 Europe F3000 2002 review.
Story by Andrew Frampton.
Sebastien Bourdais took a giant step towards the 2002 championship title with his third win of the season in the European Grand Prix support race at the Nurburgring in Germany. The Frenchman took the laurels after fending off the challenge of Ricardo Sperafico's Petrobras machine.
Bourdais planted his Super Nova Racing Lola on pole position, ahead of his main championship rival, and former Prost Grand Prix driver Tomas Enge (Arden). Ricardo Sperafico was joined on the second row by rookie Rob Nguyen (Astromega), with the Coloni cars of Enrico Toccacelo and Giorgio Pantano on the third row. Antonio Pizzonia planted the second Petrobras car in seventh position, ahead of Patrick Friesacher (Red Bull), series returnee Derek Hill (Durango) and Bjorn Wirdheim (Arden). Early season pace setter Rodrigo Sperafico's poor run of form continued with fourteenth on the grid.
Bourdais led the field away from the start, as Toccacelo made a fast getaway to move from fifth to third by the first corner, only to clout Enge's car and send him spinning down the order. This gave Bourdais the break he needed, and the Frenchman began to edge away from Ricardo Sperafico. Toccacelo's incident-packed afternoon continued when he attempted to make up lost ground with an ambitious move on Nguyen for third position, only to end up in the gravel and out of the race, and with Nguyen delayed, Pizzonia and Friesacher moved through. Out front, Sperafico's challenge began to fade and Bourdais swept clear, recording victory by a margin of over 3.7 seconds. Pizzonia took his first podium finish of the season in third, ahead of Friesacher and Nguyen. Wirdheim took sixth position, having held off the challenge of Hill and Rodrigo Sperafico, whose failure to score wipes him out of the title race. Ricardo Mauricio (Red Bull) and Nicolas Kiesa (PSM) completed the top ten.
Bourdais will be hoping to further extend his championship lead as the championship moves to Silverstone.
Race Result:
1. Sebastien Bourdais (Super Nova)
2. Ricardo Sperafico (Petrobras) +3.768s
3. Antonio Pizzonia (Petrobras) +30.762s
4. Patrick Friesacher (Red Bull Jnr) +38.505s
5. Rob Nguyen (Astromega) +42.316s
6. Bjorn Wirdheim (Arden) +43.844s
Championship Standings:
1. Sebastien Bourdais 34pts
2. Tomas Enge 21pts
3. Giorgio Pantano 17pts
4. Rodrigo Sperafico 16pts
5. Mario Haberfeld 13pts
= Patrick Friesacher 13pts
= Antonio Pizzonia 13pts
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
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