1985 European Formula 3000 Championship

1985 FIA European Formula 3000 Championship

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1984

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1986

The 1985 European Formula 3000 Championship was the inaugural season of the Formula 3000 category. The European Formula 3000 Championship replaced Formula Two as the official feeder series to Formula One. It was scheduled over 12 rounds and contested over 11 rounds. 14 different teams tried their luck with 33 different drivers and 7 different chassis. The series was won by the German Christian Danner driving for BS Automotive.

Danner, who was laying second in the championship at the time, would graduate to Formula One when he made his Grand Prix debut for the German Zakspeed team at the 1985 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps on 15 September, a week before he won the final round of the F3000 championship at Donington Park to clinch the title from Mike Thackwell.

Danner had the dubious honour of being the first in a long line of Formula 3000 champions who would fail to make an impact on Formula One, despite the championship being seen as the highest level FIA single-seater championship behind Grand Prix racing. Only future champions Jean Alesi, Olivier Panis and Juan Pablo Montoya would actually go on to win a Formula One Grand Prix.

Drivers and teams

Team	Chassis	Engine	No.	Drivers	Rounds
Template:Flagicon Ralt Racing Ltd	Ralt RB20	Cosworth DFV	1	Template:Flagicon Mike Thackwell	All
			2	Template:Flagicon John Nielsen	All
Template:Flagicon Équipe Oreca	March 85B	Cosworth DFV	3	Template:Flagicon Michel Ferté	All
			4	Template:Flagicon Pierre Chauvet	1, 4, 11
				Template:Flagicon Olivier Grouillard	2-3, 5-10
				Template:Flagicon Pascal Fabre	12
			35	Template:Flagicon Alain Ferté	12
Template:Flagicon Automobiles Gonfaronnaises Sportives	AGS JH20	Cosworth DFV	5	Template:Flagicon Philippe Streiff	1-3, 5-8, 10-12
Template:Flagicon BS Automotive	March 85B	Cosworth DFV	7	Template:Flagicon Tomas Kaiser	1-5, 9-12
				Template:Flagicon Jean-Philippe Grand	6-7
				Template:Flagicon Philippe Alliot	8
			8	Template:Flagicon Christian Danner	All
Template:Flagicon Onyx	March 85B	Cosworth DFV	9	Template:Flagicon Emanuele Pirro	All
			10	Template:Flagicon Johnny Dumfries	1-5
				Template:Flagicon Mario Hytten	6-12
Template:Flagicon Sanremo Racing	March 85B	Cosworth DFV	13	Template:Flagicon Gabriele Tarquini	All
			14	Template:Flagicon Alessandro Santin	1-5, 9-12
				Template:Flagicon Ivan Capelli	6
				Template:Flagicon Aldo Bertuzzi	8
			33	Template:Flagicon Roberto Del Castello	2-5
				Template:Flagicon Guido Daccò	6-12
Template:Flagicon Lola Motorsport	Lola T950	Cosworth DFV	15	Template:Flagicon Alain Ferté	1-5
				Template:Flagicon Johnny Dumfries	7-8
				Template:Flagicon Philippe Streiff	9
				Template:Flagicon James Weaver	10-11
				Template:Flagicon Valentino Musetti	12
			16	Template:Flagicon Fulvio Ballabio	12
Template:Flagicon PMC Motorsport	Williams FW08C	Cosworth DFV	17	Template:Flagicon Thierry Tassin	1-2
			18	Template:Flagicon Lamberto Leoni	1-2, 5-8
Template:Flagicon Barron Racing	Tyrrell 012	Cosworth DFV	19	Template:Flagicon Claudio Langes	1-2
			20	Template:Flagicon Roberto Moreno	1-3, 5
				Template:Flagicon Adrián Campos	4
Template:Flagicon Corbari Italia	Lola T950	Cosworth DFV	21	Template:Flagicon Juan Manuel Fangio II	2-7
			22	Template:Flagicon Mario Hytten	1-5
	March 85B		21	Template:Flagicon Juan Manuel Fangio II	8-9
				Template:Flagicon Max Busslinger	10-11
				Template:Flagicon Stefano Livio	12
			22	Template:Flagicon Alain Ferté	6-8
				Template:Flagicon Lamberto Leoni	9-12
Template:Flagicon Ekström Racing	March 85B	Cosworth DFV	23	Template:Flagicon Eric Lang	2, 12
Template:Flagicon Eddie Jordan Racing	March 85B	Cosworth DFV	25	Template:Flagicon Thierry Tassin	3, 7-8, 10-12
Template:Flagicon Roger Cowman	Arrows A6	Cosworth DFV	26	Template:Flagicon Slim Borgudd	2, 5, 7, 12
Template:Flagicon Genoa Racing	March 85B	Cosworth DFV	34	Template:Flagicon Ivan Capelli	5, 7-12
Sources:

