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Spanish F3000 (Barcelona) 2002 review Spanish F3000 (Barcelona) 2002 review.
Story by Andrew Frampton.

Click here to see the qualifying times. Image by John Rigby.
The third round of this season's International Formula 3000 championship was possibly the most exciting so far, as Sebastien Bourdais and Giorgio Pantano enjoyed a race long battle for the lead.

In the first qualifying session, Bourdais (Super Nova Racing) was fastest, just over a tenth of a second ahead of Tomas Enge (Arden Team Russia). Pantano (Coloni) and Mario Haberfeld (Team Astromega) completed the second row ahead of Patrick Friesacher (Red Bull Jnr) and David Saelens (European Minardi). The second session was generally the slower of the two, and none of the top six from the first session improved their time. Bourdais, Enge, Pantano and Haberfeld completed the first two rows of the grid after the second session, while championship leader Rodrigo Sperafico, who had been only tenth fastest in the first session, improved his time by over half a second to line up fifth on the grid. Friesacher, Enrico Toccacelo (Coloni), Antonio Pizzonia, Ricardo Sperafico (both Petrobras) and Saelens completed the top ten on the grid.

Bourdais held his advantage to the first corner, as Enge slotted in ahead of Pantano. Enge missed a gear on lap two, promoting the Italian to second, and he set about closing in on the leader. Pantano seemed the faster of the two, courtesy of a new set of tyres, while Bourdais was struggling, locking up into many of the corners. Try as he might, Pantano could not find a way past the Frenchman, who planted his machine on the inside line for each corner. However, with Bourdais' tyres now much worse for wear, he locked up into turn seven on the final lap, this time running into the gravel trap, and dropping to third.

Despite only leading for half a lap, Pantano took victory by less than a second after Enge mounted a late charge. Bourdais took third from Ricardo Mauricio, who passed Haberfeld early on, and increased the gap to the Brazilian, who took fifth. Enrico Toccacelo took the final point with sixth position, ahead of Rodrigo Sperafico, who took seventh despite a clash with his team-mate Alex Muller. Bjorn Wirdheim, Ricardo Sperafico and Pizzonia completed the top ten finishers.

The next round is at the A1-Ring in Austria.

Race Result:
1. Giorgio Pantano (Coloni) 32laps 2. Tomas Enge (Team Arden) +0.987s 3. Sebastien Bourdais (Super Nova) +8.159s 4. Ricardo Mauricio (Red Bull Jnr) +11.960s 5. Mario Haberfeld (Astromega) +19.684s 6. Enrico Toccacelo (Coloni) +20.383s

Driver's Standings:
1. Rodrigo Sperafico 16pts 2. Giorgio Pantano 14pts = Sebastien Bourdais 14pts 4. Mario Haberfeld 8pts 5. Tomas Enge 7pts = Ricardo Mauricio 7pts

2002 F3000 season calendar
30/03/2002 - Sao Paulo
- Brazil grid by JR
- Brazil review by AF
- Brazil lap-by-lap by JR
13/04/2002 - Imola
- San Marino grid by JR
- San Marino review by AF
- San Marino lap-by-lap by JR
27/04/2002 - Barcelona
- Spain grid by JR
- Spain review by AF
- Spain lap-by-lap by JR
11/05/2002 - Spielberg
- Austria grid by JR
- Austria review by AF
- Austria lap-by-lap by JR
25/05/2002 - Monaco
- Monaco grid by JR
- Monaco review by AF
- Monaco lap-by-lap by JR
22/06/2002 - Nürburgring
- Europe grid by JR
- Europe review by AF
- Europe lap-by-lap by JR
06/07/2002 - Silverstone
- Britain grid by JR
- Britain review by AF
- Britain lap-by-lap by JR
20/07/2002 - Magny-Cours
- France grid by JR
- France review by AF
- France lap-by-lap by JR
27/07/2002 - Hockenheim
- Germany circuit by JR
- Germany grid by JR
- Germany review by AF
17/08/2002 - Hungaroring
- Hungary circuit by JR
- Hungary grid by JR
- Hungary lap-by-lap by JR
31/08/2002 - Spa Francorchamps
- Belgium grid by JR
- Belgium review by AF
- Belgium lap-by-lap by JR
14/09/2002 - Monza
- Italy grid by JR
- Italy review by AF
- Italy lap-by-lap by JR

Tomas Enge, Team Arden came 2nd. Image by Team Arden. Click here for a larger image. Sebastien Bourdais, SuperNova came 3rd. Image by SuperNova. Click here for a larger image. Ricardo Mauricio, Red Bull Junior came 4th. Image by Red Bull Junior. Click here for a larger image. Rodrigo Sperafico, Durango came 7th. Image by Durango. Click here for a larger image. Bjorn Wirdheim, Team Arden came 8th. Image by Team Arden. Click here for a larger image. 2002 Spanish F3000 lap-by-lap. Image by John Rigby, FIA. Click here for a larger image.
 

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