F3000 Italia Round 4: Monza (I), 25th June 2000
Qualifying:
Rodrigo Sperafico took pole position ahead of Gianluca Calcagni and brother Ricardo. Tomas Scheckter, who started the British F3 season as a championship favourite, made his first Italian F3000 appearance after raising the funds to race for Da Vinci (formerly Martello) in place of Giandomenico Brusatin. The son of 1979 F1 world champion Jody, he joined Derek Hill in the team, likewise the son of an F1 champion (Phil Hill, 1961). Thomas was instantly impressive with fourth on the grid. Series leader Gabriele Lancieri could only manage seventh place. A number of changes have taken place in the driver line-up since the previous round. At Team Ghinzani Marco Deiturbe has been replaced by Spanish driver Angel Burgueno, taking the seat previously vacated by German F3-bound Peter Sundberg. Dino Morelli, winner of the final round of 1999, returns to the series with Durango Benetton Junior in place of Giovanni Montanari. Montanari crashed in Monza testing on 21st May, without injury. Morelli only qualified 17th after a rear suspension failure in free practice. The Ulsterman will also race in the next two rounds. Thomas Blainer made his debut for B&C Competition in place of Marcelo Battistuzzi. Missing from the entry list was the second B&C Competition car and the entire Orbit Motorsport team. Astromega have decided to end the partnership with the team. Orbit's Danilo Rossi has switched to the Monaco Junior Team in place of Paolo Montin. Salvatore Tavano vacates his B&C Competition seat and replaces Paolo Ruberti at ADM Competition. As a result of the changes only 23 cars started the race.
Race: Hughes beats rookie sensation Scheckter
Warren Hughes took the championship lead after an impressive drive from eighth on the grid to victory. He now leads the series with 24 points to Gabriele Lancieri's 21. Lancieri had a quiet race, eventually finishing fifth. Newcomer Tomas Scheckter very nearly won on his debut, however. The Da Vinci driver took the lead at the start by passing polesitter Rodrigo Sperafico. Behind the lead battle Hughes made a storming first lap, moving into fourth by the end of it and then passing Gianluca Calcagni for third. The Arden Team Russia driver then closed in on Sperafico and passed the Draco pilot at the Ascari curve on lap 9. His impressive form continued and he closed the gap to rookie Scheckter, passing the South African into Lesmo 1.
Hughes had the race under control from that point, with Scheckter forced to concentrate on defending his second place from Sperafico. That he did so was to his great credit. Scheckter later revealed that his tyres had gone off, giving his car significant oversteer before Hughes made the decisive manouvre. Fourth went to Calcagni, fifth to Lancieri and sixth to Manuel Giao. Dino Morelli's return with Durango Benetton Junior ended at the start of the race when he lost first gear.
Hughes now leads the standings from Lancieri, with the Sperafico brothers Rodrigo and Ricardo in third and fourth positions.
QUALIFYING:
|
Pos |
Driver |
Team |
Time |
|
1 |
Rodrigo Sperafico (BR) |
Draco |
1m.39.008s |
|
2 |
Gianluca Calcagni (I) |
Monaco Motorsport |
1.39.046 |
|
3 |
