1997 International Formula 3000 Championship

The 1997 International Formula 3000 season was the thirty-first season of the second-tier of Formula One feeder championship and also thirteenth season under the International Formula 3000 Championship moniker. The championship^[1] was a ten-round series contested from 11 May to 25 October 1997. The Drivers' Championship was won by Brazilian Ricardo Zonta of Super Nova Racing, who won three races.

Drivers and teams

The following teams and drivers contested the 1997 FIA Formula 3000 International Championship. The Lola T96/50 Zytek-Judd was used by all teams,^[2] as was mandatory under the championship regulations.

Team	No.	Driver	Rounds
RSM Marko	1	Craig Lowndes	All
RSM Marko	2	Juan Pablo Montoya	All
Super Nova Racing	3	Ricardo Zonta	All
Super Nova Racing	4	Laurent Redon	All
Team Astromega	5	Boris Derichebourg	All
Team Astromega	6	Soheil Ayari	All
Draco Engineering	7	Cyrille Sauvage	All
Draco Engineering	8	Pedro Couceiro	All
Apomatox	9	Fabrizio Gollin	1-3, 9
	9	Emmanuel Clérico	4
	10	Jean-Philippe Belloc	1-4
Edenbridge Racing	11	Werner Lupberger	All
Edenbridge Racing	12	Max Wilson	All
Pacific Racing	14	Oliver Tichy	1-8
Pacific Racing	15	Marc Gené	1-2
DAMS	16	Grégoire de Galzain	All
DAMS	17	Jamie Davies	All
Durango Formula	18	Stephen Watson	All
Durango Formula	19	Gareth Rees	All
Auto Sport Racing	20	Gastón Mazzacane	All
Auto Sport Racing	21	Tom Kristensen	All
Nordic Racing	22	Thomas Biagi	1-3
		Marc Gené	4-6, 10
		Mario Waltner	7-8
		Gianluca Paglicci	9
	23	Rui Águas	All
Bob Salisbury Engineering	24	Oliver Gavin	1-3
	24	James Taylor	4-10
	25	Thomas Schie	All
Den Blå Avis	26	Jason Watt	All
DC Cook Motorsport	27	David Cook	All
DC Cook Motorsport	28	Patrick Lemarié	9-10
Coloni Motorsport	29	Markus Friesacher	All
	30	Emiliano Spataro	1-9
	30	Oliver Tichy	10
Ravarotto Racing	31	Anthony Beltoise	1-7
Ravarotto Racing	32	Patrick Lemarié	1-5, 7
GP Racing	33	Thomas Biagi	4-10
Elide Racing	34	Miguel Ángel de Castro	10
Arden International	35	Christian Horner	All
KTR	36	Kurt Mollekens	All
Redman & Bright F3000	37	Gonzalo Rodríguez	1, 3-7, 9-10
DKS Racing	38	Dino Morelli	1-4
Sources:^[3]^[4]

Calendar

Round	Circuit	Date	Pole position	Fastest lap	Winning driver	Winning team	Report
1	Silverstone Circuit	11 May	Ricardo Zonta	Marc Gené	Tom Kristensen	Auto Sport Racing	Report
2	Pau Grand Prix	19 May	Juan Pablo Montoya	Juan Pablo Montoya	Juan Pablo Montoya	RSM Marko	Report
3	Helsinki Thunder	25 May	Juan Pablo Montoya	Juan Pablo Montoya	Soheil Ayari	Team Astromega	Report
4	Nürburgring	29 June	Ricardo Zonta	Ricardo Zonta	Ricardo Zonta	Super Nova Racing	Report
5	Autodromo di Pergusa	20 July	Jamie Davies	Jamie Davies	Jamie Davies	DAMS	Report
6	Hockenheimring	26 July	Tom Kristensen	Juan Pablo Montoya	Ricardo Zonta	Super Nova Racing	Report
7	A1 Ring	3 August	Juan Pablo Montoya	Ricardo Zonta	Juan Pablo Montoya	RSM Marko	Report
8	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps	22 August	Tom Kristensen	Rui Águas	Jason Watt	Den Blå Avis	Report
9	Mugello Circuit	29 September	Ricardo Zonta	Ricardo Zonta	Ricardo Zonta	Super Nova Racing	Report
10	Circuito de Jerez	25 October	Ricardo Zonta	Ricardo Zonta	Juan Pablo Montoya	RSM Marko	Report
Source:^[5]

