Spa 1989

	AltF3K	Welcome to Spa Francorchamps for round nine of the 1989 Formula 3000 season
20:57		--- Normal32 is away (Away)
20:57	AltF3K	There have been many changes in the paddock since we last met in Birmingham
20:57	AltF3K	The most notable of which is the return of Johnny Herbert from his injury, reprising his role as EJR team leader
20:57	ORECA	Go Bernard, lat's get this title.
20:57	ORECA	*let's
20:57	AltF3K	Bernard?
20:58	AltF3K	Don't you mean Comas?
20:58	ORECA	Comas
20:58	ORECA	It has been too long since the last race
20:58	AltF3K	One announcement that's also flown under the radar is the goings on at Middlesbridge
20:58	ORECA	And writing my thesis is eating my brain
20:59	AltF3K	With a merger with another team looking more likely by the day, they have gone all out and signed two promising rookies for the remaining three races
20:59	AltF3K	In the form of Ulsterman Eddie Irvine and Italy's Alessandro Zanardi
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21:06	AltF3K	After first qualifying, Fabrizio Giovanardi is on the provisional pole
21:06	AltF3K	Ahead of an incredible performance by Alex Zanardi, with the two Oreca cars of Allan McNish and Erik Comas in 3rd and 4th
21:07	AltF3K	Andrea Montermini is currently on the outside looking in, but is yet to set a representative time
21:07	AltF3K	And in second qualifying, it is championship leader Erik Comas that puts in a blinding lap to steal pole position!
21:08	AltF3K	Giovanardi, Zanardi and McNish complete the top 4
21:08	AltF3K	Positions 5 to 10 are Herbert, Irvine, Beekhuis, Bernard, Apicella and Aarseth
21:08	AltF3K	Jean-Denis Deletraz is the only non-qualifier this weekend
21:08	AltF3K	Which means Swiss gentleman driver Christophe Hurni will make his Formula 3000 race debut this weekend
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21:17	AltF3K	26 cars line up on the grid at this revered four mile circuit
21:17	AltF3K	One of these drivers can walk away with the championship today
21:17	AltF3K	It's up to the other 25 to stop him
21:17	AltF3K	Will Comas climb to the top of the mountain?
21:18	AltF3K	We are about to find out as the lights come on
21:18	AltF3K	And we're away!
21:18	AltF3K	Giovanardi has a blinder of a start to take the lead into La Source!
21:18	AltF3K	Comas and Zanardi follow behind
21:19	AltF3K	Josephine Aarseth has had a blinder for a start, and is already up to P7
21:19	AltF3K	COMAS!
21:19	AltF3K	WHAT A MOVE!
21:20	AltF3K	Around the outside of Gio heading into Blanchemont!
21:20	AltF3K	The Frenchman wants to put an exclaimation point on this title
21:20	AltF3K	He leads at the end of lap one from Gio, Zanardi, McNish, Irvine and Herbert
21:22	AltF3K	Thomas Danielson has a spin at Eau Rouge, and gets collected by Perry McCarthy, putting both out of the race!
21:22	AltF3K	That's gonna be a hefty repair bill for both those teams
21:22	AltF3K	And that's McNish!
21:22	AltF3K	He's pointing the wrong way at Les Combes!
21:23	AltF3K	Gio is going with Comas as the pair start to build a gap over Zanardi
21:24	AltF3K	Herbert also goes for a trip into a local gravel trap
21:24	AltF3K	As Schneider takes sixth from Herbert's teammate Eric Bernard at the end of lap 2 of 28
21:24	pi3141	Where is McNish now?
