Pre-race: Series leader Vitantonio Liuzzi (Arden) needs to finish ahead of arch-rival Enrico Toccacelo (BCN) to secure the FIA F3000 title. Mathias Lauda (CMS) is competing in two races this weekend: he is commuting by aeroplane between Spa and Donington Park, England, where he is contesting the latest round of the Italy-based Euro3000 Series. The stewards give Olivier Tielemans (Astromega) special dispensation to start, even though he failed to record a qualifying time after spinning at Blanchimont on his out lap.
Lap 1: For the second consecutive race, the FIA F3000 runners set off behind a Safety Car because of slippery conditions. Even at non-racing speeds, pole position qualifier Liuzzi leaves a trail of spray in his wake. Robert Doornbos (Arden), Tomas Enge (Ma-Con – extending his record to 54 FIA F3000 starts), José Maria Lopez (CMS), Esteban Guerrieri (BCN), newcomer Matteo Grassotto (replacing the cash-strapped Raffaele Giammaria at AEZ), Toccacelo, Tony Schmidt (Ma-Con), Lauda, Patrick Friesacher (Coloni), Fernando Monfardini (AEZ), Ernesto Viso (Durango), Jeff van Hooydonk (Super Nova), Nico Verdonck (Astromega), Can Artam (Super Nova), Chanoch Nissany (Coloni), Matteo Meneghello (Durango – a replacement for the skint Yannick Schroeder) and Tielemans are concealed in his wake.
Lap 2: Race begins in earnest. Doornbos challenges Liuzzi for the lead at Les Combes but is repelled. Friesacher passes Lauda for ninth.
Lap 3: Doornbos takes the lead on the approach to Blanchimont to lead an FIA F3000 event on merit for the first time. Toccacelo remains seventh. A touch less significantly, Meneghello passes Nissany for 15th.
Lap 4: Monfardini runs through the gravel at Pouhon and drops to 15th.
Lap 5: Friesacher – who has done more overtaking than almost anybody this season – nicks eighth from Schmidt. This soon becomes seventh as Toccacelo runs wide at Pouhon and slumps to ninth.
At the front, Doornbos leads by 4.2s and Liuzzi is pulling away from Enge.
Lap 6: Doornbos laps in 2m 32.173s – his best so far.
Lap 7: Van Hooydonk takes 11th from Viso at La Source, but he runs wide and promptly drops back again. Tielemans stops by the side of the track and retires.
Lap 8: Van Hooydonk has another pop at Viso, again at La Source. He does not pass him this time, but he does almost hit him. Later in the lap, he gets by between Stavelot and Blanchimont. Nissany is the first driver to pit – but it’s not scheduled. He does not rejoin.
Lap 9: Van Hooydonk comes within an ace of hitting Lauda at La Source but succeeds in passing before the end of the lap.
Lap 10: Van Hooydonk remains on course to get more mentions than anybody else: he overtakes Toccacelo at Les Combes to take ninth. Doornbos leads by 15.0s, incidentally. Further back, Friesacher is giving Grassotto a hard time.
Lap 12: Enge is little more than a second from Liuzzi – and closing. Grassotto pits for tyres.
Lap 13: Doornbos ups his pace: 2m 32.153s. He is lapping three seconds more quickly than Liuzzi.
Friesacher and Lauda pit.
Lap 14: Enge passes Liuzzi at Les Combes. Viso, Artam and Monfardini pit in the middle of a spirited tail-end scrap.
Lap 15: Doornbos posts a 2m 31.992s and remains more than two seconds per lap quicker than anybody else. Schmidt pits for fresh tyres.
Lap 16: Enge, Liuzzi and van Hooydonk pit. Liuzzi rejoins in front of the Czech. Seventh-placed Friesacher sets a new fastest lap – 2m 31.700s.
Lap 17: Lopez, Verdonck, Toccacelo and Meneghello pit. Liuzzi – presently fourth, pending further stops among the leaders – almost runs wide at the chicane, but just keeps Enge at bay. Friesacher scythes round in 2m 31.628s. Monfardini spins at Stavelot.
Lap 18: Liuzzi sets fastest lap – 2m 31.073s. He is 70s behind Doornbos. Only the leader and Guerrieri have still to stop. Schmidt passes Grassotto for seventh at Les Combes.
Lap 19: Doornbos and Guerrieri pit. Guerrieri loses time with a jammed left rear wheel. Liuzzi laps in 2m 30.747s.
Lap 20: With everybody having stopped, Doornbos leads Liuzzi by 22.9s. Lopez is third from Enge, Friesacher, Schmidt, Grassotto, Guerrieri, van Hooydonk and Viso. Monfardini goes off again – at Rivage this time.
Lap 21: Doornbos laps in 2m 29.524s the definitive fastest lap.
Lap 22: Doornbos wins by 27.8s from Liuzzi, who becomes the 20th – and final – FIA F3000 champion. Lopez, Enge, Friesacher, Schmidt, Guerrieri and Grassotto complete the scorers. Toccacelo trails in 12th. Remarkably, given the conditions, only two drivers fail to go the distance.