Season summary

After finishing the season with two wins in the last three races of 1996, Brazil's Ricardo Zonta entered 1997 as the pre-season title favourite with the Super Nova team. However, he endured a frustrating start with no points from the first three races. The early pace in the championship battle was set by Denmark's Tom Kristensen, who inherited the race victory at a damp Silverstone from the disqualified Zonta, and then finished behind Juan Pablo Montoya on the street circuit at Pau. After an attritional race in Helsinki won by Soheil Ayari, where most of the major title contenders failed to finish and just nine drivers made it to the chequered flag, the field endured another wet race at the Nurburgring. It was marred by a serious accident involving British drivers Dino Morelli and Gareth Rees, in which Morelli suffered severe leg injuries which would keep him out of racing for the rest of the season.^[6] With the race abandoned after just four laps, Zonta was declared the winner, but with only half-points awarded.

By mid-season, the competitive start to the season left the championship battle wide open, with Kristensen and Enna winner Jamie Davies leading the standings halfway through the season ahead of Montoya, Zonta and Ayari. Zonta became the first driver to win twice with a dominant drive at Hockenheim, but left Germany a point behind the consistent Davies, who had been on the podium in four of the six races so far. However, at the A1-Ring, a disastrous qualifying left the British driver down in 24th place on the grid, leaving him out of contention for points. Montoya led home Zonta, who became the new championship leader.

The race at Spa-Francorchamps was another overshadowed by a large crash, as Kristensen crashed heavily while leading at the high-speed Blanchimont corner, triggering a pile-up, though no drivers were seriously injured.^[7] Denmark's Jason Watt took his first Formula 3000 race win to enter title contention, as Zonta could only manage to finish fifth, and his rivals all failed to score points. However, a month later, a controversial round at Mugello settled the championship - Kristensen was excluded from the event for running an illegal spacer, while Davies and DAMS team mate Gregoire de Galzain were also excluded for failure to attend the drivers' briefing. Zonta's race win, with Montoya only finishing third behind Watt, meant that the Brazilian was declared champion. The Auto Sport and Durango teams protested Zonta and Watt's results for allegedly having used illegal fuel and car parts, but this protest was quashed and the results stood.^[8] Montoya went on to win the final round at Jerez, securing second place in the championship. Watt finished third ahead of Davies, who had failed to score any points since taking the lead of the championship with four races to go.

None of the drivers who participated in the 1997 season were able to take seats on the 1998 Formula One grid. Zonta moved to the AMG Mercedes team in the FIA GT Championship, which he won jointly with Klaus Ludwig, and went on to drive for BAR in Formula One in 1999. Kristensen, who had won the 1997 24 Hours of Le Mans, moved into sportscar racing, while the remaining major contenders would return to Formula 3000 in 1998. Having won the 1996 Australian Touring Car Championship on debut, Craig Lowndes returned to Australia the following year and won a second ATCC title in as many attempts.

