1989 International Formula 3000 Championship

The 1989 International Formula 3000 Championship was contested over 10 rounds. Jean Alesi won the title, while also competing in the last half of the Formula One season for Tyrrell.

Season summary

The season began with Thomas Danielsson winning at Silverstone, after returning from the eye problems that had caused him to miss most of the previous year.

Martin Donnelly then won on the road at Vallelunga, but was disqualified. His Eddie Jordan Racing team had modified the Reynard's nosecone, but it had not been subjected to the mandatory crash test.^[1]

At the Pau Grand Prix, Éric Bernard led the two EJR cars of Jean Alesi and Donnelly after an aborted first start. However, Bernard was caught behind an accident involving Paul Belmondo and stalled his car, allowing Alesi to go through and take the victory. Bernard stormed back through the field, but collided with Mark Blundell while battling for second place. Bernard would win the next race at Jerez. Andrea Chiesa then won a close race on the dusty Enna circuit.

Meanwhile, three F3000 regulars—Alesi, Bernard and Donnelly—all made their Formula One debuts at the French Grand Prix in July. Alesi was particularly impressive for Tyrrell, finishing fourth, and he would continue to drive for them when the F3000 schedule allowed.

The EJR team won the next three races, allowing Alesi to take a commanding lead in the championship. His closest rival Érik Comas won at Le Mans but Alesi's single point, along with the tiebreaker of most wins, meant that he clinched the title. Alesi then skipped the last round in at Dijon-Prenois to race in the Japanese Grand Prix, allowing Comas to tie his point total with the win.

Drivers and teams

Team	Chassis	Engine	No.	Drivers	Rounds
Bromley Motorsport	Reynard 89D	Ford Cosworth	1	Marco Greco	6
			2	Gary Brabham	1–2, 4
				Cor Euser	8
				David Velay	10
Eddie Jordan Racing	Reynard 89D	Mugen Honda	3	Martin Donnelly	All
			4	Jean Alesi	1-9
			4	Rickard Rydell	10
First Racing	Reynard 89D	Judd	5	Jean-Denis Délétraz	All
	Reynard 89D		6	Marco Apicella	All
	March 89B		7	Fabrizio Giovanardi	All
GA Motorsport	March 89B	Judd	8	Philippe Favre	1-8
			8	Marco Greco	9-10
			9	Jacques Goudchaux	1-9
			9	Andrew Gilbert-Scott	10
	Lola T89/50	Ford Cosworth	21	Eric van de Poele	All
	Lola T89/50	Ford Cosworth	22	Stéphane Proulx	All
Lola Motorsport	March 88B^[2]	Judd	10	Enrico Bertaggia	1
Lola Motorsport	March 88B^[2]	Judd	11	Mauro Martini	1
Racetech 3000	Reynard 89D	Ford Cosworth	12	Didier Artzet	1-3
Madgwick International	Reynard 89D	Ford Cosworth	16	Thomas Danielsson	All
Madgwick International	Reynard 89D	Ford Cosworth	17	Gary Evans	All
CoBRa Motorsports	Reynard 89D	Ford Cosworth	18	Ross Hockenhull	1, 4, 6-7
			18	Alain Ferté	2-3
			19	Pedro Chaves	All
			20	Michel Ferté	5
			20	Alain Ferté	8-10
Footwork	Mooncraft MC041	Mugen Honda	23	Ukyo Katayama	1-4
Footwork	Mooncraft MC041	Mugen Honda	23	Damon Hill	5-10
Pacific Racing	Reynard 89D	Mugen Honda	24	Eddie Irvine	All
			25	JJ Lehto	1-9
			25	Allan McNish	10
DAMS	Lola T89/50	Mugen Honda	26	Érik Comas	All
DAMS	Lola T89/50	Mugen Honda	33	Eric Bernard	All
Middlebridge Racing	Reynard 89D	Ford Cosworth	27	Mark Blundell	All
Middlebridge Racing	Reynard 89D	Ford Cosworth	28	Phil Andrews	All
CDM	Reynard 89D	Ford Cosworth	29	Paul Belmondo	All
CDM	Reynard 89D	Ford Cosworth	30	Éric Chéli	All
Roni Motorsport	Reynard 89D	Ford Cosworth	31	Andrea Chiesa	All
Roni Motorsport	Reynard 89D	Ford Cosworth	32	Emanuele Naspetti	All
Automotive BVM	Reynard 89D	Judd	38	Massimo Monti	1-3
				Franco Scapini	4-9
				Alessandro Zanardi	10
Cowman Racing	Reynard 89D	Judd	39	Enrico Bertaggia	2-4
				Domenico Gitto	5-6
				Perry McCarthy	7-9
Apomatox	Reynard 89D	Ford Cosworth	40	Dominique Delestre	1-3
Apomatox	Reynard 89D	Ford Cosworth	41	Phillipe Gache	3-10
Forti Corse	Lola T89/50	Ford Cosworth	42	Claudio Langes	All
Leyton House Racing	March 89B	Judd	43	Mauro Martini	3-5
Leyton House Racing	March 89B	Ford Cosworth	43	Gary Brabham	6-10
Sources:^[3]^[4]

