1991 International Formula 3000 Championship

The 1991 Formula 3000 International Championship was the seventh season of Formula 3000 in Europe. Christian Fittipaldi won the championship after ten rounds.

Technical changes

A major technical change for 1991 was the introduction by Avon of radial-ply tyres. Compared to the previous crossply tyres, these could be more consistently manufactured, and made the cars more consistent aerodynamically, but gave the drivers less control at high slip angles.^[1]

Lola's T91/50 chassis was an evolution of the previous year's championship-winning T90/50, and retained a very short wheelbase of 263.0 cm (103.5 in). By comparison, the Reynard 91D had a wheelbase of 277.5 cm (109.3 in).^[2] The short wheelbase of the Lola was blamed for its inability to perform on the new tyres, and the Forti Corse team switched to Reynards after three rounds. The Eddie Jordan Racing team attempted to lengthen its Lolas by adding a spacer in between the engine and gearbox, but eventually it too purchased a Reynard for Damon Hill.

The Ralt name, last seen in F3000 in 1988, returned after being split off from the March Group.^[3]

Season summary

Alessandro Zanardi won for the new Il Barone Rampante team at the first race at Vallelunga. Jean-Marc Gounon then took Ralt's last F3000 win at Pau. Christian Fittipaldi won at Jerez, and Zanardi won again at Mugello.

Gounon won on the road at Enna, but he was controversially adjudged to have jumped the start. The race win was given to Emanuele Naspetti, who was making his first start in a Reynard after his Forti team had switched from Lolas. Naspetti then won the following three races at Hockenheim, Brands Hatch and Spa-Francorchamps. His success was blamed in part on the exotic fuel blend provided by Agip, which would be banned the following year.

Fittipaldi's Pacific teammate Antonio Tamburini won on the Bugatti Circuit at Le Mans. In the finale at Nogaro, Fittipaldi beat title rival Zanardi for the race win and the championship.

Drivers and constructors

Team	Chassis	Engine	No.	Driver	Rounds
DAMS	Lola	Mugen Honda	1	Allan McNish	All
DAMS	Lola	Mugen Honda	2	Laurent Aïello	All
GA Motorsport	Ralt	Ford Cosworth	3	Michael Bartels	1
			3	Massimo Monti	2
			4	Thierry Delubac	1-2
BFG 3000	Reynard	Mugen Honda	4	Giovanni Bonanno	3-9
First Racing	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	5	Giovanni Bonanno	1
			5	Michael Bartels	2-4
			6	Jean-Denis Délétraz	1-3
			7	Éric Hélary	1-4
Paul Stewart Racing	Lola	Mugen Honda	8	Marco Apicella	All
Paul Stewart Racing	Lola	Mugen Honda	9	Paul Stewart	All
Forti Corse	Lola	Ford Cosworth	11	Emanuele Naspetti	1-3
	Reynard		11	Emanuele Naspetti	4-10
	Lola		12	Fabrizio Giovanardi	1-3
	Reynard		12	Fabrizio Giovanardi	4-10
Eddie Jordan Racing	Lola	Ford Cosworth	14	Damon Hill	1-9
	Reynard		14	Damon Hill	10
	Lola		15	Vincenzo Sospiri	All
Roni Motorsport	Ralt	Ford Cosworth	16	Fernando Plata	1-5
			16	Giovanni Lavaggi	6-10
			17	David Brabham	1-4
			17	Andrew Gilbert-Scott	5-6
Apomatox	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	18	Paul Belmondo	All
			19	Andrea Chiesa	1-8
			19	Emmanuel Collard	9-10
Crypton Engineering	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	20	Roberto Colciago	All
			21	Fabrizio Barbazza	1
				Pascal Witmeur	8
				Philippe Gache	10
			22	Giovanni Lavaggi	1-5
			22	Peter Zakowski	6-8
CoBRa Motorsports	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	23	Paolo Delle Piane	All
			24	Alain Menu	1-6
			24	Éric Hélary	7-10
RSM Marko	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	25	Karl Wendlinger	3, 5-6, 8-9
Galaxy Racing	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	26	Philippe Gache	1-9
Galaxy Racing	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	26	David Velay	10
Vortex Motorsport	Lola	Mugen Honda	27	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	All
Pacific Racing	Reynard	Mugen Honda	29	Antonio Tamburini	All
Pacific Racing	Reynard	Mugen Honda	30	Christian Fittipaldi	All
3001 International	Ralt	Ford Cosworth	31	Jean-Marc Gounon	All
3001 International	Ralt	Ford Cosworth	32	Andrea Montermini	All
Il Barone Rampante	Reynard	Mugen Honda	33	Alessandro Zanardi	All
Il Barone Rampante	Reynard	Mugen Honda	34	Giuseppe Bugatti	All
Junior Team	Reynard	Judd	35	Vittorio Zoboli	1-8
			35	Massimo Monti	9
			36	Gabriel Furlán	All
Motor Racing Di-Wheels	Leyton House	Ford Cosworth	38	Fabiano Vandone	1-4
	Ralt		38	Fabiano Vandone	5-9
	Leyton House		39	Simon Kane	6-7
Pavesi Racing	Reynard	Mugen Honda	40	Felice Tedeschi	1-8
Pavesi Racing	Reynard	Mugen Honda	40	Massimiliano Angelelli	9
GJ Motorsport	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	41	Giovanna Amati	All
GJ Motorsport	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	42	Dave Coyne	7
Sources:^[4]^[5]

