2002 FIA Formula 3000 International Championship season preview. Story by Andrew Frampton.
The Formula 3000 championship has often been seen as the best route into Formula One racing. Several of the current F1 drivers have raced in the series, but after Justin Wilson's dominant championship win last season went unnoticed besides a short test with the Jordan F1 team, the series is down on entries for this season. However, there are ten team entries, each supporting two drivers.
The championship winning team Nordic Coca-Cola Racing is running two inexperienced drivers in Ryan Briscoe and Zsolt Baumgartner. Wilson team-mate from last year, Tomas Enge returns to F3000 after a short spell replacing the injured Luciano Burti in the Prost team at the end of last season. He has signed with the Arden team, alongside the rookie Swede Bjorn Wirdheim. Set to lead the charge to Nordic and Arden are the Petrobras Junior drivers Antonio Pizzonia and Ricardo Sperafico - both race winners in F3000 last year. They are hoping for more glory this season. SuperNova partner the experienced Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais with former F3 champion Tiago Monterio, while Red Bull Junior continue with the strong combination of Brazilian Ricardo Mauricio and the highly-rated Austrian Patrick Friesacher.
The strength in depth in the formula in 2002 is immense, and almost all of the drivers are capable of making the top six. The official entry list is as follows:
1. Ryan Briscoe Nordic Racing
2. Zsolt Baumgartner Nordic Racing
3. Antonio Pizzonia Petrobras Junior
4. Ricardo Sperafico Petrobras Junior
5. Tiago Monteiro SuperNova
6. Sebastien Bourdais SuperNova
9. Patrick Friesacher Red Bull Junior
10. Ricardo Mauricio Red Bull Junior
14. Mario Haberfield Astromega
15. Rob Nguyen Astromega
16. Alex Sperafico European Minardi
17. David Saelens European Minardi
18. Bjorn Wirdheim Arden
19. Tomas Enge Arden
10. Alex Muller Benetton Durango
21 Rodrigo Sperafico Benetton Durango
24. Enrico Toccacelo Coloni
25. Giorgio Pantano Coloni
26. Tony Schmidt PSM Racing Line
27. Nicolas Kiesa PSM Racing Line
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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