Calendar

Round	Circuit	Date	Laps	Distance	Time	Speed	Pole Position	Fastest Lap	Winner
1	Silverstone Circuit	9 April	41	4.778=196.308 km	0'55:31.92	211.73 km/h	Philippe Favre	Philippe Favre¹	Thomas Danielsson
2	ACI Vallelunga Circuit	30 April	64	3.2=204.80 km	1'13:08.797	167.991 km/h	Martin Donnelly	Marco Apicella	Fabrizio Giovanardi²
3	Pau Grand Prix	15 May	72	2.76=198.72 km	1'28:51.90	134.173 km/h	Marco Apicella	Éric Bernard Marco Apicella	Jean Alesi
4	Circuito de Jerez	4 June	48	4.218=202.464 km	1'18:28.48	154.80 km/h	Éric Bernard	Éric Bernard	Éric Bernard
5	Autodromo di Pergusa	23 July	39	4.95=193.050 km	0'58:54.5	196.626 km/h	Jean Alesi	Martin Donnelly	Andrea Chiesa
6	Brands Hatch	20 August	48	4.19=201.12 km	1'02:03.76	194.15 km/h	Érik Comas	Éric Bernard	Martin Donnelly
7	Birmingham	28 August	51	3.975=202.725 km	1'11:48.98	169.36 km/h	Jean Alesi	Jean Alesi	Jean Alesi
8	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps	16 September	28	6.94=194.30 km	1'02:40.93	186.005 km/h	Érik Comas	Érik Comas	Jean Alesi
9	Le Mans Bugatti Circuit	24 September	46	4.267=196.0 km	1'12:31.43	168.59 km/h	Éric Bernard	Érik Comas	Érik Comas
10	Dijon-Prenois	22 October	54	3.8=205.2 km	1'05:07.20	189.066 km/h	Éric Bernard	Érik Comas	Érik Comas
Source:^[5]

Notes

¹ JJ Lehto set the fastest race lap, but was disqualified after the race for having an illegal rev-limiter.^[6]
² Martin Donnelly won on the road, but was disqualified for using a nosecone that had not been subjected to the mandatory crash test.

Final points standings

Driver

For every race points were awarded: 9 points to the winner, 6 for runner-up, 4 for third place, 3 for fourth place, 2 for fifth place and 1 for sixth place.^[7]

Jean Alesi won the championship by virtue of having three wins to Érik Comas' two. He skipped the last race of the season with the championship already won.