Season review

Rnd	Track	Date	Laps	Distance	Time	Speed	Pole Position	Fastest Lap	Race Winner	Report
1	Template:Flagicon Silverstone	24 March	44	207.64 km	1'07:41.01	183.976 km/h	Template:Flagicon Michel Ferté	Template:Flagicon John Nielsen	Template:Flagicon Mike Thackwell	Report
2	Template:Flagicon Thruxton	7 April	54	204.768 km	1'05:00.83	188.912 km/h	Template:Flagicon Mike Thackwell	Template:Flagicon Christian Danner	Template:Flagicon Emanuele Pirro	Report
3	Template:Flagicon Estoril	21 April	47	204.45 km	1'12:44.424	168.640 km/h	Template:Flagicon Mike Thackwell	Template:Flagicon Mike Thackwell	Template:Flagicon John Nielsen	Report
4	Template:Flagicon Nürburgring	28 April	—				Template:Flagicon Mike Thackwell	Cancelled due to snow
5	Template:Flagicon Vallelunga	12 May	65	208.0 km	1'15:14.83	165.53 km/h	Template:Flagicon Mike Thackwell	Template:Flagicon Emanuele Pirro	Template:Flagicon Emanuele Pirro	Report
6	Template:Flagicon Pau	27 May	72	198.72 km	1.30:28.63	131.781 km/h	Template:Flagicon Emanuele Pirro	Template:Flagicon Christian Danner	Template:Flagicon Christian Danner	Report
7	Template:Flagicon Spa-Francorchamps	2 June	29	201.521 km	1'11:56.510	167.852 km/h	Template:Flagicon Michel Ferté	Template:Flagicon Mike Thackwell	Template:Flagicon Mike Thackwell	Report
8	Template:Flagicon Dijon	30 June	55	209.0 km	1'08:54.10	181.998 km/h	Template:Flagicon John Nielsen	Template:Flagicon Thierry Tassin	Template:Flagicon Christian Danner	Report
9	Template:Flagicon Pergusa-Enna	28 July	40	198.0 km	1'01:58.99	191,664 km/h	Template:Flagicon Mike Thackwell	Template:Flagicon Christian Danner	Template:Flagicon Mike Thackwell	Report
10	Template:Flagicon Österreichring	17 August	31	184.202 km	0'53:56.114	204.915 km/h	Template:Flagicon Christian Danner	Template:Flagicon Mike Thackwell	Template:Flagicon Ivan Capelli	Report
11	Template:Flagicon Zandvoort	24 August	48	204.096 km	1'15:19.023	162.589 km/h	Template:Flagicon Christian Danner	Template:Flagicon Christian Danner	Template:Flagicon Christian Danner	Report
12	Template:Flagicon Donington Park	22 September	40	160.920 km	0'59:17.83	160.954 km/h	Template:Flagicon Mike Thackwell	Template:Flagicon Ivan Capelli	Template:Flagicon Christian Danner	Report
NC	Template:Flagicon Curaçao	13 October	58	205.900 km	1:41:29.572		Template:Flagicon Mike Thackwell	Template:Flagicon John Nielsen	Template:Flagicon John Nielsen	Report
Source:

Round 1: Silverstone, United Kingdom

At the start, the track was wet, and Emanuele Pirro took the lead from the second row, with pole sitter Michel Ferté dropping through the field. Alessandro Santin went off and out of the race at the first corner. At Maggots, Mike Thackwell took the lead from Pirro, and began to pull out a lead. By the end of the first lap, Christian Danner was up to second from sixth on the grid, with Ferté back into third place already. Pirro had fallen back to fourth, and Roberto Moreno was in fifth. At the Woodcote Chicane, Ferté got back past Danner into second place. Gabriele Tarquini spun exiting the Woodcote Chicane, but was miraculously avoided by everyone, and continued. On the drying track, Johnny Dumfries crashed, and Ferté took the lead back from Thackwell at the Woodcote Chicane. Not long after this, the heavens opened again, and Thackwell got back past Ferté while they both lapped Pirro. Moreno spun at the Woodcote Chicane, but quickly got back going again. Ferté also spun at the chicane, and badly damaged the front end of his car. John Nielsen got past Ferté's damaged car before Thackwell took his third Silverstone International Trophy victory, 32 seconds ahead of second placed Nielsen. Ferté finished third, Danner finished a lap down in fourth, and Tarquini and Moreno finished fifth and sixth respectively, despite them both spinning.

