27 Apr 2002

FIA International Formula 3000 Championship - Round three at Barcelona

Giorgio Pantano produced a stunning drive to take a superb win in the third round of the championship at Barcelona. He now moves into joint second place in the table with arch rival Sebastien Bourdais. After finishing third and taking the fastest lap in the second round at Imola two weeks ago the team's hopes were high for this weekend.

Giorgio was third in first qualifying with Alex Müller in last place after suffering gearbox problems. In the second session Giorgio held onto third place whilst Alex was at last able to get some competitive mileage in to eventually qualify 13th.

After a good start in the Coloni prepared car Giorgio soon bounced the Czeck driver Tomas Enge down the order to take second place. He then set about putting pressure on the race leader, Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais. In one of the most exciting climaxes to a Formula 3000 race for some time Giorgio was putting Bourdais under extreme pressure - drawing level on two occasions but not managing to take the lead. Giorgio looked the quicker driver but the circuit affords little in the way of overtaking opportunities for such evenly matched machinery. In the end it was the last lap when Bourdais finally cracked under the pressure with Giorgio flying past to take a hard erned and popular victory.

Alex retired late on in the race. Further details to follow.

Result:

1st Giorgio Pantano
2nd Tomas Enge
3rd Sebastien Bourdais
4th Ricardo Mauricio
5th Mario Haberfeld
6th Enrico Toccacelo

Zip Formula Round one at Snetterton

Mike Spencer starts his 2002 campaign in Zip Formula.