Pos	Driver	SIL	VLL	PAU	JER	PER	BRH	BIR	SPA	BUG	DIJ	Points
1	Jean Alesi	4	Ret	1	5	Ret	2	1	1	6		39
2	Érik Comas	5	4	DNQ	2	Ret	3	Ret	2	1	1	39
3	Éric Bernard	Ret	Ret	Ret	1	Ret	4	4	Ret	3	2	25
4	Marco Apicella	8	Ret	2	3	4	Ret	2	3	Ret	Ret	23
5	Eric van de Poele	6	3	Ret	4	Ret	Ret	14	4	2	5	19
6	Andrea Chiesa	11	2	Ret	Ret	1	Ret	13	17	Ret	Ret	15
7	Thomas Danielsson	1	Ret	3	12	Ret	Ret	Ret	6	13	11	14
8	Martin Donnelly	Ret	DSQ	Ret	Ret	Ret	1	3	Ret	7	17	13
9	Eddie Irvine	DNS	Ret	Ret	Ret	3	Ret	6	9	4	4	11
10	Fabrizio Giovanardi	DNQ	1	Ret	14	Ret	DNQ	DNS	13	DNQ	12	9
11	Mark Blundell	3	Ret	6	DNQ	Ret	Ret	5	DNS	Ret	6	8
12	Claudio Langes	12	Ret	Ret	7	2	6	9	15	9	7	7
13	Philippe Favre	2	Ret	7	Ret	Ret	7	Ret	12			6
14	J.J. Lehto	DSQ	Ret	4	6	Ret	Ret	Ret	5	Ret		6
15	Andrew Gilbert-Scott										3	4
16	Alain Ferté		6	5					Ret	Ret	13	3
17	Stéphane Proulx	Ret	9	Ret	10	Ret	Ret	Ret	8	5	Ret	2
18	Gary Brabham	Ret	8		13		5	DNQ	11	Ret	Ret	2
19	Emanuele Naspetti	16	5	DNQ	Ret	Ret	9	Ret	Ret	10	10	2
20	Gary Evans	Ret	11	Ret	17	5	Ret	Ret	16	DNQ	DNQ	2
21	Phil Andrews	7	Ret	DNQ	11	Ret	10	7	Ret	12	Ret	0
22	Perry McCarthy							DNQ	7	15		0
23	Didier Artzet	Ret	7	Ret								0
24	Philippe Gache			Ret	8	DNQ	Ret	8	Ret	8	Ret	0
25	Ross Hockenhull	Ret					8	11				0
26	Allan McNish										8	0
27	Jacques Goudchaux	10	10	DNQ	9	DNQ	DNQ	Ret	DNQ	14		0
28	Jean-Denis Délétraz	14	Ret	Ret	15	Ret	Ret	12	DNQ	Ret	9	0
29	Mauro Martini	9		DNQ	16	Ret						0
30	Paul Belmondo	13	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	12	Ret	10	Ret	18	0
31	Franco Scapini				DNQ	Ret	DNQ	10	DNQ	DNQ		0
32	Éric Chéli	DNS	12	Ret	DNQ	Ret	DNQ	DNS	Ret	11	DNQ	0
33	Pedro Chaves	15	DNQ	DNQ	Ret	Ret	11	Ret	DNQ	17	DNQ	0
34	Damon Hill					Ret	Ret	DNS	14	16	15	0
35	David Velay										14	0
36	Alessandro Zanardi										16	0
37	Ukyo Katayama	DNQ	Ret	DNQ	18							0
38	Enrico Bertaggia	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	19							0
	Marco Greco						Ret			Ret	Ret
	Massimo Monti	DNQ	DNQ	Ret
	Domenico Gitto					DNQ	Ret
	Michel Ferté					Ret
	Cor Euser								Ret
	Rickard Rydell										Ret
	Dominique Delestre	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ
Sources:^[8]^[9]^[10]

Complete overview

first column of every race

10

= grid position

second column of every race

10

= race result

R = retired, NS = did not start, NQ = did not qualify, DIS = disqualified (placing before disqualification displayed alongside in parentheses)

