F3000 Italia Round 1: Vallelunga (I), 2nd April 2000

Round one of the second season of the F3000 Italia championship was the first chance to see how the series has grown in strength since the beginning of last season. While the Italian F3 championship was in crisis with barely any entries, a full 26 car field was entered for round 1 of Italian F3000 at Vallelunga. The field consisted of former International F3000 drivers and rookies from a variety of backgrounds, drivers with impressive records in such series as British F3, Italian F3, SudAm F3 and the Barber Dodge Pro Series along with less experienced drivers straight from karting and Formula Renault. A last-minute change to the entry list gave Italian F3 champion Peter Sundberg a chance to race for Team Ghinzani. Fellow Italian F3 race winner Gabriele Varano could not race due to licencing problems.

Qualifying was held on a wet track and as it dried out Australia's Andrej Pavicevic (Durango Benetton Junior Team) made the shrewd decision to switch to slick tyres in the closing minutes, earning pole position ahead of Gabriele Lancieri (Sighinolfi Autoracing). The second row was made up of racing veteran Manuel Giao (Monaco Junior Team) and SudAm F3 frontrunner Rodrigo Sperafico (Draco). Derek Hill, son of 1961 World Champion Phil Hill, qualified 5th for Da Vinci ahead of the pseudonymed "Babalus" (First GP) who lived up to his surprise testing pace. Former race winner Marcelo Battistuzzi qualified 9th for the Monaco junior Team, while Peter Sundberg did well to qualify 13th since this session was the first time he had ever driven an F3000 chassis.

Gabriele Lancieri proved to be the surprise victor in the race which he led from start to finish. The Sighinolfi driver was the highest placed F3000 rookie in the standings last season, but few would have predicted a win against such strong opposition. Lancieri beat away the field at the lights, with Pavicevic demoted to third by Rodrigo Sperafico and followed in fourth by a fast-starting Warren Hughes (Arden). Ahead of Hughes on the grid Giao and Hill both stalled in their 3rd and 5th position grid slots.

In the middle of the first lap British F3 veteran Hughes passed Pavicevic around the outside of a double-apex right-hander to take third place. As Lancieri slowed down his early pace to control the race, Hughes came under attack from "Babalus", who went off and retired when attempting to pass him.

On lap 17 Peter Sundberg went off the track, prompting the deployment of the safety car. As it returned to the pits the status quo resumed, Lancieri pulling out an advantage over Sperafico. They remained like this to the flag, Hughes following in third. Pavicevic in fourth came under attack from Leonardo Nienkotter (Draco), another SudAm F3 graduate, on the final lap. A misjudged manouvre by the Brazilian put himself and Aussie Pavicevic out of the race.

The fourth and fifth places were therefore inherited by F3000 veteran Thomas Biagi (GP Racing) and Marcelo Battistuzzi, with Giao taking the final point after a fine drive from last place after stalling at the start. The little known Yann Goudy (Monaco Junior Team) was another to impress, taking 8th place on his F3000 debut.

QUALIFYING:

(All cars Lola T96/50-Zytek)

RACE RESULT:

(All cars Lola T96/50-Zytek)

Scoring: 10-6-4-3-2-1.

Championship positions after Round 1 of 9: (1) Lancieri, 10pts, (2) Ro.Sperafico, 6pts, (3) Hughes, 4pts, (4) Biagi, 3pts, (5) Battistuzzi, 2pts, (6) Giao, 1pt.