Drivers' Championship

Pos	Driver	SIL	PAU	HEL	NÜR	PER	HOC	A1R	SPA	MUG	JER	Points
1	Ricardo Zonta	DSQ	Ret	Ret	1	2	1	2	5	1	Ret	39
2	Juan Pablo Montoya	Ret	1	Ret	4	11	5	1	DSQ	3	1	37.5
3	Jason Watt	4	12	DNS	2	Ret	4	Ret	1	2	Ret	25
4	Jamie Davies	3	3	Ret	8	1	3	9	8	EX	Ret	22
5	Max Wilson	Ret	7	Ret	5	3	2	8	2	4	10	21
6	Tom Kristensen	1	2	Ret	3	Ret	Ret	6	Ret	EX	Ret	19
7	Oliver Tichy	8	8	2	9	Ret	7	5	Ret		2	14
8	Soheil Ayari	Ret	6	1	19	Ret	Ret	10	Ret	6	Ret	12
9	Laurent Redon	Ret	4	Ret	21	6	Ret	3	14	5	11	10
10	Rui Águas	Ret	9	5	7	Ret	DSQ	4	9	12	5	7
11	Pedro Couceiro	2	Ret	Ret	15	DNS	Ret	11	7	Ret	Ret	6
12	Dino Morelli	5	11	3	Ret							6
13	Cyrille Sauvage	7	5	Ret	Ret	8	Ret	Ret	4	9	DSQ	5
14	Gareth Rees	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	16	11	Ret	Ret	7	3	4
15	Boris Derichebourg	12	15	8	Ret	9	DNQ	13	3	22	15	4
16	Patrick Lemarié	6	13	4	13		Ret			14	DNQ	4
17	Craig Lowndes	14	Ret	Ret	Ret	4	Ret	Ret	Ret	21	9	3
18	Werner Lupberger	11	DNQ	DNQ	18	Ret	14	Ret	13	11	4	3
19	Kurt Mollekens	EX	10	Ret	DNQ	5	6	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	3
20	Stephen Watson	15	DNQ	6	16	7	12	Ret	6	15	Ret	2
21	Christian Horner	16	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	16	DNQ	17	6	1
22	Gonzalo Rodríguez	DNQ		Ret	6	Ret	17	7		8	Ret	0.5
23	David Cook	Ret	DNQ	7	DNQ	Ret	DNQ	14	Ret	Ret	7	0
24	Grégoire de Galzain	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	17	Ret	9	15	Ret	EX	8	0
25	Marc Gené	13	DNQ		DNQ	Ret	8				Ret	0
26	Anthony Beltoise	Ret	Ret	9	14	12	13	Ret				0
27	Jean-Philippe Belloc	9	Ret	Ret	20							0
28	Gastón Mazzacane	10	DNQ	Ret	10	15	10	17	11	10	Ret	0
29	Thomas Schie	DNQ	14	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	15	DNQ	10	18	Ret	0
30	Emiliano Spataro	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	11	13	16	12	Ret	Ret		0
31	Thomas Biagi	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	14	18	Ret	Ret	16	12	0
32	Emmanuel Clérico				12							0
33	James Taylor				DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	12	DNQ	DNQ	0
34	Fabrizio Gollin	Ret	Ret	Ret						13		0
35	Markus Friesacher	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	17	DNQ	DNQ	Ret	19	DNQ	0
36	Gianluca Paglicci									20		0
–	Miguel Ángel de Castro										DNQ	0
–	Mario Waltner							DNQ	DNQ			0
–	Oliver Gavin	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ								0
Pos	Driver	SIL	PAU	HEL	NÜR	PER	HOC	A1R	SPA	MUG	JER	Points
Sources:^[9]^[10]^[11]

Colour	Result
Gold	Winner
Silver	Second place
Bronze	Third place
Green	Points finish
Blue	Non-points finish
Blue	Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple	Retired (Ret)
Red	Did not qualify (DNQ)
Red	Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black	Disqualified (DSQ)
White	Did not start (DNS)
	Withdrew (WD)
	Race cancelled (C)
Blank	Did not practice (DNP)
	Did not arrive (DNA)
	Excluded (EX)

Bold – Pole
Italics – Fastest lap

Notes

All drivers used Lola T96/50 chassis, with Zytek-Judd engines, and Avon tyres.^[3]
Ricardo Zonta was disqualified from first place at Silverstone due to a gearbox irregularity.
Nurburgring race was stopped prematurely due to an accident involving Dino Morelli in torrential rain. Half points awarded.
Juan Pablo Montoya was disqualified during the Spa-Francorchamps race for holding up the field with a damaged car.
Jamie Davies and Grégoire de Galzain were excluded from the race at Mugello for failing to attend the drivers' briefing. Tom Kristensen was excluded from the same event due to having an illegal spacer fitted.
Rui Águas was disqualified during the race at Hockenheim for dangerous driving.
Cyrille Sauvage was disqualified from second place at Jerez because a member of his team entered parc fermé after the race.
Kurt Mollekens was excluded from the race at Silverstone after failing to attend the drivers' briefing.