21:25	AltF3K	McNish is back up to 22nd, having just put a move on Greco
21:25	AltF3K	There's a train starting to form behind Bernard
21:25	AltF3K	Consisting of Jon Beekhuis, Scrattenheim and 1988 champion Martin Donnelly
21:26	AltF3K	Bernard completely no-sells a move from Beekhuis, allowing Scrattenheim and Donnelly to sneak ahead of the Swiss driver
21:27	AltF3K	McNish is wasting little time mowing down the backmarkers as he passes Morbidelli with extreme prejudice
21:27	AltF3K	His next targets are Gimax and Montermini
21:27	AltF3K	Christophe Hurni meanwhile is having an excellent showing, as he's already up to the dizzying heights of 18th
21:28	AltF3K	Scrattenheim has cleared Bernard for 7th in the meantime
21:28	AltF3K	Donnelly is the next to fancy his chances at the EJR driver
21:28	AltF3K	As Damon Hill slowly makes his way up through the field
21:29	AltF3K	He's currently 12th behind local hero Eric van de Poele
21:29	AltF3K	Bernard's slide down the order continues, as Donnelly makes his way past
21:30	AltF3K	The top six remains the same on lap 5 of 28
21:30	AltF3K	Comas has a small gap over Gio and Zanardi
21:30	AltF3K	And then it's Irvine, Aarseth and Schneider
21:31	AltF3K	Hill taks advantage of the squabbling behind Bernard to steal 11th from van de Poele
21:31	AltF3K	Schneider is slowly but surely falling into the clutches of Scrattenheim and Donnelly in the fight for the final point
21:31	AltF3K	As van de Poele takes 11th back from Hill
21:32	AltF3K	McNish meanwhile is in 20th position
21:32	AltF3K	And looking for a way past Hurni's IBR machine
21:32	AltF3K	Oh
21:32	AltF3K	Zanardi's passed Gio while we were away!
21:32	AltF3K	As Scrattenheim takes 6th from Schneider
21:33	AltF3K	The Italian driver is making his F3000 debut, having impressed many in Italian F3
21:33	AltF3K	And judging by his performance this weekend, Zanardi has a long and successful career ahead of him
21:34	AltF3K	Damon Hill's early charge is coming to a end
21:34	AltF3K	After being as high as 11th early on, he's slid back down to 14th as the underpowered Judd shows its hand
21:35	AltF3K	Andrea Chiesa's anonymous afternoon comes to an early end due to suspension failure
21:36	AltF3K	McNish's charge through the field continues, as he takes 17th from Montermini and 16th from Michel Ferte in quick succession
21:37	AltF3K	Aarseth's luckless season continues, as the Transmission decides to let go while running in a fine 5th place
21:37	AltF3K	Three points is scant reward for the speed that she has shown so far this year
21:38	AltF3K	Damon Hill is the first to stop from P13
21:38	AltF3K	As McNish steals another position from Hiro Matsushita
21:39	AltF3K	Donnelly enters the points for the first time this afternoon at the expense of Schneider
21:39	AltF3K	And just as I say that his transmission packs it up as well!
21:39	AltF3K	This is crucial news for Oreca, as he was the closest challenger to Comas for the title
21:40	AltF3K	Speaking of Comas, he starts lap 12 of 28
21:41	AltF3K	With an 8.4 second cushion over Zanardi in 2nd place
21:41	AltF3K	Bertrand Gachot brings the GA machine in from P9
21:42	AltF3K	And it looks like the Pacific crew are getting ready for a stop for one of their drivers
21:43	AltF3K	OH!
21:43	AltF3K	That was a terrible miscommunication!
21:43	AltF3K	McNish has no idea Apicella was trying to head into the pits
21:43	AltF3K	And the ensuing accident puts both out of the race in spectacular fashion!
21:45	AltF3K	Schneider meanwhile pits from 6th place
21:45	AltF3K	Bernard follows him in from 8th
21:45	AltF3K	And we now have the Middlebridge and DAMS crews getting ready for battle
21:46	AltF3K	First in is Irvine from P4
21:46	AltF3K	Followed by Scrattenheim in 5th
21:47	AltF3K	Comas is about to come up to traffic in the form of Gimax and Morbidelli
21:47	AltF3K	He has to slam on the brakes to avoid running to the back of Morbidelli out of La Source
21:48	AltF3K	And the Frenchman gives Morbidelli some universal sign language while lapping him at Les Combes
21:48	AltF3K	Comas brings the Oreca car in at the end of lap 16
21:48	AltF3K	Zanardi follows suit
21:49	AltF3K	The Madgewick crew also service their man Beekhuis
21:50	AltF3K	As Bertrand Gachot's afternoon comes to a premature conclusion
21:50	AltF3K	Another Transmission failure
21:50	AltF3K	At the end of lap 17 of 28, the order is now Comas, Zanardi, Giovanardi, Irvine, Scrattenheim and Beekhuis
21:51	AltF3K	Schnieder currently runs a lonely 7th ahead of Bernard, Hill and van de Poele
21:51	AltF3K	The closest battle on track is currently Bernard and Hill for P8
21:51	AltF3K	As the EJR driver continues to be a waste of a seat
21:52	AltF3K	After his early adventures, Herbert has quietly made his way up into 11th position
21:52	AltF3K	Comas is about to come up to an angry midfield pack
21:53	AltF3K	Consisting of Gimax, Morbidelli and Montermini
21:53	AltF3K	Andrea lets him buy with minimal fuss
21:53	AltF3K	Morbidelli makes it slightly more difficult for the race leader
21:53	AltF3K	AND WHAT IS GIMAX DOING?!
