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.

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
	2	Juan Pablo Montoya	All
Super Nova Racing	3	Ricardo Zonta	All
	4	Laurent Redon	All
Team Astromega	5	Boris Derichebourg	All
	6	Soheil Ayari	All
Draco Engineering	7	Cyrille Sauvage	All
	8	Pedro Couceiro	All
Apomatox	9	Fabrizio Gollin	1-3, 9
		Emmanuel Clérico	4
	10	Jean-Philippe Belloc	1-4
Edenbridge Racing	11	Werner Lupberger	All
	12	Max Wilson	All
Pacific Racing	14	Oliver Tichy	1-8
	15	Marc Gené	1-2
DAMS	16	Grégoire de Galzain	All
	17	Jamie Davies	All
Durango Formula	18	Stephen Watson	All
	19	Gareth Rees	All
Auto Sport Racing	20	Gastón Mazzacane	All
	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
		James Taylor	4-10
	25	Thomas Schie	All
Den Blå Avis	26	Jason Watt	All
DC Cook Motorsport	27	David Cook	All
	28	Patrick Lemarié	9-10
Coloni Motorsport	29	Markus Friesacher	All
	30	Emiliano Spataro	1-9
		Oliver Tichy	10
Ravarotto Racing	31	Anthony Beltoise	1-7
	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]

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]

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.

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 Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) 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

• 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.

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	-	-
		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	-	-	-	-
		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	-	-
		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
		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

• 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