Place	Name	Team	Chassis	Engine	SIL		VLL		PAU		JER		PER		BRH		BIR		SPA		BUG		DIJ
1	Jean Alesi	Jordan Racing	Reynard	Mugen Honda	7	4	18	R	3	1	6	5	1	R	3	2	1	1	2	1	3	6	-	-
2	Érik Comas	DAMS	Lola	Mugen Honda	11	5	6	4	30	NQ	2	2	19	R	1	3	7	R	1	2	2	1	2	1
3	Éric Bernard	DAMS	Lola	Mugen Honda	2	R	11	R	2	R	1	1	6	R	2	4	5	4	3	R	1	3	1	2
4	Marco Apicella	First Racing	March	Judd	13	8
4	Marco Apicella	First Racing	Reynard	Judd			2	R	1	2	5	3	5	4	12	R	2	2	8	3	8	R	9	R
5	Eric van de Poele	Players/GA Motorsports/Colt Racing	Lola	Ford Cosworth	14	6	15	3	12	R	8	4	24	R	23	R	8	14	5	4	7	2	10	5
6	Andrea Chiesa	Roni Motorsport	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	16	11	9	2	18	R	11	R	4	1	11	R	4	13	18	17	14	R	6	R
7	Thomas Danielsson	Madgwick International	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	3	1	4	R	7	3	17	12	23	R	10	R	15	R	19	6	11	13	16	11
8	Martin Donnelly	Jordan Racing	Reynard	Mugen Honda	4	R	1	DIS(1)	4	R	4	R	2	R	4	1	3	3	20	R	4	7	3	17
9	Eddie Irvine	Pacific Racing	Reynard	Mugen Honda	5	NS	24	R	19	R	3	R	3	3	5	R	9	6	12	9	5	4	7	4
10	Fabrizio Giovanardi	First Racing	March	Judd	28	NQ	7	1
10	Fabrizio Giovanardi	First Racing	Reynard	Judd					6	R	21	14	12	R	29	NQ	21	NS	26	13	28	NQ	20	12
11	Mark Blundell	Middlebridge	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	6	3	3	R	8	6	29	NQ	14	R	6	R	17	5	9	NS	12	R	5	6
12	Claudio Langes	Forti Corse	Lola	Ford Cosworth	22	12	17	R	13	R	10	7	7	2	20	6	12	9	25	15	16	9	14	7
13	Philippe Favre	GA Motorsports	Lola	Ford Cosworth	1	2	14	R	5	7	9	R	9	R	7	7	16	R	24	12	-	-	-	-
	JJ Lehto	Pacific Racing	Reynard	Mugen Honda	8	DIS(3)	5	R	10	4	16	6	8	R	8	R	23	R	4	5	10	R	-	-
15	Andrew Gilbert-Scott	GA Motorsports	Lola	Ford Cosworth	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4	3
16	Alain Ferté	CoBRa Motorsports	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	-	-	10	6	21	5	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6	R	9	R	26	13
17	Emanuele Naspetti	Roni Motorsport	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	25	16	8	5	23	NQ	7	R	25	R	14	9	6	R	10	R	13	10	8	10
	Gary Evans	Madgwick International	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	10	R	25	11	20	R	24	17	10	5	21	R	18	R	13	16	27	NQ	29	NQ
	Gary Brabham	Bromley Motorsport	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	19	R	22	8	-	-	19	13	-	-
	Gary Brabham	Leyton House Racing	March	Judd											18	5	28	NQ	23	11	25	R	25	R
	Stéphane Proulx	Players/GA Motorsports/Colt Racing	Lola	Ford Cosworth	9	R	16	9	11	R	12	10	15	R	13	R	20	R	7	8	6	5	11	R
-	Phil Andrews	Middlebridge	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	15	7	20	R	25	NQ	14	11	17	R	9	10	11	7	16	R	17	12	19	R
-	Perry McCarthy	Cowman Racing	Lola	Ford Cosworth	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	29	NQ	11	7	26	15	-	-
-	Didier Artzet	Racetech 3000	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	23	R	12	7	17	R	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	Philippe Gache	Apomatox	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	-	-	-	-	14	R	15	8	29	NQ	16	R	10	8	15	R	18	8	17	R
-	Ross Hockenhull	CoBRa Motorsports	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	21	R	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	17	8	24	11	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	Allan McNish	Pacific Racing	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	13	8
-	Jacques Goudchaux	GA Motorsports	Lola	Ford Cosworth	20	10	21	10	26	NQ	13	9	27	NQ	28	NQ	19	R	29	NQ	22	14	-	-
-	Jean-Denis Délétraz	First Racing	March	Judd	26	14	19	R	16	R	25	15
-	Jean-Denis Délétraz	First Racing	Reynard	Judd									18	R	15	R	13	12	27	NQ	15	R	12	9
-	Mauro Martini	Lola Motorsport	March	Judd	12	9	-	-
-	Mauro Martini	Leyton House Racing	March	Judd					28	NQ	23	16	16	R	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	Paul Belmondo	CDM	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	18	13	13	R	22	R	20	R	22	R	19	12	14	R	14	10	19	R	24	18
-	Franco Scapini	Automotive BVM	Reynard	Judd	-	-	-	-	-	-	27	NQ	21	R	30	NQ	26	10	30	NQ	29	NQ	-	-
-	Éric Chéli	CDM	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	17	NS	26	12	9	R	28	NQ	11	R	27	NQ	22	NS	22	R	21	11	27	NQ
-	Pedro Chaves	CoBRa Motorsports	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	24	15	28	NQ	29	NQ	22	R	26	R	22	11	25	R	28	NQ	23	17	28	NQ
-	Damon Hill	Footwork	Mooncraft	Mugen Honda	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	20	R	24	R	27	NS	17	14	24	16	21	15
-	David Velay	Bromley Motorsport	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	22	14
-	Alessandro Zanardi	Automotive BVM	Reynard	Judd	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	23	16
-	Ukyo Katayama	Footwork	Mooncraft	Mugen Honda	29	NQ	23	R	24	NQ	26	18	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	Enrico Bertaggia	Lola Motorsport	March	Judd	30	NQ
-	Enrico Bertaggia	Cowman Racing	Lola	Ford Cosworth			30	NQ	31	NQ	18	19	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	Marco Greco	Bromley Motorsport	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	25	R	-	-	-	-
-	Marco Greco	GA Motorsports	Lola	Ford Cosworth																	20	R	18	R
-	Massimo Monti	Automotive BVM	Reynard	Judd	27	NQ	27	NQ	15	R	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	Domenico Gitto	Cowman Racing	Lola	Ford Cosworth	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	28	NQ	26	R	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	Michel Ferté	CoBRa Motorsports	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	13	R	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	Cor Euser	Bromley Motorsport	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	21	R	-	-	-	-
-	Rickard Rydell	Jordan Racing	Reynard	Mugen Honda	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	15	R
-	Dominique Delestre	Apomatox	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	31	NQ	29	NQ	27	NQ	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