21:53	AltF3K	He puts the race leader into the wall at the exit of La Source!
21:54	AltF3K	But miraculously, the Oreca man continues
21:54	AltF3K	Albeit significantly more pissed off than he was 20 seconds ago
21:54	AltF3K	Van de Poele becomes the latest person to clear Bernard
21:55	AltF3K	As Christophe Hurni's quietly impressive race comes to an end with another transmission failure
21:55	AltF3K	ZANARDI'S IN THE WALL!
21:55	AltF3K	ZANARDI'S DAY IS DONE!
21:56	AltF3K	He misjudged the closing speed to Morbidelli and has crashed out of what would have been a fantastic 2nd place on debut
21:56	AltF3K	The Middlebridge crew are absolutely distraught in the garage as Zanardi extricates himself from the car
21:57	AltF3K	It does move the sister car of Eddie Irvine up onto the podium, but it's little consolation for what had been up to this point an amazing performance
21:57	AltF3K	Beekhuis meanwhile has closed up to the back of Scrattenheim for P4
21:57	AltF3K	He has been another driver who has impressed mightily since making the transition to Europe from America
21:58	AltF3K	He has the slipstream up the hill to Les Combes
21:58	AltF3K	And gets the move done with ease
21:59	AltF3K	Comas is mowing through the midfielders and backmarkers
21:59	AltF3K	As only 10 of the 16 cars still running are on the lead lap at this present stage
21:59	AltF3K	SCHNEIDER!
21:59	AltF3K	His car grinds to a halt from what would have been a points paying position!
22:00	AltF3K	This moves the second DAMS car of Van de Poele up into the points
22:00	AltF3K	COMAS!
22:00	AltF3K	HE HAS A PROBLEM!
22:00	AltF3K	HE'S LIMPING BACK TO THE PITS!
22:01	AltF3K	THE FRONT RIGHT WHEEL HAS PARTED COMPANY FROM THE CAR!
22:01	AltF3K	THE CHAMPIONSHIP LEADER IS OUT!
22:01	AltF3K	GIOVANARDI LEADS IN SPA
22:01	AltF3K	It's a cruel blow with less than five laps to go
22:02	AltF3K	And will almost certainly extend the title fight to Le Mans
22:02	AltF3K	Incredibly, this puts Johnny Herbert back into a points paying position
22:02	AltF3K	After he overhauled Bernard a few laps back
22:03	AltF3K	Gio has an over 20 second gap on irvine
22:03	AltF3K	As he puts Montermini a lap down
22:04	AltF3K	Herbert is flying out on track
22:04	AltF3K	He's closing in on van de Poele at over 2 seconds a lap for 5th position
22:05	AltF3K	With just over 2 laps to go, the extra point on offer will be crucial for EJR
22:05	AltF3K	And he takes the position with ease on the run to Blanchemont
22:06	AltF3K	Giovanardi is now on his final lap
22:06	AltF3K	The IBR team have been on the receiving end of some terrible luck this year, mostly to the benefit of Oreca
22:06	AltF3K	But today they were given a rare ray of hope
22:07	AltF3K	It may have been slightly fortuitous, but to finish first, you first have to finish
22:07	AltF3K	Fabrizio Giovanardi has done just that
22:07	AltF3K	As he crosses the line to WIN IN BELGIUM!
22:07	AltF3K	Eddie Irvine comes home to score an incredible debut podium in 2nd place
22:08	AltF3K	While Jon Beekhuis comes home in a career-best third position, cementing his status as defacto team leader at Madgewick
22:08	AltF3K	Jorg Scrattenheim, Johnny Herbert and Eric van de Poele round out the points paying positions
22:09	AltF3K	The remaining finishers are Bernard, Hill, Ferte, Montermini, Matsushita, Morbidelli, Greco and Gimax
22:10	AltF3K	Comas takes home the fastest lap award
22:10	AltF3K	But more crucially for him, the title fight continues for another day at Le Mans
22:11	AltF3K	Join us next time at the Bugatti Circuit for the penultimate round of the 1989 Formula 3000 season