The 1997 International Formula 3000 season was the thirty-first season of the second-tier of Formula One feeder championship and also thirteenth season under the International Formula 3000 Championship moniker. The championship was a ten-round series contested from 11 May to 25 October 1997.

Drivers and teams

The following teams and drivers contested the 1997 FIA Formula 3000 International Championship. The Lola T96/50 Zytek-Judd was used by all teams, as was mandatory under the championship regulations.

TeamDriverRounds RSM Marko 1 Craig LowndesAll 2 Juan Pablo MontoyaAll Super Nova Racing 3 Ricardo ZontaAll 4 Laurent RedonAll Team Astromega 5 Boris DerichebourgAll 6 Soheil AyariAll Draco Engineering 7 Cyrille SauvageAll 8 Pedro CouceiroAll Apomatox 9 Fabrizio Gollin1-3, 9 Emmanuel Clérico4 10 Jean-Philippe Belloc1-4 Edenbridge Racing 11 Werner LupbergerAll 12 Max WilsonAll Pacific Racing 14 Oliver Tichy1-8 15 Marc Gené1-2 DAMS 16 Grégoire de GalzainAll 17 Jamie DaviesAll Durango Formula 18 Stephen WatsonAll 19 Gareth ReesAll Auto Sport Racing 20 Gastón MazzacaneAll 21 Tom KristensenAll Nordic Racing 22 Thomas Biagi1-3 Marc Gené4-6, 10 Mario Waltner7-8 Gianluca Paglicci9 23 Rui ÁguasAll Bob Salisbury Engineering 24 Oliver Gavin1-3 James Taylor4-10 25 Thomas SchieAll Den Blå Avis 26 Jason WattAll DC Cook Motorsport 27 David CookAll 28 Patrick Lemarié9-10 Coloni Motorsport 29 Markus FriesacherAll 30 Emiliano Spataro1-9 Oliver Tichy10 Ravarotto Racing 31 Anthony Beltoise1-7 32 Patrick Lemarié1-5, 7 GP Racing 33 Thomas Biagi4-10 Elide Racing 34 Miguel Ángel de Castro10 Arden International 35 Christian HornerAll KTR 36 Kurt MollekensAll Redman & Bright F3000 37 Gonzalo Rodríguez1, 3-7, 9-10 DKS Racing 38 Dino Morelli1-4Sources:

Calendar

Round Circuit Date Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team Report 1 Silverstone Circuit 11 May Ricardo Zonta Marc Gené Tom Kristensen Auto Sport Racing Report 2 Pau Grand Prix 19 May Juan Pablo Montoya Juan Pablo Montoya Juan Pablo Montoya RSM Marko Report 3 Helsinki Thunder 25 May Juan Pablo Montoya Juan Pablo Montoya Soheil Ayari Team Astromega Report 4 Nürburgring 29 June Ricardo Zonta Ricardo Zonta Ricardo Zonta Super Nova Racing Report 5 Autodromo di Pergusa 20 July Jamie Davies Jamie Davies Jamie Davies DAMS Report 6 Hockenheimring 26 July Tom Kristensen Juan Pablo Montoya Ricardo Zonta Super Nova Racing Report 7 A1 Ring 3 August Juan Pablo Montoya Ricardo Zonta Juan Pablo Montoya RSM Marko Report 8 Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps 22 August Tom Kristensen Rui Águas Jason Watt Den Blå Avis Report 9 Mugello Circuit 29 September Ricardo Zonta Ricardo Zonta Ricardo Zonta Super Nova Racing Report 10 Circuito de Jerez 25 October Ricardo Zonta Ricardo Zonta Juan Pablo Montoya RSM Marko ReportSource:

Season summary After finishing the season with two wins in the last three races of 1996, Brazil's Ricardo Zonta entered 1997 as the pre-season title favourite with the Super Nova team. However, he endured a frustrating start with no points from the first three races. The early pace in the championship battle was set by Denmark's Tom Kristensen, who inherited the race victory at a damp Silverstone from the disqualified Zonta, and then finished behind Juan Pablo Montoya on the street circuit at Pau. After an attritional race in Helsinki won by Soheil Ayari, where most of the major title contenders failed to finish and just nine drivers made it to the chequered flag, the field endured another wet race at the Nurburgring. It was marred by a serious accident involving British drivers Dino Morelli and Gareth Rees, in which Morelli suffered severe leg injuries which would keep him out of racing for the rest of the season. With the race abandoned after just four laps, Zonta was declared the winner, but with only half-points awarded.

By mid-season, the competitive start to the season left the championship battle wide open, with Kristensen and Enna winner Jamie Davies leading the standings halfway through the season ahead of Montoya, Zonta and Ayari. Zonta became the first driver to win twice with a dominant drive at Hockenheim, but left Germany a point behind the consistent Davies, who had been on the podium in four of the six races so far. However, at the A1-Ring, a disastrous qualifying left the British driver down in 24th place on the grid, leaving him out of contention for points. Montoya led home Zonta, who became the new championship leader.

The race at Spa-Francorchamps was another overshadowed by a large crash, as Kristensen crashed heavily while leading at the high-speed Blanchimont corner, triggering a pile-up, though no drivers were seriously injured. Denmark's Jason Watt took his first Formula 3000 race win to enter title contention, as Zonta could only manage to finish fifth, and his rivals all failed to score points. However, a month later, a controversial round at Mugello settled the championship - Kristensen was excluded from the event for running an illegal spacer, while Davies and DAMS team mate Gregoire de Galzain were also excluded for failure to attend the drivers' briefing. Zonta's race win, with Montoya only finishing third behind Watt, meant that the Brazilian was declared champion. The Auto Sport and Durango teams protested Zonta and Watt's results for allegedly having used illegal fuel and car parts, but this protest was quashed and the results stood. Montoya went on to win the final round at Jerez, securing second place in the championship. Watt finished third ahead of Davies, who had failed to score any points since taking the lead of the championship with four races to go.