Ricardo Sperafico (BR) |
ADM Competition |
1.39.064 |
|
4 |
Tomas Scheckter (ZA) |
Da Vinci |
1.39.122 |
|
5 |
"Babalus" (I) |
First Grand Prix |
1.39.192 |
|
6 |
Derek Hill (USA) |
Da Vinci |
1.39.226 |
|
7 |
Gabriele Lancieri (I) |
Sighinolfi |
1.39.263 |
|
8 |
Warren Hughes (GB) |
Arden |
1.39.297 |
|
9 |
Leonardo Nienkotter (BR) |
Draco |
1.39.313 |
|
10 |
Manuel Giao (P) |
Monaco Motorsport |
1.39.655 |
|
11 |
Salvatore Tavano (I) |
ADM Competition |
1.39.687 |
|
12 |
Gabriele Gardel (CH) |
GP Racing |
1.39.880 |
|
13 |
Michele Spoldi (I) |
Sighinolfi |
1.39.954 |
|
14 |
Andrej Pavicevic (AUS) |
Durango Benetton Junior |
1.40.116 |
|
15 |
Danilo Rossi (I) |
Monaco Junior Team |
1.40.215 |
|
16 |
Angel Burgueno (E) |
Team Ghinzani |
1.40.342 |
|
17 |
Dino Morelli (GB) |
Durango Benetton Junior |
1.40.365 |
|
18 |
Victor Maslov (RUS) |
Arden |
1.40.484 |
|
19 |
Nikolaus Stremmenos (G) |
First GP |
1.40.504 |
|
20 |
Yann Goudy (F) |
Monaco Junior Team |
1.40.721 |
|
21 |
Thomas Biagi (I) |
GP Racing |
1.41.810 |
|
22 |
Luca Vacis (I) |
Team Ghinzani |
1.41.920 |
|
23 |
Thomas Blainer |
B&C Competition |
1.46.965 |
(All cars Lola T96/50-Zytek)
RACE RESULT:
|
Pos |
Driver |
Team |
Time |
|
1 |
Warren Hughes (GB) |
Arden |
30m12s.705 |
|
2 |
Tomas Scheckter (ZA) |
Da Vinci |
+2.500s |
|
3 |
Rodrigo Sperafico (BR) |
Draco |
+4.876 |
|
4 |
Gianluca Calcagni (I) |
Monaco Motorsport |
+9.413 |
|
5 |
Gabriele Lancieri (I) |
Sighinolfi |
+9.958 |
|
6 |
Manuel Giao (P) |
Monaco Motorsport |
+10.651 |
|
7 |
Leonardo Nienkotter (BR) |
Draco |
+22.854 |
|
8 |
Michele Spoldi (I) |
Sighinolfi |
+25.928 |
|
9 |
Danilo Rossi (I) |
Monaco Junior Team |
+27.655 |
|
10 |
Angel Burgueno (E) |
Team Ghinzani |
+29.509 |
|
11 |
Thomas Biagi (I) |
GP Racing |
+30.152 |
|
12 |
Yann Goudy (F) |
Monaco Junior Team |
+40.511 |
|
13 |
Nikolaus Stremmenos (G) |
First GP |
+41.587 |
|
14 |
Salvatore Tavano (I) |
ADM Competition |
- 1 lap |
|
15 |
Victor Maslov (RUS) |
Arden |
- 5 laps |
|
16 |
Thomas Blainer |
B&C Competition |
- 5 laps |
|
17 |
Gabriele Gardel (CH) |
GP Racing |
- 8 laps |
|
R |
Luca Vacis (I) |
Team Ghinzani |
- |
|
R |
"Babalus" (I) |
First Grand Prix |
- |
|
R |
Ricardo Sperafico (BR) |
ADM Competition |
- |
|
R |
Derek Hill (USA) |
Da Vinci |
- |
|
R |
Andrej Pavicevic (AUS) |
Durango Benetton Junior |
- |
|
R |
Dino Morelli (GB) |
Durango Benetton Junior |
- |
|
Fastest Lap: Hughes (1m39.465s) |
|||
Key: R=Retired. (All cars Lola T96/50-Zytek)
Scoring: 10-6-4-3-2-1.
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:
|
Standings after Round 4 of 8 |
|||
|
Pos |
Driver |
Team |
Points |
|
1 |
Warren Hughes (GB) |
Arden |
24 |
|
2 |
Gabriele Lancieri (I) |
Sighinolfi |
21 |
|
3 |
Rodrigo Sperafico (BR) |
Draco |
15 |
|
4 |
Ricardo Sperafico (BR) |
ADM Competition |
13 |
|
5 |
Thomas Biagi (I) |
GP Racing |
9 |
|
6 |
Tomas Scheckter (ZA) |
Da Vinci |
6 |
|
7= |
"Babalus" (I) |
First Grand Prix |
4 |
|
|
Manuel Giao (P) |
Monaco Motorsport |
4 |
|
|
Gianluca Calcagni (I) |
Monaco Motorsport |
4 |
|
10= |
Marcelo Battistuzzi (BR) |
Monaco Junior Team / B&C Competition |
2 |
|
|
Giovanni Montanari (I) |
Durango Benetton Junior |
2 |
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