Complete Overview

first column of every race

10

= grid position

second column of every race

10

= race result

R24=retired, but classified R=retired NS=did not start NQ=did not qualify NT=no time set in qualifying DIS(1)=disqualified after finishing as winner (13)=place after practice, but grid position not held free DIS=disqualified in practice

Place	Name	Team	SIL		PAU		HEL		NÜR		PER		HOC		OST		SPA		MUG		JER
1	Ricardo Zonta	SuperNova Racing	1	DIS(1)	8	R	8	R	1	1	2	2	2	1	2	2	5	5	1	1	1	R
2	Juan Pablo Montoya	RSM Marko	2	R	1	1	1	R	4	4	6	11	15	5	1	1	4	R	2	3	4	1
3	Jason Watt	Den Blå Avis	3	4	15	12	(13)	NS	3	2	8	R	5	4	9	R	2	1	4	2	6	R
4	Jamie Davies	DAMS	23	3	4	3	2	R	13	8	1	1	6	3	24	9	15	8	DIS	-	3	R
5	Max Wilson	Edenbridge Racing	8	R	11	7	21	R	5	5	4	3	3	2	14	8	8	2	3	4	9	10
6	Tom Kristensen	Auto Sport Racing	12	1	2	2	6	R	2	3	10	R	1	R	3	6	1	R	DIS	-	2	R
7	Oliver Tichy	Pacific Racing	7	8	9	8	3	2	17	9	9	R	17	7	16	5	21	R	-	-
7	Oliver Tichy	Coloni Motorsport																			7	2
8	Soheil Ayari	Team Astromega	4	R	5	6	9	1	8	19	13	R	8	R	6	10	3	R	7	6	8	R
9	Laurent Rédon	SuperNova Racing	10	R	3	4	11	R	7	21	11	6	9	R	5	3	9	14	6	5	16	11
10	Rui Águas	Nordic Racing	5	R	12	9	18	5	12	7	7	R	4	R	8	4	17	9	13	12	10	5
11	Pedro Couceiro	Draco Engineering	22	2	7	R	19	R	14	15	(12)	NS	24	R	13	11	16	7	17	R	19	R
	Dino Morelli	DKS Racing	11	5	19	11	7	3	16	R24	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
13	Cyrille Sauvage	Draco Engineering	13	7	6	5	4	R	15	R23	3	8	13	R	7	R	24	4	9	9	5	DIS(2)
14	Patrick Lemarié	Ravarotto Racing	25	6	17	13	13	4	11	13	-	-	16	R	-	-	-	-
14	Patrick Lemarié	D C Cook Motorsport																	19	14	27	NQ
	Boris Derichebourg	Team Astromega	20	12	21	15	22	8	6	R	16	9	27	NQ	22	13	6	3	11	22	15	R
	Gareth Rees	Durango Formula	15	R	16	R	12	R	9	R22	20	16	19	11	18	R	11	R	5	7	11	3
17	Craig Lowndes	RSM Marko	6	14	14	R	20	R	23	R25	15	4	10	R	10	R	20	R	10	21	13	9
	Kurt Mollekens	KTR	DIS	-	13	10	5	R	32	NQ	12	5	26	6	12	R	18	R	24	R	21	R
	Werner Lupberger	Edenbridge Racing	26	11	28	NQ	30	NQ	19	18	21	R	23	14	15	R	10	13	14	11	14	4
20	Stephen Watson	Durango Formula	21	15	25	NQ	15	6	18	16	19	7	18	12	21	R	7	6	18	15	22	R
21	Christian Horner	Arden International	24	R16	33	NQ	29	NQ	33	NQ	30	NQ	29	NQ	25	16	27	NQ	22	17	24	6
22	Gonzalo Rodríguez	Redman & Bright F3000	31	NQ	-	-	14	R	10	6	5	R	7	17	4	7	-	-	8	8	12	R
-	David Cook	D C Cook Motorsport	14	R	31	NQ	24	7	30	NQ	26	R	30	NQ	26	14	22	R	16	R	26	7
-	Grégoire de Galzain	DAMS	29	NQ	32	NQ	32	NQ	26	17	23	R	20	9	23	15	23	R	DIS	-	17	8
-	Marc Gené	Pacific Racing	16	13	23	NQ	-	-
-	Marc Gené	Nordic Racing							31	NQ	12	R10	11	8	-	-	-	-	-	-	20	R
-	Anthony Beltoise	Ravarotto Racing	17	R	18	R	16	9	22	14	22	12	21	13	17	R	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	Jean-Philippe Belloc	Apomatox	19	9	22	R	17	R	24	20	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	Gastón Mazzacane	Auto Sport Racing	9	10	24	NQ	23	R	20	10	17	15	12	10	11	17	19	11	12	10	18	R
-	Thomas Schie	BSE Salisbury Engineering	32	NQ	20	14	26	NQ	28	NQ	28	NQ	22	15	27	NQ	13	10	23	18	25	R
-	Emiliano Spataro	Coloni Motorsport	32	NQ	29	NQ	27	NQ	21	11	24	13	25	16	23	15	20	12	15	R	-	-
-	Thomas Biagi	Nordic Racing	28	NQ	26	NQ	31	NQ
-	Thomas Biagi	GP Racing							27	NQ	18	14	14	18	19	R	25	R	20	16	23	12
-	Emmanuel Clérico	Apomatox	-	-	-	-	-	-	25	12	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	James Taylor	BSE Salisbury Engineering	-	-	-	-	-	-	34	NQ	29	NQ	31	NQ	NT	-	26	12	27	NQ	30	NQ
-	Fabrizio Gollin	Apomatox	18	R	10	R	10	R	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	21	13	-	-
-	Markus Friesacher	Coloni Motorsport	27	NQ	30	NQ	28	NQ	29	NQ	25	17	28	NQ	28	NQ	14	R	26	19	28	NQ
-	Gianluca Paglicci	Nordic Racing	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	25	20	-	-
-	Oliver Gavin	BSE Salisbury Engineering	30	NQ	27	NQ	33	NQ	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	Mario Waltner	Nordic Racing	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	29	NQ	28	NQ	-	-	-	-
-	Miguel Ángel de Castro	Elide Racing	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	29	NQ