Calendar

Round	Circuit	Date	Laps	Distance	Time	Speed	Pole Position	Fastest Lap	Winner
1	ACI Vallelunga Circuit	14 April	60	3.2=192.0 km	1'06:05.153	174.318 km/h	Christian Fittipaldi	Alessandro Zanardi	Alessandro Zanardi
2	Pau Grand Prix	19 May	73	2.76=201.48 km	1'26:31.24	137.807 km/h	Alessandro Zanardi	Andrea Montermini	Jean-Marc Gounon
3	Circuito de Jerez	9 June	48	4.2179=202.459 km	1'18:15.69	155.221 km/h	Christian Fittipaldi	Christian Fittipaldi	Christian Fittipaldi
4	Mugello Circuit	23 June	38	5.245=199.31 km	1'03:08.380	189.399 km/h	Alessandro Zanardi	Alessandro Zanardi	Alessandro Zanardi
5	Autodromo di Pergusa	7 July	40	4.95=198.0 km	0'59:34.254	199.426 km/h	Emanuele Naspetti	Jean-Marc Gounon	Emanuele Naspetti
6	Hockenheimring	27 July	29	6.801=197.229 km	0'57:19.217	206.480 km/h	Andrea Montermini	Andrea Montermini	Emanuele Naspetti
7	Brands Hatch	18 August	48	4.1846=200.861 km	1'00:26.28	199.40 km/h	Alessandro Zanardi	Emanuele Naspetti	Emanuele Naspetti
8	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps	24 August	29	6.94=201.26 km	1'03:09.82	191.180 km/h	Laurent Aïello	Emanuele Naspetti	Emanuele Naspetti
9	Bugatti Circuit	22 September	45	4.426=199.170 km	1'24:09.87	142.114 km/h	Christian Fittipaldi	Antonio Tamburini	Antonio Tamburini
10	Circuit Paul Armagnac	6 October	55	3.636=199.980 km	1'14:26.15	161.196 km/h	Christian Fittipaldi	Alessandro Zanardi	Christian Fittipaldi
Source:^[6]

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. No additional points were awarded.^[7]