Round 2: Thruxton, United Kingdom

Gabriele Tarquini got the best start, going from fifth to first in one corner, but while going past Mike Thackwell, he clipped the front nose of the New Zealander's car, causing it to bend. Going into Campbell, Roberto Moreno slid off the track and out of the race. Johnny Dumfries harmlessly spun off at the next corner, Cobb, and he quickly rejoined the race. Michel Ferté took the lead from Thackwell into the Club Chicane, with Tomas Kaiser passing him on the pit straight afterwards. Thackwell pitted for a new front nosecone, and soon after, his teammate, John Nielsen pitted for a new nosecone himself. Ferté, who had started on wet tires, pitted for dry tires, as the track was almost completely dry. Kaiser then held a brief lead, before being overtaken by Emanuele Pirro. Then Thackwell, who had recovered most of the time he lost in the pit stop, overtook Ferté into Church. On the last lap, the back markers of Tarquini and Eric Lang were all that separated Pirro and Thackwell, but Lang had handling issues and slowed Thackwell down. After being overtaken, Lang promptly spun. Thackwell couldn't make up the lost time, and finished second to Pirro. Ferté finished third again, and Kaiser, Tarquini and Danner made up the rest of the points scorers.

Round 3: Estoril, Portugal

For the first time, Formula 3000 supported a round of Formula One. At the start, Thackwell got a good start, and Pirro nearly spun on the grass while trying to make up positions from tenth. After pulling out a big lead, Thackwell slowed because of electrical problems, leaving his teammate Nielsen to inherit the lead. Ferté and Tarquini fought for second place, while Nielsen pulled out a large lead. Pirro took fourth place from Moreno, and Nielsen took victory, with Ferté beating out Tarquini for second, with Pirro in fourth, Moreno in fifth, and Olivier Grouillard in sixth, taking his first point of the year.

Nurburgring, Germany

Round 4 was planned to take place at the still new Nurburgring GP Track, but heavy snow halted racing, and teams, fans, and drivers had to pack up and head to the next race.

Round 4: Vallelunga, Italy

At the start, Ferté took the lead from pole sitter Thackwell, with his teammate Nielsen up into third, and local hero Pirro settling into fourth. The front four stuck together like glue for most of the race, with Ferté keeping the door firmly shut to Thackwell. Nielsen overtook his teammate for second, but seemingly couldn't do anything about the Frenchman either. A collision between Ivan Capelli and Lamberto Leoni that launched Capelli into the air and heavily damaged his car, and damaged Leoni's rear wing. Pirro overtook Thackwell for third place, before quickly overtaking Nielsen for second. Then, while overtaking a back marker, Pirro made his move on Ferté, going three wide to make the overtake. Thackwell crashed out of the race when he had to avoid his teammate when he made a mistake. Ferté suffered an electrical fault that ended his race. Pirro won at his home race, with Nielsen second, Danner third, Grouillard in fourth, Philippe Streiff in fifth, and Dumfries sixth.

Round 5: Pau, France

Ferté overtook Thackwell for second at the start, while Pirro held onto the lead. Nielsen was fourth and Alain Ferté, older brother of Michel, dropped from third to fifth. Michel Ferté spun, and he took Thackwell out with him, sidelining the New Zealander. Ferté continued further down the field. Nielsen also went out of the race, and Danner in third was chasing down second placed Alain. Pirro started to slow because of overheating while Danner took second place. Danner made quick work of the Italian, and took the lead of the race. Alain Ferté retired with gearbox issues, while Danner held on to win the race, with Pirro holding onto second. Leoni was third, Grouillard fourth, Streiff in fifth, and Juan Manuel Fangio II in sixth, albeit 21 laps down.

Round 6: Spa-Francorchamps

The track at Spa-Francorchamps had been recently shortened from the 14 kilometer, mostly flat out original layout, to the shorter 7 kilometer version. The track had also been resurfaced, and it was very slippery. The two Ferté brothers were 1-2 at the start, with Michel ahead of Alain, and Pirro was in third place. Belgian Thierry Tassin was quickly up to sixth at his home race, passing Danner along the way. Streiff and Pirro fought hard over third and fourth, both ended up pushing too hard and retired with damaged cars. Michel Ferté was next to make a mistake, damaging his car too badly to continue. Tassan was next, being forced to retire from third. Alain Ferté was the most fortunate, as he spun and clipped the barrier, but was able to continue, even if he lost the lead to Thackwell. Nielsen took second from Alain, but nearly spun after. It wasn't too long until Nielsen's engine gave up on him, and Alain inherited second again. Thackwell won by 50 seconds to Alain, with Danner taking the final podium spot. Tarquini was fourth, Guido Daccò was fifth, and Fangio II finished sixth.

