The 1985 Curaçao Grand Prix was a one-off Formula 3000 race held in Willemstad, Curaçao on 13 October 1985. The race was organised by the SCCA. The Grand Prix was run in the streets of the city. As the track was very slippery the cars initially used wet weather tires. During the race the cars ran on qualifier tires. John Nielsen won the 58 lap race with a 21-second lead over Ivan Capelli.
Results Qualifying Pos. No. Driver Team Chassis Time Grid 1 1 Mike Thackwell Ralt Racing Ralt RB20 1:41.895 1 2 34 Ivan Capelli Genoa Racing March 85B 1:43.023 2 3 2 John Nielsen Ralt Racing Ralt RB20 1:43.213 3 4 8 Christian Danner BS Automotive March 85B 1:43.696 4 5 25 Claudio Langes Eddie Jordan Racing March 85B 1:43.760 5 6 33 Guido Daccò Sanremo Racing March 85B 1:45.890 6 7 35 Alain Ferté Onyx Race Engineering March 85B 1:46.174 7 8 7 Johnny Dumfries BS Automotive March 85B 1:46.590 8 9 9 Emanuele Pirro Onyx Race Engineering March 85B 1:46.751 9 10 14 Alessandro Santin Sanremo Racing March 85B 1:47.532 10 11 10 John Jones Onyx Race Engineering March 85B 1:47.532 11 12 22 Lamberto Leoni Corbari Italia March 85B 1:48.087 12 13 21 Stefano Livio Corbari Italia March 85B 1:48.097 13 14 3 Michel Ferté Oreca March 85B 1:48.647 14 15 15 Gabriele Tarquini Lola Motorsport Lola T950 1:49.465 15 16 13 Aldo Bertuzzi Sanremo Racing March 85B 1:49.984 16 17 16 Fulvio Ballabio Lola Motorsport Lola T950 1:50.152 17 18 23 Eric Lang Ekström Racing March 85B 1:51.761 18 19 26 Slim Borgudd Roger Cowman Racing Arrows A6 1:53.656 19 20 4 Pierre Chauvet Oreca March 85B 2:04.993 20
Race Pos. No. Driver Team Chassis Laps Time/Retired Grid 1 2 John Nielsen Ralt Racing Ralt RT20 58 1:41:29.572 3 2 34 Ivan Capelli Genoa Racing March 85B 58 + 21.400 2 3 25 Claudio Langes Eddie Jordan Racing March 85B 58 5 4 8 Christian Danner BS Automotive March 85B 58 4 5 35 Alain Ferté Onyx Race Engineering March 85B 58 7 6 9 Emanuele Pirro Onyx Race Engineering March 85B 57 + 1 lap 9 7 14 Alessandro Santin Lola Motorsport Lola T950 56 + 2 laps 10 8 10 John Jones Onyx Race Engineering March 85B 56 + 2 laps 11 9 16 Fulvio Ballabio Sanremo Racing March 85B 51 + 7 laps 17 10 13 Aldo Bertuzzi Sanremo Racing March 85B 51 + 7 laps 16 NC 26 Slim Borgudd Roger Cowman Racing Arrows A6 35 Not classified 19 Ret 15 Gabriele Tarquini Lola Motorsport Lola T950 49 Accident 15 Ret 3 Michel Ferté Oreca March 85B 47 Electrics 14 Ret 22 Lamberto Leoni Combari Italia March 85B 46 Brakes 12 Ret 33 Guido Daccò Sanremo Racing March 85B 40 Gearbox 40 Ret 23 Eric Lang Ekström Racing March 85B 38 Engine 18 Ret 21 Stefano Livio Combari Italia March 85B 37 Accident 13 Ret 7 Johnny Dumfries BS Automotive March 85B 32 Accident 8 Ret 4 Pierre Chauvet Oreca March 85B 21 Accident 20 DNS 1 Mike Thackwell Ralt Racing Ralt RT20 0 Electrics 1 Fastest Lap: John Nielsen (Ralt Racing) – 1:44.725
Plans for potential Formula One race and demise Around the same time the event organisers planned the event to become part of the Formula One calendar in the future. While the event was praised by press and public, the plans for Formula One race ended as the track would have needed substantial improvements to meet the FIA requirements to host Formula One event. A second Curaçao Grand Prix was scheduled as part of the 1986 International Formula 3000 Championship, but it was eventually dropped from the calendar.
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