Pos	Driver	VLL	PAU	JER	MUG	PER	HOC	BRH	SPA	BUG	NOG	Points
1	Christian Fittipaldi	2	2	1	3	Ret	4	3	Ret	2	1	47
2	Alessandro Zanardi	1	Ret	2	1	Ret	Ret	2	2	Ret	2	42
3	Emanuele Naspetti	10	9	DNQ	DNS	1	1	1	1	Ret	6	37
4	Antonio Tamburini	3	10	4	7	4	6	5	Ret	1	Ret	22
5	Marco Apicella	Ret	4	Ret	2	2	Ret	4	Ret	Ret	11	18
6	Jean-Marc Gounon	DNQ	1	6	10	6	5	Ret	7	Ret	Ret	13
7	Damon Hill	4	Ret	8	Ret	11	Ret	6	Ret	4	3	11
8	Vincenzo Sospiri	Ret	DNQ	15	4	Ret	2	16	10	Ret	13	9
9	Éric Hélary	11	3	Ret	16†			15	4	Ret	5	9
10	Andrea Montermini	Ret	Ret	3	11	10	Ret	10	Ret	3	Ret	8
11	Giuseppe Bugatti	5	Ret	Ret	Ret	3	Ret	Ret	16	Ret	7	6
12	Karl Wendlinger			5		Ret	3		Ret	Ret		6
13	Fabrizio Giovanardi	12	5	DNQ	8	Ret	13†	8	6	DNS	4	6
14	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Ret	Ret	12	6	5	DNQ	12	5	Ret	Ret	5
15	Laurent Aïello	Ret	DNS	7	Ret	Ret	7	9	3	Ret	Ret	4
16	Allan McNish	DNQ	13	DNQ	5	8	Ret	Ret	8	Ret	8	2
17	Philippe Gache	DNQ	12	10	Ret	9	Ret	11	9	5	Ret	2
18	Alain Menu	6	6	18	12	Ret	DNS					2
19	Gabriel Furlán	9	DNQ	Ret	Ret	7	8	Ret	Ret	6	Ret	1
20	David Brabham	7	7	11	9							0
21	Paul Stewart	Ret	DNQ	16	DNQ	12	Ret	7	14	8	9	0
22	Giovanna Amati	DNQ	Ret	DNQ	14†	Ret	9	19	DNQ	7	Ret	0
23	Roberto Colciago	8	11	DNQ	Ret	Ret	DNQ	18	17	Ret	Ret	0
24	Michael Bartels	DNQ	8	Ret	15							0
25	Andrea Chiesa	Ret	Ret	9	DNQ	Ret	10	14	13			0
26	Paolo Delle Piane	Ret	DNQ	17	Ret	DNQ	Ret	Ret	15	9	Ret	0
27	David Velay										10	0
28	Peter Zakowski						DNQ	Ret	11			0
29	Andrew Gilbert-Scott					DNQ	11					0
30	Paul Belmondo	14	Ret	14	13	Ret	Ret	DNQ	12	Ret	Ret	0
31	Giovanni Lavaggi	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	Ret	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	12	0
32	Fabiano Vandone	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	12	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ		0
33	Giovanni Bonanno	Ret		13	Ret	DNQ	Ret	17	Ret	DNQ		0
34	Vittorio Zoboli	Ret	DNQ	Ret	DNQ	Ret	DNQ	13	Ret			0
35	Fabrizio Barbazza	13										0
36	Felice Tedeschi	15	DNQ	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	DNQ	DNQ			0
	Emmanuel Collard									Ret	Ret
	Jean-Denis Délétraz	DNS	DNQ	Ret
	Massimo Monti		DNQ							Ret
	Dave Coyne							Ret
	Max Angelelli									Ret
	Fernando Plata	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ
	Thierry Delubac	DNQ	DNQ
	Simon Kane						DNQ	DNQ
	Pascal Witmeur								DNQ
Sources:^[8]^[9]^[10]