References

^ "Classements 1997 - 1997 Classifications". 1999-02-23. Archived from the original on 1999-02-23. Retrieved 2021-02-16.
^ Autocourse (1996). Autocourse Indy car, 1996-97. Hazleton Pub. ISBN 1-874557-07-1. OCLC 37423587.
^ ^a ^b "FIA Formula 3000 Int. Championship - 1997: Entrylist". Speedsport Magazine. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
^ "F3000 International Championship Entry List 1997". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
^ "F3000 International Championship Results 1997". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
^ "1997 F3000 Nurburgring - Morelli Massive Crash". Archived from the original on 2021-12-13.
^ "1997 F3000 Spa - Huge Pile Up". Archived from the original on 2021-12-13.
^ "Mugello results". Archived from the original on 2018-09-06. Retrieved 2018-09-05.
^ "F3000 International Championship Standings 1997". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
^ "FIA Formula 3000 Int. Championship - Season 1997: Results". Speedsport Magazine. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
^ "1997 FIA International F3000 Championship". Motor Sport. Retrieved 30 December 2023.

External links

International F3000 1997 Retrieved from Unofficial F3000 Information on 15 March 2009
Images from the Spa round of the 1997 Formula 3000 International Championship Retrieved from www.jamd.com on 17 March 2009

[1] "Classements 1997 - 1997 Classifications". 1999-02-23. Archived from the original on 1999-02-23. Retrieved 2021-02-16.

[Autocourse-2] Autocourse (1996). Autocourse Indy car, 1996-97. Hazleton Pub. ISBN 1-874557-07-1. OCLC 37423587.

[1997Entry-3] "FIA Formula 3000 Int. Championship - 1997: Entrylist". Speedsport Magazine. Retrieved 30 December 2023.

[4] "F3000 International Championship Entry List 1997". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 30 December 2023.

[5] "F3000 International Championship Results 1997". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 30 December 2023.

[6] "1997 F3000 Nurburgring - Morelli Massive Crash". Archived from the original on 2021-12-13.

[7] "1997 F3000 Spa - Huge Pile Up". Archived from the original on 2021-12-13.

[8] "Mugello results". Archived from the original on 2018-09-06. Retrieved 2018-09-05.

[9] "F3000 International Championship Standings 1997". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 30 December 2023.

[10] "FIA Formula 3000 Int. Championship - Season 1997: Results". Speedsport Magazine. Retrieved 30 December 2023.

[11] "1997 FIA International F3000 Championship". Motor Sport. Retrieved 30 December 2023.

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v t e FIA International Formula 3000
Seasons	Formula Two 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 GP2 Series
Non-championship races	1985 Curaçao Grand Prix 1992 World Cup 1993 World Cup 1994 World Cup 1995 Birkin Cars/TVR Invitational Race 2004 Grand Prix of Portorož
List of drivers