Landmark: Czech Tomas Enge (Ma-Con Engineering) is making his 53rd FIA F3000 race start – beating the record held by Italian Marco Apicella.
Pre-race: José Maria Lopez (CMS), Mathias Lauda (CMS) and Nico Verdonck (Astromega) are all docked grid positions for yellow-flag infringements during yesterday’s free practice session.
Lap 1: The event starts behind the Safety Car following a pre-race deluge. Conditions are sufficiently treacherous that eighth-fastest qualifier Raffaele Giammaria (AEZ) spins during one of his installation laps. He takes his place on the grid, however. Pole position starter Vitantonio Liuzzi (Arden) slithers away in the lead as the field sets off in qualifying order. Enrico Toccacelo (BCN), Patrick Friesacher (Coloni), Enge, Robert Doornbos (Arden), Ernesto Viso (Durango), Esteban Guerrieri (BCN) and Giammaria trail in his spray.
Lap 3: The race begins in anger. Liuzzi streaks away from Toccacelo and opens a one-second gap. Guerrieri passes Viso. Newcomer Chanoch Nissany (Coloni) runs wide at Turn One. Lopez does likewise at Turn Five.
Lap 4: Nissany runs off at Turn Two, but keeps going. On his first appearance for Super Nova, Can Artam spins at Tyurn Five and slips from 15th to 16th.
Lap 5: Guerrieri runs wide at Turn Two and drops to eighth.
Lap 6: Toccacelo sweeps around Liuzzi’s outside at Turn One, but the leader repels him.
Guerrieri drops to 10th after running off at Turn Two.
Lap 8: The top three are covered by just 1.7 seconds. Enge is losing touch in fourth.
Lap 10: Fernando Monfardini (AEZ, 14th) makes the afternoon’s first tyre stop.
Lap 11: Guerrieri passes Tony Schmidt (Ma-Con) for ninth and sets fastest lap (relatively speaking – it’s a 2m 00.447s) in the process.
Lap 12: Yannick Schroeder (Durango, eighth) pits for tyres.
Lap 13: Toccacelo barges past Liuzzi and Friesacher almost follows suit. Viso and Giammaria pit.
Lap 14: Friesacher does follow suit. Toccacelo leads the Austrian by 2.8 seconds and Liuzzi trails by 5.4. Schroeder spins into retirement.
Lap 15: Friesacher sets fastest lap – 1m 58.328s – to cut Toccacelo’s advantage to 1.7 seconds.
Lap 16: Toccacelo responds: 1m 58.130s. Guerrieri and Schmidt are up to sixth – and on Doornbos’ tail.
Lap 17: Friesacher laps in 1m 56.457s – and takes the lead as Toccacelo pits, for slicks. The BCN crew struggles with the left rear wheel. Guerrieri and Schmidt pass Doornbos.
Lap 18: Friesacher reduces his best lap to 1m 56.119s. Liuzzi pits and rejoins – on slicks – in front of Toccacelo.
Lap 19: Friesacher, Enge and Guerrieri continue on wets in the first three positions. Doornbos pits from sixth.
Lap 20: Friesacher ups the pace again – 1m 55.118s – but Guerrieri is even faster, on 1m 54.983s. Schmidt runs fourth from Liuzzi and Toccacelo. Eighth-placed Lauda crashes at Turn Three and rejoins with a helping hand from the marshals.
Lap 22: Friesacher pits. Guerrieri laps in 1m 53.441s – but the slick-shod Liuzzi is quicker still, on 1m 52.703s. Schmidt pits – and loses time with a jammed wheel. He drops to ninth.
Lap 23: Still to pit, Guerrieri leads by 5.3 seconds from Friesacher, Liuzzi, Toccacelo, Enge and Doornbos.
Lap 24: Guerrieri finally stops. Friesacher resumes the lead. Liuzzi laps in 1m 48.458s.
Lap 25: With every driver having stopped, Friesacher has 2.8s in hand over Liuzzi. Toccacelo is a distant third from Enge, Doornbos, Viso, Giammaria, Lopez (up two places in one lap) and Schmidt.
Lap 26: Liuzzi cuts his deficit to 2.4 seconds…
Lap 27: …and now it’s just 1.8.
Lap 28: Guerrieri spins but hangs on to fifth. Lopez, running eighth, sets the best lap of the race so far – 1m 41.704s.
Lap 29: Friesacher’s advantage has stabilised, at 1.7 seconds.
Lap 30: Oh no it hasn’t: Liuzzi posts a 1m 39.888s and cuts the arrears to one second.
Lap 31: Friesacher laps in 1m 39.342s and extends his lead by three tenths. Guerrieri goes even faster – 1m 39.193s.
Lap 32: Liuzzi makes a small mistake and Friesacher extends his advantage to two seconds. Lauda (15th) is spending more time off the track than he is on it. He retires to the pits. Viso is fastest man on the circuit – 1m 38.321s.
Lap 34: Enge sets fastest lap for keeps: 1m 37.927s.
Lap 35: Friesacher wins by 2.5 seconds from Liuzzi, Toccacelo, Enge, Guerrieri, Viso, Doornbos and Lopez.