Derek Hill Quick at Monza

Derek Hill - Quick at Monza

In the closest qualifying session so far in the Italian Formula 3000 Championship, Derek's time of 1'39.226 was only 0.218 seconds from pole position and secured sixth position on the grid. A total of thirteen cars were in the first one second.

Race morning started well with Derek securing the fastest time of 1'39.257 in the morning warm up, just over one tenth of a second quicker than Warren Hughes

Derek made a fantastic start in the race and entered the second chicane in third position. Unfortunately his race would ended there, as the Italian driver Lancieri drove into the back of Derek removing him from the race. Warren Hughes who qualified two positions behind Derek, had an eye witness view of Derek's unfortunate departure as he gained several positions during the incident and went on to win the race.

" We knew that we where going to be right in the thick of it, starting from sixth and we had to get through the first couple of corners safely. I had a good run from the start and got out of the first chicane cleanly. ,Going into the second chicane Lancieri tried going up the inside, so I took a tight line clipping the kerbs and was through when he just hit me from behind and I spun into the gravel. It is really a shame as we had a great car today, the best it has been all year and I know I would have been able to keep Warren Hughes honest, as we were quicker than him in the warm up this morning. He just drove away from everybody once the race settled down.

I just wish I could've had a chance to prove our stuff in the race, but I think we accomplished a lot this weekend by showing the rest of the teams that we are becoming more and more competitive with each outing."" Derek said

Da Vinci Team Manager Andrew Chisholm " I am really pleased with Derek, many of the drivers here have been testing since last November and also doing a lot of mileage since the beginning of the year, some even racing in other series to get more mileage. Derek has only had one test day, about 300 kms in total and he is right on the pace. His performance this weekend has been very professional and he has helped to lift the whole team. We know he has the qualifying pace and will convert this into a race result soon." <pre> Free Practice Saturday 23/06/00 10.20 Hrs, Dry / Sunny / Hot Pos Car No. Driver Nat Team Time Gap Km/h 1 16 Sperafico Riccardo BRA ADM Motorsport 1'39.019 209.77 2 22 Sperafico Rodrigo BRA Draco Junior Team 1'39.046 0.027 209.728 3 21 Hughes Warren GB Arden Team Russia 1'39.203 0.184 209.388 4 23 Nienkotter Leonardo BRA Draco Junior Team 1'39.238 0.219 209.314 5 9 Lancieri Gabriele I Sighinolfi 1'39.431 0.412 208.908 6 2 Hill Derek USA Da Vinci Team 1'39.490 0.471 208.784 7 1 Scheckter Tomas SA Da Vinci Team 1'39.496 0.477 208.772 8 18 "Babulus" I First Grand Prix 1'39.652 0.633 208.445 9 10 Spoldi Michele I Sighinolfi 1'39.857 0.838 208.017 10 8 Gardel Gabriele I GP Racing 1'40.138 1.119 207.443

Qualifying Saturday 23/06/00 15.30 Hrs , Dry / Sunny / Hot Pos Car No. Driver Nat Team Time Gap Km/h 1 22 Sperafico Rodrigo BRA Draco Junior Team 1'39.008 0 209.801 2 6 Calcagni Gianluca I Monaco Motorsport 1'39.046 0.038 209.72 3 16 Sperafico Riccardo BRA ADM Motorsport 1'39.064 0.056 209.682 4 1 Scheckter Tomas SA Da Vinci Team 1'39.122 0.114 209.559 5 18 "Babulus" I First Grand Prix 1'39.192 0.184 209.412 6 2 Hill Derek USA Da Vinci Team 1'39.226 0.218 209.34 7 9 Lancieri Gabriele I Sighinolfi 1'39.263 0.255 209.262 8 21 Hughes Warren GB Arden Team Russia 1'39.297 0.289 209.19 9 23 Nienkotter Leonardo BRA Draco Junior Team 1'39.313 0.305 209.156 10 5 Giao Manuel P Monaco Motorsport 1'39.655 0.647 208.439

Warm Up       Sunday 24/06/00           09.15 Hrs , Dry , Sunny , Hot                   
Pos  Car No.  Driver             Nat    Team              Time      Gap     Km/h
1    2        Hill Derek         USA    Da Vinci Team     1'39.257  0       209.274
2    21       Hughes Warren      GB     Arden Team Russia 1'39.332  0.075   209.116
3    18       "Babulus"          I      First Grand Prix  1'39.390  0.133   208.994
4    22       Sperafico Rodrigo  BRA    Draco Junior Team 1'39.419  0.162   208.993
5    1        Scheckter Tomas    SA     Da Vinci Team     1'39.513  0.256   208.736
6    10       Spoldi Michele     I      Sighinolfi        1'39.529  0.272   208.702
7    8        Gardel Gabriele    I      GP Racing         1'39.818  0.561   208.098
8    7        Biagi Tomas        I      GP Racing         1'39.833  0.576   208.067
9    16       Sperafico Riccardo BRA    ADM Motorsport    1'39.862  0.605   208.007
10   17       Tavano Salvatore   I      ADM Motorsport    1'39.868  0.611   207.994
                                                                        
Race          Sunday 24/06/00           15.30 Hrs , Dry , Sunny , Hot           
Pos  Car No.  Driver              Nat   Team              Time      Gap     Km/h
1    21       Hughes Warren       GB    Arden Team Russia 30'12.705 0       206.264
2    1        Scheckter Tomas     SA    Da Vinci Team     30'15.205 2.5 
3    22       Sperafico Rodrigo   BRA   Draco Junior Team 30'17.581 4.876       
4    6        Calcagni Gianluca   I     Monaco Motorsport 30'22.118 9.413       
5    9        Lancieri Gabriele   I     Sighinolfi        30'22.663 9.958       
6    5        Giao Manuel         P     Monaco Motorsport 30'23.356 10.651      
7    23       Nienkotter Leonardo BRA   Draco Junior Team 30'35.559 22.854      
8    10       Spoldi Michele      I     Sighinolfi        30'38.663 25.928      
9    31       Rossi Danilo        I     Monaco Motorsport 30'40.360 27.655      
DNF  2        Hill Derek          USA   Da Vinci Team