Boris Derichebourg 12 15 8 Ret 9 DNQ 13 3 22 15 4
16 France Patrick Lemarié 6 13 4 13 Ret 14 DNQ 4
17 Australia Craig Lowndes 14 Ret Ret Ret 4 Ret Ret Ret 21 9 3
18 South Africa Werner Lupberger 11 DNQ DNQ 18 Ret 14 Ret 13 11 4 3
19 Belgium Kurt Mollekens EX 10 Ret DNQ 5 6 Ret Ret Ret Ret 3
20 South Africa Stephen Watson 15 DNQ 6 16 7 12 Ret 6 15 Ret 2
21 United Kingdom Christian Horner 16 DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 16 DNQ 17 6 1
22 Uruguay Gonzalo Rodríguez DNQ Ret 6 Ret 17 7 8 Ret 0.5
23 United Kingdom David Cook Ret DNQ 7 DNQ Ret DNQ 14 Ret Ret 7 0
24 France Grégoire de Galzain DNQ DNQ DNQ 17 Ret 9 15 Ret EX 8 0
25 Spain Marc Gené 13 DNQ DNQ Ret 8 Ret 0
26 France Anthony Beltoise Ret Ret 9 14 12 13 Ret 0
27 France Jean-Philippe Belloc 9 Ret Ret 20 0
28 Argentina Gastón Mazzacane 10 DNQ Ret 10 15 10 17 11 10 Ret 0
29 Norway Thomas Schie DNQ 14 DNQ DNQ DNQ 15 DNQ 10 18 Ret 0
30 Argentina Emiliano Spataro DNQ DNQ DNQ 11 13 16 12 Ret Ret 0
31 Italy Thomas Biagi DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 14 18 Ret Ret 16 12 0
32 France Emmanuel Clérico 12 0
33 United Kingdom James Taylor DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 12 DNQ DNQ 0
34 Italy Fabrizio Gollin Ret Ret Ret 13 0
35 Austria Markus Friesacher DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 17 DNQ DNQ Ret 19 DNQ 0
36 Italy Gianluca Paglicci 20 0
  Spain Miguel Ángel de Castro DNQ 0
  Austria Mario Waltner DNQ DNQ 0
United Kingdom Oliver Gavin DNQ DNQ DNQ 0
Pos Driver SIL
United Kingdom
PAU
France
HEL
Finland
NÜR
Germany
PER
Italy
HOC
Germany
A1R
Austria
SPA
Belgium
MUG
Italy
JER
Spain
Points
Sources:[9][10][11]
ColourResult
GoldWinner
SilverSecond place
BronzeThird place
GreenPoints finish
BlueNon-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
PurpleRetired (Ret)
RedDid not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
BlackDisqualified (DSQ)
WhiteDid not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not practice (DNP)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Excluded (EX)

Bold – Pole
Italics – Fastest lap

Notes

Complete Overview

first column of every race10= grid position
second column of every race10= race result

R24=retired, but classified R=retired NS=did not start NQ=did not qualify NT=no time set in qualifying DIS(1)=disqualified after finishing as winner (13)=place after practice, but grid position not held free DIS=disqualified in practice

