1998 International Formula 3000 Championship

1998 FIA International Formula 3000 Championship

Drivers' Champion: Juan Pablo Montoya
Teams' Champion: Super Nova Racing

Previous

1997

Next

1999

Parent series:
Formula One
Support series:
Porsche Supercup

The 1998 International Formula 3000 Championship was the thirty-second season of the second-tier of Formula One feeder championship and also fourteenth season under the International Formula 3000 Championship moniker. The championship was contested over twelve rounds from 11 April to 26 September 1998. The Drivers' Championship was won by Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya of Super Nova Racing, who won four races.

Several cars racing at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya

Drivers and teams

Team	No.	Driver	Rounds
Super Nova Racing	1	Juan Pablo Montoya	All
	2	Boris Derichebourg	All
Den Blå Avis	3	Jason Watt	All
	4	Gareth Rees	All
Edenbridge Racing	5	Max Wilson	All
	6	Werner Lupberger	All
DAMS	7	Jamie Davies	All
	8	Grégoire de Galzain	All
Auto Sport Racing	9	Rui Águas	1
		Dino Morelli	2-5
		Tomáš Enge	8-12
	10	Oliver Martini	All
Team Astromega	11	Gastón Mazzacane	All
	12	Gonzalo Rodríguez	All
Draco Engineering	14	Bruno Junqueira	All
	15	Giovanni Montanari	All
Nordic Racing	16	Fabrice Walfisch	All
	17	Brian Smith	1-6
		Kevin McGarrity	7-9
		Hidetoshi Mitsusada	10-12
Coloni Motorsport	18	Giorgio Vinella	1-7, 9-12
		Rui Águas	8
	19	Thomas Biagi	1-2
		Rui Águas	3-6
		Oliver Tichy	7-12
Durango Formula	20	Bertrand Godin	All
	21	Soheil Ayari	All
Arden Racing KTR	22	Christian Horner	All
	23	Kurt Mollekens	1-8, 10-12
Redman & Bright F3000	24	Jonny Kane	1-4
		David Cook	7-9
	25	Mark Shaw	All
Bob Salisbury Engineering	26	Dino Morelli	None, on entry list only
	27	James Taylor	None, on entry list only
Apomatox	28	Stéphane Sarrazin	All
	29	Marcelo Battistuzzi	All
West Competition	30	Nick Heidfeld	All
	31	Nicolas Minassian	1-11
		Bas Leinders	12
RTL Team Oreca	32	Alex Müller	All
	33	Dominik Schwager	All
Prema Powerteam	34	André Couto	All
	35	André Gaidzinski	None, on entry list only
		Paolo Ruberti	1-6
		Thomas Biagi	7-12
GP Racing	36	Paolo Ruberti	None, on entry list only
		Cyrille Sauvage	1-10
		James Taylor	11-12
Raceprep Motorsport	37	Kevin McGarrity	1-5
G. S. Team	38	Fabrizio Gollin	All
	39	Cyrille Sauvage	None, on entry list only
Elide Racing	40	Polo Villaamil	1, 3
Sources:

Calendar

1998 was the last International F3000 season where races were held independently from Formula One Grands Prix. Pau and Pergusa had held International F3000 and previously European Formula Two Championship races uninterruptedly since 1972.