None of the drivers who participated in the 1997 season were able to take seats on the 1998 Formula One grid. Zonta moved to the AMG Mercedes team in the FIA GT Championship, which he won jointly with Klaus Ludwig, and went on to drive for BAR in Formula One in 1999. Kristensen, who had won the 1997 24 Hours of Le Mans, moved into sportscar racing, while the remaining major contenders would return to Formula 3000 in 1998. Having won the 1996 Australian Touring Car Championship on debut, Craig Lowndes returned to Australia the following year and won a second ATCC title in as many attempts.

Drivers' Championship Pos Driver SIL PAU HEL NÜR PER HOC A1R SPA MUG JER Points 1 Ricardo Zonta DSQ Ret Ret 1 2 1 2 5 1 Ret 39 2 Juan Pablo Montoya Ret 1 Ret 4 11 5 1 DSQ 3 1 37.5 3 Jason Watt 4 12 DNS 2 Ret 4 Ret 1 2 Ret 25 4 Jamie Davies 3 3 Ret 8 1 3 9 8 EX Ret 22 5 Max Wilson Ret 7 Ret 5 3 2 8 2 4 10 21 6 Tom Kristensen 1 2 Ret 3 Ret Ret 6 Ret EX Ret 19 7 Oliver Tichy 8 8 2 9 Ret 7 5 Ret 2 14 8 Soheil Ayari Ret 6 1 19 Ret Ret 10 Ret 6 Ret 12 9 Laurent Redon Ret 4 Ret 21 6 Ret 3 14 5 11 10 10 Rui Águas Ret 9 5 7 Ret DSQ 4 9 12 5 7 11 Pedro Couceiro 2 Ret Ret 15 DNS Ret 11 7 Ret Ret 6 12 Dino Morelli 5 11 3 Ret 6 13 Cyrille Sauvage 7 5 Ret Ret 8 Ret Ret 4 9 DSQ 5 14 Gareth Rees Ret Ret Ret Ret 16 11 Ret Ret 7 3 4 15 Boris Derichebourg 12 15 8 Ret 9 DNQ 13 3 22 15 4 16 Patrick Lemarié 6 13 4 13 Ret 14 DNQ 4 17 Craig Lowndes 14 Ret Ret Ret 4 Ret Ret Ret 21 9 3 18 Werner Lupberger 11 DNQ DNQ 18 Ret 14 Ret 13 11 4 3 19 Kurt Mollekens EX 10 Ret DNQ 5 6 Ret Ret Ret Ret 3 20 Stephen Watson 15 DNQ 6 16 7 12 Ret 6 15 Ret 2 21 Christian Horner 16 DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 16 DNQ 17 6 1 22 Gonzalo Rodríguez DNQ Ret 6 Ret 17 7 8 Ret 0.5 23 David Cook Ret DNQ 7 DNQ Ret DNQ 14 Ret Ret 7 0 24 Grégoire de Galzain DNQ DNQ DNQ 17 Ret 9 15 Ret EX 8 0 25 Marc Gené 13 DNQ DNQ Ret 8 Ret 0 26 Anthony Beltoise Ret Ret 9 14 12 13 Ret 0 27 Jean-Philippe Belloc 9 Ret Ret 20 0 28 Gastón Mazzacane 10 DNQ Ret 10 15 10 17 11 10 Ret 0 29 Thomas Schie DNQ 14 DNQ DNQ DNQ 15 DNQ 10 18 Ret 0 30 Emiliano Spataro DNQ DNQ DNQ 11 13 16 12 Ret Ret 0 31 Thomas Biagi DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 14 18 Ret Ret 16 12 0 32 Emmanuel Clérico 12 0 33 James Taylor DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 12 DNQ DNQ 0 34 Fabrizio Gollin Ret Ret Ret 13 0 35 Markus Friesacher DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 17 DNQ DNQ Ret 19 DNQ 0 36 Gianluca Paglicci 20 0 – DNQ 0 – Mario Waltner DNQ DNQ 0 – Oliver Gavin DNQ DNQ DNQ 0 Pos Driver SIL PAU HEL NÜR PER HOC A1R SPA MUG JER PointsSources:Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest lap

Notes All drivers used Lola T96/50 chassis, with Zytek-Judd engines, and Avon tyres. Ricardo Zonta was disqualified from first place at Silverstone due to a gearbox irregularity. Nurburgring race was stopped prematurely due to an accident involving Dino Morelli in torrential rain. Half points awarded. Juan Pablo Montoya was disqualified during the Spa-Francorchamps race for holding up the field with a damaged car. Jamie Davies and Grégoire de Galzain were excluded from the race at Mugello for failing to attend the drivers' briefing. Tom Kristensen was excluded from the same event due to having an illegal spacer fitted. Rui Águas was disqualified during the race at Hockenheim for dangerous driving. Cyrille Sauvage was disqualified from second place at Jerez because a member of his team entered parc fermé after the race. Kurt Mollekens was excluded from the race at Silverstone after failing to attend the drivers' briefing.

Complete overview

first column of every race 10 = grid position second column of every race 10 = race result

R24=retired, but classified R=retired NS=did not start NQ=did not qualify NT=no time set in qualifying DIS(1)=disqualified after finishing as winner (13)=place after practice, but grid position not held free DIS=disqualified in practice