PlaceNameTeam SIL
United Kingdom
PAU
France
HEL
Finland
NÜR
Germany
PER
Italy
HOC
Germany
OST
Austria
SPA
Belgium
MUG
Italy
JER
Spain
1Brazil Ricardo ZontaSuperNova Racing1DIS(1)8R8R1122212255111R
2Colombia Juan Pablo MontoyaRSM Marko2R111R44611155114R2341
3Denmark Jason WattDen Blå Avis341512(13)NS328R549R21426R
4United Kingdom Jamie DaviesDAMS233432R1381163249158DIS-3R
5Brazil Max WilsonEdenbridge Racing8R11721R5543321488234910
6Denmark Tom KristensenAuto Sport Racing121226R2310R1R361RDIS-2R
7Austria Oliver TichyPacific Racing7898321799R17716521R--
Coloni Motorsport72
8France Soheil AyariTeam Astromega4R569181913R8R6103R768R
9France Laurent RédonSuperNova Racing10R3411R7211169R53914651611
10Portugal Rui ÁguasNordic Racing5R1291851277R4R841791312105
11Portugal Pedro CouceiroDraco Engineering2227R19R1415(12)NS24R131116717R19R
United Kingdom Dino MorelliDKS Racing11519117316R24------------
13France Cyrille SauvageDraco Engineering137654R15R233813R7R244995DIS(2)
14France Patrick LemariéRavarotto Racing25617131341113--16R----
D C Cook Motorsport191427NQ
France Boris DerichebourgTeam Astromega201221152286R16927NQ221363112215R
United Kingdom Gareth ReesDurango Formula15R16R12R9R222016191118R11R57113
17Australia Craig LowndesRSM Marko61414R20R23R2515410R10R20R1021139
Belgium Kurt MollekensKTRDIS-13105R32NQ12526612R18R24R21R
South Africa Werner LupbergerEdenbridge Racing261128NQ30NQ191821R231415R10131411144
20South Africa Stephen WatsonDurango Formula211525NQ1561816197181221R76181522R
21United Kingdom Christian HornerArden International24R1633NQ29NQ33NQ30NQ29NQ251627NQ2217246
22Uruguay Gonzalo RodríguezRedman & Bright F300031NQ--14R1065R71747--8812R
-United Kingdom David CookD C Cook Motorsport14R31NQ24730NQ26R30NQ261422R16R267
-France Grégoire de GalzainDAMS29NQ32NQ32NQ261723R209231523RDIS-178
-Spain Marc GenéPacific Racing161323NQ--
Nordic Racing31NQ12R10118------20R
-France Anthony BeltoiseRavarotto Racing17R18R16922142212211317R------
-France Jean-Philippe BellocApomatox19922R17R2420------------
-Argentina Gastón MazzacaneAuto Sport Racing91024NQ23R20101715121011171911121018R
-Norway Thomas SchieBSE Salisbury Engineering32NQ201426NQ28NQ28NQ221527NQ1310231825R
-Argentina Emiliano SpataroColoni Motorsport32NQ29NQ27NQ2111241325162315201215R--
-Italy Thomas BiagiNordic Racing28NQ26NQ31NQ
GP Racing27NQ1814141819R25R20162312
-France Emmanuel CléricoApomatox------2512------------
-United Kingdom James TaylorBSE Salisbury Engineering------34NQ29NQ31NQNT-261227NQ30NQ
-Italy Fabrizio GollinApomatox18R10R10R----------2113--
-Austria Markus FriesacherColoni Motorsport27NQ30NQ28NQ29NQ251728NQ28NQ14R261928NQ
-Italy Gianluca PaglicciNordic Racing----------------2520--
-United Kingdom Oliver GavinBSE Salisbury Engineering30NQ27NQ33NQ--------------
-Austria Mario WaltnerNordic Racing------------29NQ28NQ----
-Spain Miguel Ángel de CastroElide Racing------------------29NQ

References

  1. "Classements 1997 - 1997 Classifications". 1999-02-23. Archived from the original on 1999-02-23. Retrieved 2021-02-16.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Autocourse (1996). Autocourse Indy car, 1996-97. Hazleton Pub. ISBN 1-874557-07-1. OCLC 37423587.
  3. 1 2 "FIA Formula 3000 Int. Championship - 1997: Entrylist". Speedsport Magazine. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  4. "F3000 International Championship Entry List 1997". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  5. "F3000 International Championship Results 1997". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  6. "1997 F3000 Nurburgring - Morelli Massive Crash". Archived from the original on 2021-12-13.
  7. "1997 F3000 Spa - Huge Pile Up". Archived from the original on 2021-12-13.
  8. "Mugello results". Archived from the original on 2018-09-06. Retrieved 2018-09-05.
  9. "F3000 International Championship Standings 1997". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  10. "FIA Formula 3000 Int. Championship - Season 1997: Results". Speedsport Magazine. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  11. "1997 FIA International F3000 Championship". Motor Sport. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
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