15 July 2001

FIA International F3000 Championship (images here)
Giorgio Pantano put in a stirring drive in the eighth round of the FIA Formula 3000 Championship at Silverstone - but his efforts to net his first championship point of the season were thwarted when he spun off the track with just two laps to go.

"It's a real shame," Giorgio said. "This was a difficult race on a track made slippery by rain from about half distance. At the start, when the track was dry, my car's balance didn't feel quite right. But when we had a bit of rain at mid-distance the handling suddenly improved and I was able to start passing other cars."

Unable to find a perfect qualifying balance, Pantano qualified his Astromega Lola 10th and held that position throughout the opening stages of the race. When it began to rain on lap 17, however, he immediately increased the pressure on French rival Jonathan Cochet and passed him two laps later. With five laps to go Pantano sliced past Bas Leinders to take eighth place - and began to sense that a championship point was there for the taking. "I was already pushing to the limit," he said, "and I thought I could catch the next two cars, even though there were only a couple of laps left. As I went into Copse on the penultimate lap, the car felt okay as I turned into the corner, but then it snapped sideways and I spun into to gravel. It's a shame, but I was racing for a points finish and I was caught out in conditions that were very tricky. Because the rain was stopping and starting all the time, you never knew what you were going to find at each corner from lap to lap.

I think I proved that I know how to be fast in such circumstances, but once again we have come away slightly frustrated because we had the potential to get another good result. "The good thing is that I am developing a good base for next season. You can see from this year's results that the most experienced guys are winning all the races. But I am learning all the time and that will stand me in good stead for the rest of this season - and 2002."

The FIA F3000 series continues at Hockenheim, Germany, on July 28.

Porsche Pirelli Supercup
Jesper Carlsen reports from Silverstone... "It has been a good weekend where I have made futher progress. The free practice saw me on good form and so did the first qualifying where I was 8th quickest. The first qualifying was wet and I found the car very comfortable to drive and the times came easy to me. In the second qualifying it was dry. I qualified 14th. I made a few mistakes during the session which cost me a top 10 starting position. A bad start in the race saw me drop four places on the first lap. I put in some very competetive laps during the race however and I finished 12th. A shame with the start but all in all a good race. I am really looking forward to Hockenheim in two weeks. It is all going better and better. Hockenheim is not going to be easy because the German drivers knows the circuit realy well but I will have a crack at it! Jacky finished 14th in the race after qualifying 19th - his first time in Porsche Pirelli Supercup.".

Jacky van der Ende to race in Porsche Supercup
Brask Management driver Jacky van der Ende is to join his colleague Jesper Carlsen in the Martin Flitton Pirelli Porsche Supercup Team. Jacky will make his debut in the Grand Prix support race at Silverstone this weekend.

This is a bittersweet opportunity for Jacky coming after the recent death of Jamie Hunter. As a mark of respect the car will be carrying Jamie's name and race number.

The 24 year old from Masdijk in Holland made his name in single seaters, most notably by winning both the 1997 Formula Ford World Cup and UK National championship. Jacky has only constested a handful of selected sports car races but has showed his pace with a GT2 class win in Privilege Insurance British GT Championship in 1998.