# 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 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, 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 |
| Apomatox | 9 | Emmanuel Clérico | 4 |
| Apomatox | 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 |
| Nordic Racing | 22 | Marc Gené | 4-6, 10 |
| Nordic Racing | 22 | Mario Waltner | 7-8 |
| Nordic Racing | 22 | Gianluca Paglicci | 9 |
| Nordic Racing | 23 | Rui Águas | All |
| Bob Salisbury Engineering | 24 | Oliver Gavin | 1-3 |
| Bob Salisbury Engineering | 24 | James Taylor | 4-10 |
| Bob Salisbury Engineering | 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 |
| Coloni Motorsport | 30 | Emiliano Spataro | 1-9 |
| Coloni Motorsport | 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: ||||

## 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: ||||||||

## 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. 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. 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. 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: |||||||||||||
| 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) |
| White | Withdrew (WD) |
| White | Race cancelled (C) |
| Blank | Did not practice (DNP) |
| Blank | Did not arrive (DNA) |
| Blank | Excluded (EX) |