1992 International Formula 3000 Championship


The 1992 Formula 3000 International Championship was the eighth season of Formula 3000 in Europe. Luca Badoer won the ten-round championship.

Technical changes

was once again the dominant manufacturer. After Lola failed to win a race in 1991, there were only six of their cars on the grid in 1992. Simtek produced an upgrade of the previous year's RALT. Two cars were produced and sold to Piquet Racing, however after a test by Nelson Piquet himself they were sold in favor of a Reynard. Piemme Motors bought one car for Giambattista Busi, who usually started near the back of the grid and never managed to finish a race. The other car was sold to Japan, and RALT announced its withdrawal from F3000 early in the season.
Exotic fuel blends were banned after Agip's success in 1991. A stricter interpretation of the rules gave the cars long sidepods, which greatly increased the area of the flat floor, making the cars very sensitive to pitch changes.

Season summary

won on his debut at the Silverstone, which would turn out to be his only F3000 victory. Emanuele Naspetti won on the streets of Pau in spite of a collision with Andrea Montermini. Both continued, but Montermini later crashed at the Foch statue. Montermini won the next race in Barcelona.
At Enna, the Crypton team introduced a monodamper front suspension, and their driver Luca Badoer took the victory. He then won the next two rounds in Germany as other teams scrambled to catch up, either by switching to the dominant Mader-tuned Cosworth DFVs or with monodampers, now available as an upgrade from Reynard.
At Spa-Francorchamps, Badoer suffered a high-speed accident at Radillion. His car went into the barriers backwards, and Badoer's head hit the steel roll hoop, which broke his helmet and knocked him unconscious. Montermini took the victory, and followed this with a win on F3000's only visit to the twisty Albacete circuit in Spain.
At Nogaro, took pole position drove away to a convincing victory to clinch the title with a round to spare. In the finale, Badoer and Montermini collided, leaving Jean-Marc Gounon to take Lola's only victory of the year, followed by Olivier Panis in another Lola and David Coulthard.

Drivers and teams

Calendar

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.
PosDriverSIL
PAU
CAT
PER
HOC
NÜR
SPA
ALB
NOG
MAG
Points
1 Luca Badoer566111Ret21Ret46
2 Andrea MonterminiRetRet139Ret114Ret34
3 Rubens Barrichello232Ret63566527
4 Michael BartelsRet2Ret4223RetRetDSQ25
5 Jordi Gené1Ret3Ret582Ret81021
6 Jean-Marc Gounon4RetRetRetRet6916†2119
7 Emanuele Naspetti6116†24Ret19
8 Emmanuel CollardRetRet4Ret124DNQ315413
9 David Coulthard7Ret8RetRet7473311
10 Olivier Panis3Ret7Ret20RetRetRetRet210
11 Allan McNishRet5Ret3Ret1258
12 Alessandro ZampedriRetRet1157Ret785Ret4
13 Paul Stewart811981610114RetRet3
14 Vittorio ZoboliRet4121412151312Ret3
15 Laurent AïelloRetRet15†11105615†7Ret3
16 Giuseppe BugattiDNS5RetRet8Ret14DNQRetRet2
17 Giampiero SimoniRet109Ret61
18 Jérôme PolicandRetRetRet619†Ret1313Ret1
19 Phil Andrews12710911DNQ181014Ret0
20 Pedro ChavesRet9Ret71313DNQ1110Ret0
21 Steve RobertsonRetDNQRet18RetDNSRet1170
22 Frédéric GospariniRet8RetRetRet11160
23 Hideki NodaRetDNQRetRetDNS141712Ret80
24 Giovanni BonannoRet15Ret8DNQRetRet0
25 Olivier Beretta9RetRetRetRet9Ret17†9Ret0
26 Guido KnyczDNQRet14Ret90
27 Fabiano Vandone10Ret1410170
28 Paolo Delle Piane111013RetRet15RetRetRetRet0
29 Mark Skaife16Ret0
Giambattista BusiRetRetRetRetRetRetDNSRet
Richard DeanRet
Éric HélaryRet

Complete Overview

R16=retired, but classified R=retired NS=did not start NQ=did not qualify DIS=disqualified after finishing in eleventh place =place after practice, but grid position not held free