Complete Overview

first column of every race

10

= grid position

second column of every race

10

= race result

R16=retired, but classified R=retired NS=did not start NQ=did not qualify

Place	Name	Team	Chassis	Engine	VLL		PAU		JER		MUG		PER		HOC		BRH		SPA		BUG		NOG
1	Christian Fittipaldi	Pacific Racing	Reynard	Mugen Honda	1	2	4	2	1	1	4	3	7	R	9	4	6	3	6	R	1	2	1	1
2	Alessandro Zanardi	Il Barone Rampante	Reynard	Mugen Honda	2	1	1	R	2	2	1	1	2	R	4	R	1	2	3	2	3	R	2	2
3	Emanuele Naspetti	Forti Corse	Lola	Ford Cosworth	16	10	15	9	29	NQ
3	Emanuele Naspetti	Forti Corse	Reynard	Ford Cosworth							8	NS	1	1	8	1	3	1	2	1	6	R	14	6
4	Antonio Tamburini	Pacific Racing	Reynard	Mugen Honda	4	3	13	10	3	4	9	7	14	4	10	6	10	5	19	R	2	1	13	R
5	Marco Apicella	Paul Stewart Racing	Lola	Mugen Honda	19	R	6	4	9	R	3	2	3	2	13	R	2	4	15	R	12	R	18	11
6	Jean-Marc Gounon	3001 International	Ralt	Ford Cosworth	30	NQ	3	1	7	6	25	10	4	6	3	5	16	R	10	7	13	R	12	R
7	Damon Hill	Jordan Racing	Lola	Ford Cosworth	9	4	10	R	15	8	6	R	9	11	7	R	4	6	13	R	10	4
7	Damon Hill	Jordan Racing	Reynard	Ford Cosworth																			3	3
8	Vincenzo Sospiri	Jordan Racing	Lola	Ford Cosworth	10	R	25	NQ	19	15	5	4	15	R	5	2	8	16	18	10	14	R	20	13
	Éric Hélary	First Racing	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	14	11	7	3	16	R	17	R16	-	-	-	-
	Éric Hélary	CoBra Motorsports	Reynard	Ford Cosworth													21	15	5	4	19	R	11	5
10	Andrea Montermini	3001 International	Ralt	Ford Cosworth	17	R	2	R	4	3	21	11	6	10	1	R	17	10	8	R	16	3	8	R
11	Giuseppe Bugatti	Il Barone Rampante	Reynard	Mugen Honda	7	5	20	R	8	R	2	R	5	3	21	R	5	R	12	16	8	R	5	7
	Karl Wendlinger	RSM Marko	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	-	-	-	-	5	5	-	-	8	R	2	3	-	-	4	R	5	R	-	-
	Fabrizio Giovanardi	Forti Corse	Lola	Ford Cosworth	23	12	8	5	28	NQ
	Fabrizio Giovanardi	Forti Corse	Reynard	Ford Cosworth							15	8	20	R	15	R13	7	8	9	6	26	NS	7	4
14	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Vortex	Lola	Mugen Honda	6	R	5	R	21	12	7	6	10	5	32	NQ	22	12	7	5	22	R	9	R
15	Laurent Aïello	DAMS	Lola	Mugen Honda	3	R	14	NS	6	7	10	R	13	R	17	7	13	9	1	3	4	R	6	R
16	Alain Menu	CoBRa Motorsports	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	5	6	12	6	12	18	16	12	12	R	12	NS	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Allan McNish	DAMS	Lola	Mugen Honda	34	NQ	19	13	27	NQ	12	5	21	8	6	R	11	R	11	8	11	R	17	8
	Philippe Gache	Galaxy Racing	Lola	Ford Cosworth	29	NQ	22	12	18	10	19	R	26	9	20	R	15	11	23	9	20	5
	Philippe Gache	Crypton Engineering	Reynard	Ford Cosworth																			4	R
19	Gabriel Furlán	Junior Team	Reynard	Judd	13	9	28	NQ	20	R	24	R	19	7	24	8	12	R	17	R	18	6	16	R
-	David Brabham	Roni Team/Team Ralt	Ralt	Ford Cosworth	8	7	9	7	22	11	13	9	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	Paul Stewart	Paul Stewart Racing	Lola	Mugen Honda	24	R	23	NQ	24	16	28	NQ	24	12	18	R	9	7	16	14	17	8	21	9
-	Giovanna Amati	GJ Motorsports	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	28	NQ	21	R	31	NQ	23	R14	18	R	11	9	19	19	28	NQ	25	7	22	R
-	Roberto Colciago	Crypton Engineering	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	11	8	18	11	34	NQ	22	R	17	R	27	NQ	20	18	21	17	9	R	10	R
-	Michael Bartels	GA Motorsports	Ralt	Ford Cosworth	32	NQ
-	Michael Bartels	First Racing	Reynard	Ford Cosworth			11	8	10	R	14	15	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	Andrea Chiesa	Apomatox	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	20	R	17	R	11	9	30	NQ	11	R	16	10	24	14	22	13	-	-	-	-
-	Paolo Delle Piane	CoBRaMotorsports	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	12	R	31	NQ	26	17	26	R	30	NQ	22	R	23	R	26	15	23	9	19	R
-	David Velay	Galaxy Racing	Lola	Ford Cosworth	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	24	10
-	Peter Zakowski	Crypton Engineering	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	29	NQ	25	R	25	11	-	-	-	-
-	Andrew Gilbert-Scott	Roni Team/Team Ralt	Ralt	Ford Cosworth	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	28	NQ	26	11	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	Paul Belmondo	Apomatox	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	25	14	16	R	25	14	11	13	16	R	14	R	27	NQ	20	12	15	R	23	R
-	Giovanni Lavaggi	Crypton Engineering	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	27	NQ	32	NQ	32	NQ	29	NQ	23	R
-	Giovanni Lavaggi	Roni Team/Team Ralt	Ralt	Ford Cosworth											30	NQ	28	NQ	27	NQ	27	NQ	25	12
-	Fabiano Vandone	Motor Racing Di-Wheels	Leyton House	Judd	31	NQ
			Leyton House	Ford Cosworth			34	NQ	33	NQ	32	NQ
			Ralt	Ford Cosworth									29	NQ	23	12	30	NQ	30	NQ	28	NQ	-	-
-	Giovanni Bonanno	First Racing	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	22	R	-	-
-	Giovanni Bonanno	BG F3000	Reynard	Mugen Honda					23	13	20	R	27	NQ	25	R	26	17	14	R	29	NQ	-	-
-	Vittorio Zoboli	Junior Team	Reynard	Judd	26	R	27	NQ	17	R	27	NQ	22	R	28	NQ	18	13	24	R	-	-	-	-
-	Fabrizio Barbazza	Crypton Engineering	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	18	13	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	Felice Tedeschi	Pavesi Racing	Reynard	Mugen Honda	21	15	30	NQ	14	R	18	R	25	R	19	R	29	NQ	29	NQ	-	-	-	-
-	Emmanuel Collard	Apomatox	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	7	R	15	R
-	Jean-Denis Délétraz	First Racing	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	15	NS	24	NQ	13	R	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	Massimo Monti	GA Motorsports	Ralt	Ford Cosworth	-	-	29	NQ	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	Massimo Monti	Junior Team	Reynard	Judd																	21	R	-	-
-	Dave Coyne	GJ Motorsports	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	14	R	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	Max Angelelli	Pavesi Racing	Reynard	Mugen Honda	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	24	R	-	-
-	Fernando Plata	Roni Team/Team Ralt	Ralt	Ford Cosworth	35	NQ	33	NQ	30	NQ	31	NQ	31	NQ	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	Thierry Delubac	GA Motorsports	Ralt	Ford Cosworth	33	NQ	26	NQ	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	Simon Kane	Motor Racing Di-Wheels	Leyton House	Ford Cosworth	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	31	NQ	31	NQ	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	Pascal Witmeur	Crypton Engineering	Reynard	Ford Cosworth	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	31	NQ	-	-	-	-