Championship standings

Scoring system

Points are awarded to the top 6 classified finishers.

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th
Points	9	6	4	3	2	1

Final point standings

Pos Driver SIL Template:Flagicon THR Template:Flagicon EST Template:Flagicon NÜR Template:Flagicon VLL Template:Flagicon PAU Template:Flagicon SPA Template:Flagicon DIJ Template:Flagicon PER Template:Flagicon ÖST Template:Flagicon ZAN Template:Flagicon DON Template:Flagicon Pts 1 Template:Flagicon Christian Danner 4 6 9 C 3 1 3 1 3 16 1 1 51 2 Template:Flagicon Mike Thackwell 1 2 NC C Ret Ret 1 2 1 9 2 Ret 45 3 Template:Flagicon Emanuele Pirro 7 1 4 C 1 2 Ret Ret 2 4 5 Ret 38 4 Template:Flagicon John Nielsen 2 NC 1 C 2 Ret Ret 3 Ret 2 4 13 34 5 Template:Flagicon Michel Ferté 3 3 2 C Ret Ret Ret 8 Ret Ret Ret 4 17 6 Template:Flagicon Gabriele Tarquini 5 5 3 C Ret DNS 4 13 4 13 Ret Ret 14 7 Template:Flagicon Ivan Capelli Ret DNS Ret Ret Ret 1 DNS 3 13 8 Template:Flagicon Philippe Streiff Ret Ret 10 5 5 Ret 9 Ret 5 3 5 12 9 Template:Flagicon Alain Ferté 8 12 7 C Ret Ret 2 4 6 10 10 Template:Flagicon Mario Hytten 9 10 Ret C Ret Ret Ret 12 5 10 Ret 2 8 11 Template:Flagicon Lamberto Leoni NC 16 Ret 3 Ret 15 Ret 3 11 11 8 12 Template:Flagicon Olivier Grouillard 8 6 4 4 Ret 7 8 8 7 13 Template:Flagicon Guido Daccò DNS 5 5 6 12 6 7 6 14 Template:Flagicon Tomas Kaiser 10 4 DSQ C 8 Ret 11 9 8 3 15 Template:Flagicon Roberto Moreno 6 Ret 5 9 3 16 Template:Flagicon Johnny Dumfries Ret 7 Ret C 6 Ret 10 1 17 Template:Flagicon Thierry Tassin NC 13 Ret Ret Ret 6 8 Ret 1 18 Template:Flagicon Juan Manuel Fangio II Ret 11 C Ret Ret 6 14 Ret 1 19 Template:Flagicon Philippe Alliot 6 1 20 Template:Flagicon Alessandro Santin Ret 9 Ret C Ret 7 7 7 9 0 21 Template:Flagicon Roberto Del Castello 14 8 C 7 0 22 Template:Flagicon James Weaver 14 10 0 23 Template:Flagicon Slim Borgudd DNQ 10 Ret Ret 0 24 Template:Flagicon Pascal Fabre 10 0 25 Template:Flagicon Eric Lang 11 12 0 26 Template:Flagicon Aldo Bertuzzi 11 0 27 Template:Flagicon Max Busslinger 15 12 0 28 Template:Flagicon Fulvio Ballabio 14 0 29 Template:Flagicon Claudio Langes Ret 15 0 30 Template:Flagicon Val Musetti 15 0 31 Template:Flagicon Stefano Livio 16 0 Template:Flagicon Pierre Chauvet DNS C Ret Template:Flagicon Jean-Philippe Grand DNS Ret Template:Flagicon Adrián Campos C Pos Driver SIL Template:Flagicon THR Template:Flagicon EST Template:Flagicon NÜR Template:Flagicon VAL Template:Flagicon PAU Template:Flagicon SPA Template:Flagicon DIJ Template:Flagicon PER Template:Flagicon ÖST Template:Flagicon ZAN Template:Flagicon DON Template:Flagicon Pts Sources:

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Notes

• Results in bold indicate pole position.
• Results in italics indicate fastest lap.