References

^ Who? – Martin Donnelly. 8w, retrieved 7 July 2011.
^ 1989 International Trophy | Motor Sport Magazine Database, retrieved 6 November 2020
^ "FIA Formula 3000 Int. Championship - 1989: Entrylist". Speedsport Magazine. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
^ "F3000 International Championship Entry List 1989". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
^ "F3000 International Championship Results 1989". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
^ F3000 1985-89 Archived 2009-06-06 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 7 July 2011
^ "FIA Formula 3000 Int. Championship - Season 1989: Points standings". Speedsport Magazine. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
^ "F3000 International Championship Standings 1989". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
^ "FIA Formula 3000 Int. Championship - Season 1989: Results". Speedsport Magazine. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
^ "1989 FIA International F3000 Championship". Motor Sport. Retrieved 30 December 2023.

[1] Who? – Martin Donnelly. 8w, retrieved 7 July 2011.

[2] 1989 International Trophy | Motor Sport Magazine Database, retrieved 6 November 2020

[3] "FIA Formula 3000 Int. Championship - 1989: Entrylist". Speedsport Magazine. Retrieved 30 December 2023.

[4] "F3000 International Championship Entry List 1989". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 30 December 2023.

[5] "F3000 International Championship Results 1989". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 30 December 2023.

[6] F3000 1985-89 Archived 2009-06-06 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 7 July 2011

[7] "FIA Formula 3000 Int. Championship - Season 1989: Points standings". Speedsport Magazine. Retrieved 30 December 2023.

[8] "F3000 International Championship Standings 1989". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 30 December 2023.

[9] "FIA Formula 3000 Int. Championship - Season 1989: Results". Speedsport Magazine. Retrieved 30 December 2023.

[10] "1989 FIA International F3000 Championship". Motor Sport. Retrieved 30 December 2023.

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