1989 International Formula 3000 Championship


The 1989 International Formula 3000 Championship was contested over 10 rounds. Jean Alesi won the title, while also competing in the last half of the Formula One season for Tyrrell.

Season summary

The season began with Thomas Danielsson winning at Silverstone, after returning from the eye problems that had caused him to miss most of the previous year.
Martin Donnelly then won on the road at Vallelunga, but was disqualified. His Eddie Jordan Racing team had modified the Reynard's nosecone, but it had not been subjected to the mandatory crash test.
At the Pau Grand Prix, Éric Bernard led the two EJR cars of Jean Alesi and Donnelly after an aborted first start. However, Bernard was caught behind an accident involving Paul Belmondo and stalled his car, allowing Alesi to go through and take the victory. Bernard stormed back through the field, but collided with Mark Blundell while battling for second place. Bernard would win the next race at Jerez. Andrea Chiesa then won a close race on the dusty Enna circuit.
Meanwhile, three F3000 regulars—Alesi, Bernard and Donnelly—all made their Formula One debuts at the French Grand Prix in July. Alesi was particularly impressive for Tyrrell, finishing fourth, and he would continue to drive for them when the F3000 schedule allowed.
The EJR team won the next three races, allowing Alesi to take a commanding lead in the championship. His closest rival Érik Comas won at Le Mans but Alesi's single point, along with the tiebreaker of most wins, meant that he clinched the title. Alesi then skipped the last round in at Dijon-Prenois to race in the Japanese Grand Prix, allowing Comas to tie his point total with the win.

Drivers and teams

TeamChassisEngineDriversRounds
Bromley MotorsportReynard 89DFord Cosworth1 Marco Greco6
Bromley MotorsportReynard 89DFord Cosworth2 Gary Brabham1-2, 4
Bromley MotorsportReynard 89DFord Cosworth2 Cor Euser8
Bromley MotorsportReynard 89DFord Cosworth2 David Velay10
Eddie Jordan RacingReynard 89DMugen Honda3 Martin DonnellyAll
Eddie Jordan RacingReynard 89DMugen Honda4 Jean Alesi1-9
Eddie Jordan RacingReynard 89DMugen Honda4 Rickard Rydell10
First RacingReynard 89DJudd5 Jean-Denis DélétrazAll
First RacingReynard 89DJudd6 Marco ApicellaAll
First RacingMarch 89BJudd7 Fabrizio GiovanardiAll
GA MotorsportMarch 89BJudd8 Philippe Favre1-9
GA MotorsportMarch 89BJudd8 Marco Greco10
GA MotorsportMarch 89BJudd9 Jacques Goudchaux1-9
GA MotorsportMarch 89BJudd9 Andrew Gilbert-Scott10
GA MotorsportLola T89/50Ford Cosworth21 Eric van de PoeleAll
GA MotorsportLola T89/50Ford Cosworth22 Stéphane ProulxAll
Lola MotorsportLola T89/50Judd10 Enrico Bertaggia1
Lola MotorsportLola T89/50Judd11 Mauro Martini1
Racetech 3000Reynard 89DFord Cosworth12 Didier Artzet1-3
Madgwick InternationalReynard 89DFord Cosworth16 Thomas DanielssonAll
Madgwick InternationalReynard 89DFord Cosworth17 Gary EvansAll
CoBRa MotorsportsReynard 89DFord Cosworth18 Ross Hockenhull1, 4, 6-7
CoBRa MotorsportsReynard 89DFord Cosworth18 Alain Ferté2-3
CoBRa MotorsportsReynard 89DFord Cosworth19 Pedro ChavesAll
CoBRa MotorsportsReynard 89DFord Cosworth20 Michel Ferté5
CoBRa MotorsportsReynard 89DFord Cosworth20 Alain Ferté8-10
FootworkMooncraft MC041Mugen Honda23 Ukyo Katayama1-4
FootworkMooncraft MC041Mugen Honda23 Damon Hill5-10
Pacific RacingReynard 89DMugen Honda24 Eddie IrvineAll
Pacific RacingReynard 89DMugen Honda25 JJ Lehto1-9
Pacific RacingReynard 89DMugen Honda25 Allan McNish10
DAMSLola T89/50Mugen Honda26 Érik ComasAll
DAMSLola T89/50Mugen Honda33 Eric BernardAll
Middlebridge RacingReynard 89DFord Cosworth27 Mark BlundellAll
Middlebridge RacingReynard 89DFord Cosworth28 Phil AndrewsAll
CDMReynard 89DFord Cosworth29 Paul BelmondoAll
CDMReynard 89DFord Cosworth30 Eric ChéliAll
Roni MotorsportReynard 89DFord Cosworth31 Andrea ChiesaAll
Roni MotorsportReynard 89DFord Cosworth32 Emanuele NaspettiAll
Automotive BVMReynard 89DJudd38 Massimo Monti1-3
Automotive BVMReynard 89DJudd38 Franco Scapini4-9
Automotive BVMReynard 89DJudd38 Alessandro Zanardi10
Cowman RacingReynard 89DJudd39 Enrico Bertaggia2-4
Cowman RacingReynard 89DJudd39 Domenico Gitto5-6
Cowman RacingReynard 89DJudd39 Perry McCarthy7-9
ApomatoxReynard 89DFord Cosworth40 Dominique Delestre1-4, 10
ApomatoxReynard 89DFord Cosworth41 Phillipe Gache3-10
Forti CorseLola T89/50Ford Cosworth42 Claudio LangesAll
Leyton House RacingMarch 89BJudd43 Mauro Martini3-5
Leyton House RacingMarch 89BFord Cosworth43 Gary Brabham6-10