Round	Circuit	Date	Laps	Distance	Time	Speed	Pole Position	Fastest Lap	Winner	Winning Team	Report
1	Motorsport Arena Oschersleben	10 April	56	3.667=205.352 km	1'24:52.384	145.171 km/h	Juan Pablo Montoya	Juan Pablo Montoya	Stéphane Sarrazin	Apomatox	Report
2	Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari	25 April	42	4.93=207.06 km	1'16:38.513	162.099 km/h	Juan Pablo Montoya	Gonzalo Rodríguez	Jason Watt	Den Blå Avis	Report
3	Circuit de Catalunya	9 May	44	4.728=208.032 km	1'12:50.057	171.272 km/h	Juan Pablo Montoya	Nick Heidfeld	Juan Pablo Montoya	Super Nova Racing	Report
4	Silverstone Circuit	16 May	40	5.14=205.60 km	1'10:08.886	175.857 km/h	Juan Pablo Montoya	Juan Pablo Montoya	Juan Pablo Montoya	Super Nova Racing	Report
5	Circuit de Monaco	23 May	50	3.367=168.35 km	1'18:04.956	129.363 km/h	Jason Watt	Juan Pablo Montoya	Nick Heidfeld	West Competition	Report
6	Pau Grand Prix	1 June	75	2.76=207.00 km	1'33:10.179	133.305 km/h	Juan Pablo Montoya	Juan Pablo Montoya	Juan Pablo Montoya	Super Nova Racing	Report
7	A1-Ring	25 July	43	4.319=185.717 km	1'11:04.222	175.019 km/h	Soheil Ayari	Soheil Ayari	Soheil Ayari	Durango Formula	Report
8	Hockenheimring	1 August	31	6.823=211.513 km	1'12:57.599	173.942 km/h	Nick Heidfeld	Nick Heidfeld	Nick Heidfeld	West Competition	Report
9	Budapest	15 August	52	3.972=206.544 km	1'20:14.689	154.435 km/h	Stéphane Sarrazin	Nick Heidfeld	Nick Heidfeld	West Competition	Report
10	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps	29 August	29	6.968=202.072 km	1'03:10.530	191.900 km/h	Juan Pablo Montoya	Soheil Ayari	Gonzalo Rodríguez	Team Astromega	Report
11	Autodromo di Pergusa	6 September	41	4.95=202.95 km	1'04:29.540	188.813 km/h	Nick Heidfeld	Juan Pablo Montoya	Juan Pablo Montoya	Super Nova Racing	Report
12	Nürburgring	26 September	45	4.556=205.02 km	1'12:37.085	169.381 km/h	Juan Pablo Montoya	Gonzalo Rodríguez	Gonzalo Rodríguez	Team Astromega	Report
Source:

Season summary

After winning the 1997 championship with Ricardo Zonta, Super Nova Racing chose to recruit championship runner-up Juan Pablo Montoya to lead their main team, and also expanded their second Den Blå Avis team to two cars by hiring Gareth Rees to partner Jason Watt. Montoya's former team RSM Marko did not compete in 1998, but there were new entries from GT specialists Oreca and the new West Competition team, established as a McLaren junior team and run by former Williams race engineer David Brown.

With seven pole positions, Montoya was the fastest man in the championship all season, but a poor start to the season left him trailing several title rivals. In the event, the championship turned into a duel between the Colombian and newcomer Nick Heidfeld, who remained consistent throughout the season despite his relative inexperience. Watt often matched their pace but made several key mistakes costing him points, while Uruguay's Gonzalo Rodriguez finished the season strongly with two wins in the last three races, becoming the first driver from the South American nation to win a Formula 3000 event.

Montoya led Heidfeld by three points going into the final round at the Nürburgring. However, after qualifying second on the grid, Heidfeld's times were deleted and he was relegated to the back of the grid, only making the race after Brown withdrew his new teammate Bas Leinders from the event. Despite recovering through the field, Heidfeld failed to climb into the top six, and Montoya's third-place finish clinched him the championship. Rodriguez beat Watt to the race win and third place in the standings.

Montoya moved to the North American CART series for 1999 with Chip Ganassi Racing, going on to win the championship as a rookie. He went on to graduate to Formula One with Williams in 2001, and became the only International Formula 3000 champion to win more than one grand prix in his career. The only driver from the field to participate in Formula One in 1999 was Stéphane Sarrazin, who secured a one-off drive in the Brazilian Grand Prix for Minardi in place of the injured Luca Badoer. Most of the leading Formula 3000 drivers instead remained in the series for 1999.