References

^ L'annee Formule 3000 1992. Drapeau a Damier.
^ L'annee Formule 3000 1991. Drapeau a Damier.
^ "The March Story". marchives.com. Archived from the original on 2011-09-29. Retrieved 6 July 2011.
^ "FIA Formula 3000 Int. Championship - 1991: Entrylist". Speedsport Magazine. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
^ "F3000 International Championship Entry List 1991". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
^ "F3000 International Championship Results 1991". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
^ "FIA Formula 3000 Int. Championship - Season 1991: Points standings". Speedsport Magazine. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
^ "F3000 International Championship Standings 1991". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
^ "FIA Formula 3000 Int. Championship - Season 1991: Results". Speedsport Magazine. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
^ "1991 FIA International F3000 Championship". Motor Sport. Retrieved 30 December 2023.

[1] L'annee Formule 3000 1992. Drapeau a Damier.

[2] L'annee Formule 3000 1991. Drapeau a Damier.

[marchives-3] "The March Story". marchives.com. Archived from the original on 2011-09-29. Retrieved 6 July 2011.

[4] "FIA Formula 3000 Int. Championship - 1991: Entrylist". Speedsport Magazine. Retrieved 30 December 2023.

[5] "F3000 International Championship Entry List 1991". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 30 December 2023.

[6] "F3000 International Championship Results 1991". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 30 December 2023.

[7] "FIA Formula 3000 Int. Championship - Season 1991: Points standings". Speedsport Magazine. Retrieved 30 December 2023.

[8] "F3000 International Championship Standings 1991". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 30 December 2023.

[9] "FIA Formula 3000 Int. Championship - Season 1991: Results". Speedsport Magazine. Retrieved 30 December 2023.

[10] "1991 FIA International F3000 Championship". Motor Sport. Retrieved 30 December 2023.

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