Calendar

RoundCircuitDateLapsDistanceTimeSpeedPole PositionFastest LapWinner
1 Silverstone Circuit9 April414.778=196.308 km0'55:31.92211.73 km/h Philippe Favre Philippe Favre1 Thomas Danielsson
2 ACI Vallelunga Circuit30 April643.2=204.80 km1'13:08.797167.991 km/h Martin Donnelly Marco Apicella Fabrizio Giovanardi2
3 Pau Grand Prix15 May722.76=198.72 km1'28:51.90134.173 km/h Marco Apicella Éric Bernard
Marco Apicella
Jean Alesi
4 Circuito de Jerez4 June484.218=202.464 km1'18:28.48154.80 km/h Éric Bernard Éric Bernard Éric Bernard
5 Autodromo di Pergusa23 July394.95=193.050 km0'58:54.5196.626 km/h Jean Alesi Martin Donnelly Andrea Chiesa
6 Brands Hatch20 August484.19=201.12 km1'02:03.76194.15 km/h Érik Comas Éric Bernard Martin Donnelly
7 Birmingham28 August513.975=202.725 km1'11:48.98169.36 km/h Jean Alesi Jean Alesi Jean Alesi
8 Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps16 September286.94=194.30 km1'02:40.93186.005 km/h Érik Comas Érik Comas Jean Alesi
9 Bugatti Circuit24 September464.267=196.0 km1'12:31.43168.59 km/h Éric Bernard Érik Comas Érik Comas
10 Dijon-Prenois22 October543.8=205.2 km1'05:07.20189.066 km/h Éric Bernard Érik Comas Érik Comas

Notes
1 JJ Lehto set the fastest race lap, but was disqualified after the race for having an illegal rev-limiter.
2 Martin Donnelly won on the road, but was disqualified for using a nosecone that had not been subjected to the mandatory crash test.

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.
Jean Alesi won the championship by virtue of having three wins to Érik Comas' two. He skipped the last race of the season with the championship already won.
DriverSIL
VLL
PAU
JER
PER
BRH
BIR
SPA
BUG
DIJ
Points
1 Jean Alesi4Ret15Ret211639
2 Érik Comas54DNQ2Ret3Ret21139
3 Éric BernardRetRetRet1Ret44Ret3225
4 Marco Apicella8Ret234Ret23RetRet23
5 Eric van de Poele63Ret4RetRet1442519
6 Andrea Chiesa112RetRet1Ret1317RetRet15
7 Thomas Danielsson1Ret312RetRetRet6131114
8 Martin DonnellyRetDSQRetRetRet13Ret71713
9 Eddie IrvineDNSRetRetRet3Ret694411
10 Fabrizio GiovanardiDNQ1Ret14RetDNQDNS13DNQ129
11 Mark Blundell3Ret6DNQRetRet5DNSRet68
12 Claudio Langes12RetRet726915977
13 Philippe Favre2Ret7RetRet7Ret126
14 J.J. LehtoDSQRet46RetRetRet5Ret6
15 Andrew Gilbert-Scott34
16 Alain Ferté65RetRet133
17 Stéphane ProulxRet9Ret10RetRetRet85Ret2
18 Gary BrabhamRet8135DNQ11RetRet2
19 Emanuele Naspetti165DNQRetRet9RetRet10102
20 Gary EvansRet11Ret175RetRet16DNQDNQ2
21 Phil Andrews7RetDNQ11Ret107Ret12Ret0
22 Perry McCarthyDNQ7150
23 Didier ArtzetRet7Ret0
24 Philippe GacheRet8DNQRet8Ret8Ret0
25 Ross HockenhullRet8110
26 Allan McNish80
27 Jacques Goudchaux1010DNQ9DNQDNQRetDNQ140
28 Jean-Denis Délétraz14RetRet15RetRet12DNQRet90
29 Mauro Martini9DNQ16Ret0
30 Paul Belmondo13RetRetRetRet12Ret10Ret180
31 Franco ScapiniDNQRetDNQ10DNQDNQ0
32 Éric ChéliDNS12RetDNQRetDNQDNSRet11DNQ0
33 Pedro Chaves15DNQDNQRetRet11RetDNQ17DNQ0
34 Damon HillRetRetDNS1416150
35 David Velay140
36 Alessandro Zanardi160
37 Ukyo KatayamaDNQRetDNQ180
38 Enrico BertaggiaDNQDNQDNQ190
Marco GrecoRetRetRet
Massimo MontiDNQDNQRet
Domenico GittoDNQRet
Michel FertéRet
Cor EuserRet
Rickard RydellRet
Dominique DelestreDNQDNQDNQ

Complete overview

R = retired, NS = did not start, NQ = did not qualify, DIS = disqualified