Drivers' Championship

Tomas Enge placed 22nd in the championship driving for Auto Sport Racing

Pos Driver OSC IML CAT SIL MON PAU A1R HOC HUN SPA PER NÜR Points 1 Juan Pablo Montoya 15 Ret 1 1 6 1 2 3 3 2 1 3 65 2 Nick Heidfeld 2 4 26 2 1 3 7 1 1 4 2 9 58 3 Gonzalo Rodríguez Ret 3 21 Ret 2 Ret 4 11 7 1 Ret 1 33 4 Jason Watt 7 1 7 3 Ret Ret 3 2 10 8 Ret 2 30 5 Soheil Ayari Ret Ret 5 Ret DNQ Ret 1 Ret Ret 3 3 Ret 20 6 Stéphane Sarrazin 1 24 15 24 4 Ret 8 Ret 2 Ret Ret 19 19 7 Kurt Mollekens Ret 2 2 8 5 5 10 Ret DNQ 8 4 19 8 Gareth Rees Ret Ret Ret 4 Ret 4 Ret 6 DNS 12 4 Ret 10 9 Max Wilson Ret Ret 6 5 DNPQ 2 Ret Ret Ret 13 Ret Ret 9 10 Jamie Davies 3 8 13 16 3 Ret Ret 16 15 15 7 14 8 11 André Couto Ret 5 14 Ret Ret 6 Ret Ret 5 14 9 5 7 12 Boris Derichebourg 11 6 3 12 Ret Ret 15 7 Ret 17 11 Ret 5 13 Nicolas Minassian Ret 19 Ret 7 9 7 5 Ret 4 19 19 5 14 Dominik Schwager 14 11 4 14 10 DNQ Ret 14 18 Ret Ret 7 3 15 Thomas Biagi 4 10 12 10 13 10 Ret 12 3 16 Kevin McGarrity DNQ 14 27 Ret DNQ Ret 4 Ret 3 17 Oliver Martini 16 9 9 Ret DNPQ 10 9 13 6 9 5 Ret 3 18 Bruno Junqueira Ret 16 16 9 Ret Ret 6 5 Ret Ret 18 Ret 3 19 Cyrille Sauvage 5 Ret 11 Ret 15 Ret 13 Ret 8 20 2 20 Alex Müller Ret Ret 10 11 Ret Ret 11 Ret 20 5 20 13 2 21 Gastón Mazzacane 6 7 Ret 6 12 9 Ret Ret Ret DNQ 13 Ret 2 22 Tomáš Enge 15 12 7 Ret 6 1 23 Werner Lupberger Ret 13 12 18 14 Ret 16 8 17 11 6 Ret 1 24 Marcelo Battistuzzi DNQ 22 Ret Ret Ret DNQ 18 Ret 11 6 Ret Ret 1 25 Rui Águas 9 17 17 7 Ret Ret 0 26 Brian Smith 10 Ret Ret 15 11 8 0 27 Giovanni Montanari Ret 15 8 13 13 Ret 14 Ret 19 16 Ret 10 0 28 Dino Morelli Ret 19 10 8 0 29 Bertrand Godin 8 Ret 22 19 Ret DNQ 19 12 14 21 12 11 0 30 Fabrice Walfisch 13 18 20 Ret DNQ DNQ Ret Ret Ret 22 Ret 8 0 31 Oliver Tichy 22 9 9 18 Ret Ret 0 32 Grégoire de Galzain DNQ Ret 18 23 DNPQ DNQ Ret 17 Ret 25 10 16 0 33 Christian Horner Ret 12 Ret Ret 16 DNQ 17 18 Ret DNQ 17 17 0 34 Jonny Kane 12 21 Ret 20 0 35 Fabrizio Gollin DNQ 17 DNQ Ret Ret DNQ 21 DNQ Ret DNQ 14 Ret 0 36 Giorgio Vinella DNQ Ret 25 22 DNQ DNQ Ret 21 DNQ 15 22 0 37 Hidetoshi Mitsusada 23 Ret 15 0 38 Mark Shaw Ret 20 Ret Ret DNPQ DNQ 20 19 16 24 16 18 0 39 Paolo Ruberti DSQ Ret 23 21 18 Ret 0 40 James Taylor 21 21 0 41 Polo Villaamil DNQ 24 0 – David Cook Ret DNQ DNS 0 – Bas Leinders DNS 0 Pos Driver OSC IML CAT SIL MON PAU A1R HOC HUN SPA PER NÜR Points Sources:

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

Notes

• All drivers used Lola T96/50 chassis, with Zytek-Judd V8 engines, and Avon tyres.
• Paolo Ruberti was disqualified from third place at Oschersleben due to a bodywork infringement.

Complete Overview

first column of every race

10

= grid position

second column of every race

10

= race result

R22=retired, but classified R=retired NC=not classified NS=did not start NQ=did not qualify DIS(3)=disqualified after finishing in third place (16)=place after practice, but grid position not held free

Place	Name	Team	OSC		IMO		CAT		SIL		MON		PAU		OST		HOC		HUN		SPA		PER		NÜR
1	Juan Pablo Montoya	SuperNova Racing	1	15	1	R	1	1	1	1	7	6	1	1	2	2	10	3	2	3	1	2	3	1	1	3
2	Nick Heidfeld	West Competition Team	2	2	5	4	3	26	2	2	2	1	6	3	13	7	1	1	3	1	2	4	1	2	32	9
3	Gonzalo Rodríguez	Team Astromega	5	R	2	3	27	21	9	R26	3	2	2	R	6	4	6	11	11	7	6	1	7	R22	2	1
4	Jason Watt	Den Blå Avis	11	7	3	1	11	7	3	3	1	R	5	R	4	3	4	2	10	10	20	8	2	R	3	2
5	Soheil Ayari	Durango Formula	4	R	6	R23	2	5	17	R	30	NQ	3	R	1	1	3	R	19	R	3	3	4	3	5	R
6	Stéphane Sarrazin	Apomatox	18	1	18	R24	25	15	25	24	4	4	16	R	8	8	5	R	1	2	7	R	18	R	10	19
	Kurt Mollekens	KTR/Arden	9	R	4	2	5	2	14	8	8	5	11	5	9	10	11	R	-	-	31	NQ	15	8	4	4
8	Gareth Rees	Den Blå Avis	25	R	15	R	33	R30	4	4	11	R17	8	4	3	R	13	6	20	R	16	12	6	4	20	20
9	Max Wilson	Edenbridge Racing	3	NC	7	R	9	6	6	5	33	NQ	7	2	21	R	2	R	17	R	19	13	8	R	23	23
10	Jamie Davies	DAMS	27	3	26	8	16	13	19	16	5	3	9	R	14	R	25	16	25	15	13	15	10	7	17	14
11	André Couto	Prema Powerteam	10	R	11	5	24	14	20	R	6	R	14	6	18	R	22	R	6	5	15	14	24	9	6	5
12	Boris Derichebourg	SuperNova Racing	23	11	8	6	6	3	15	12	18	R	4	R	15	15	21	7	9	R	18	17	22	11	13	R
	Nicolas Minassian	West Competition Team	15	NC	16	19	8	R	8	7	16	9	21	7	7	5	7	21	7	4	12	19	17	19	-	-
14	Thomas Biagi	Coloni Motorsport	20	4	24	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
		Prema Powerteam													17	12	18	10	18	13	8	10	5	R	25	12
	Dominik Schwager	RTL Team Oreca	7	14	14	11	4	4	16	14	19	10	25	NQ	28	R	14	14	22	18	21	R	27	R	11	7
	Kevin McGarrity	Raceprep Motorsport	31	NQ	30	14	35	27	31	R	27	NQ	-	-
		Nordic Racing													33	R	15	4	31	2	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Bruno Junqueira	Draco Engineering	14	R	23	16	26	16	7	9	9	R	12	R	5	6	9	5	14	R	22	R	13	18	8	R
	Oliver Martini	Auto Sport Racing	19	R	17	9	12	9	29	R27	34	NQ	20	10	11	9	26	13	5	6	11	9	11	5	9	R
19	Cyrille Sauvage	GP Racing	17	5	9	R	15	11	27	R	12	15	10	R	12	13	16	R	8	8	10	20	-	-	-	-
