FIA International F3000 Championship

Nürburgring 11 May (43 laps)

This was the first race of the new F3000 one-make format. All drivers used Lola T96/50 chassis and Zytek's

450 bhp 3 litre V8 engine. Tyres were restricted to 3 sets per weekend. Ricardo raced #16, a white car with yellow wings and qualified 9th out of 26 drivers, 1.19 s slower than pole sitter Kenny Bräck. De Andrade qualified 24th.

Qualifying:

9th, 1:31.76, + 1.19

There was some fierce activity between warm-up and race when someone re-read the rule book and found out that almost all cars on the grid had illegal front wing settings. When the race finally started Ricardo's first F3000 race was over almost as fast as it had begun. French driver Gomes came up from 14th position on the inside of the field into the first corner with full speed and in the next moment most of the midfield was out in the sand. Gomez, Biagi, Massacane and Dussau retired on the spot while Ricardo managed to free his car from the gravel trap only to retire at the end of the lap together with his team mate de Andrade and South African Watson.

The race continued with a duel between German driver Jörg Müller and Kenny Bräck where the latter won.

Race:

DNF 1 lap, damage after accident

FL: 3:21.90 (21th, +1:49.28)

Winner: Kenny Bräck (Super Nova)