	Gastón Mazzacane	Team Astromega	22	6	12	7	22	A28	5	6	22	R	13	9	22	R	24	R	16	R	33	NQ	25	13	7	R
	Alex Müller	RTL Team Oreca	13	R	20	R	13	10	13	11	14	R	22	R	13	7	19	11	8	20	23	20	4	5	14	13
22	Marcelo Battistuzzi	Apomatox	34	NQ	25	22	30	R	34	R	25	R	27	NQ	29	18	17	R	12	11	9	6	23	R	24	R
	Werner Lupberger	Edenbridge Racing	28	R	27	13	10	12	28	18	23	14	18	R	20	16	12	8	24	17	14	11	9	6	21	R
	Tomáš Enge	Auto Sport Racing	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	23	15	15	12	5	7	16	R	15	6
-	Rui Águas	Auto Sport Racing	24	9	-	-
		Coloni Motorsport					14	17	23	17	10	7	17	R	-	-	32	R	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	Brian Smith	Nordic Racing	6	10	10	R	28	R31	12	15	15	11	19	8	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	Giovanni Montanari	Draco Engineering	16	R	29	15	7	8	10	13	21	13	23	R	16	14	19	R	26	19	26	16	26	R	16	10
-	Dino Morelli	Auto Sport Racing	-	-	19	R	21	19	11	10	17	9	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	Bertrand Godin	Durango Formula	12	8	32	R	20	22	22	19	24	R	24	NQ	26	19	27	12	21	14	24	21	31	12	18	11
-	Fabrice Walfisch	Nordic Racing	29	13	31	18	31	20	32	25	28	NQ	31	NQ	24	R	29	R	13	R	27	22	21	R	12	8
-	Oliver Tichy	Coloni Motorsport	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10	22	20	9	4	9	17	18	20	R	22	R
-	Grégoire de Galzain	DAMS	32	NQ	35	R	17	18	35	23	32	NQ	28	NQ	25	R	30	17	28	R	23	25	14	10	28	16
-	Christian Horner	KTR/Arden	30	R	22	12	19	R	26	R	26	16	30	NQ	23	17	28	18	32	R	30	NQ	29	17	29	17
-	Jonny Kane	Redman & Bright F3000	21	12	13	21	18	R29	18	20	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	Fabrizio Gollin	G. S. Team	35	NQ	28	17	36	R	30	R	20	R	29	NQ	30	21	33	NQ	30	R	32	NQ	28	14	26	R
-	Giorgio Vinella	Coloni Motorsport	33	NQ	34	R	32	25	33	22	29	NQ	32	NQ	31	R	-	-	29	21	29	R	30	15	30	22
-	Hidetoshi Mitsusada	Coloni Motorsport	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	28	23	19	R	19	15
-	Mark Shaw	Redman & Bright F3000	26	R	33	20	29	R	21	R	31	NQ	26	NQ	27	20	31	19	27	16	25	24	32	16	27	18
-	Paolo Ruberti	Prema Powerteam	8	DIS(3)	21	R	23	23	24	21	13	18	15	R	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	James Taylor	GP Racing	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	33	21	31	21
-	Polo Villaamil	Elide Racing	36	NQ	-	-	34	24	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	David Cook	Redman & Bright F3000	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	32	R	34	NQ	33	NS	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	Bas Leinders	West Competition Team	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	(16)	NS