The1991Formula 3000 International Championship was the seventh season ofFormula 3000 in Europe.Christian Fittipaldi won the championship after ten rounds.[1]
A major technical change for 1991 was the introduction byAvon ofradial-ply tyres. Compared to the previouscrossply tyres, these could be more consistently manufactured, and made the cars more consistent aerodynamically, but gave the drivers less control at highslip angles.[2]
Lola's T91/50 chassis was an evolution of the previous year's championship-winning T90/50, and retained a very short wheelbase of 263.0 cm (103.5 in). By comparison, theReynard 91D had a wheelbase of 277.5 cm (109.3 in).[3] The short wheelbase of the Lola was blamed for its inability to perform on the new tyres, and theForti Corse team switched to Reynards after three rounds. TheEddie Jordan Racing team attempted to lengthen its Lolas by adding a spacer in between the engine and gearbox, but eventually it too purchased a Reynard forDamon Hill.
TheRalt name, last seen in F3000 in1988, returned after being split off from theMarch Group.[4]
Alessandro Zanardi won for the newIl Barone Rampante team at the first race atVallelunga.Jean-Marc Gounon then took Ralt's last F3000 win atPau. Christian Fittipaldi won atJerez, and Zanardi won again atMugello.
Gounon won on the road atEnna, but he was controversially adjudged to have jumped the start. The race win was given toEmanuele Naspetti, who was making his first start in a Reynard after his Forti team had switched from Lolas. Naspetti then won the following three races atHockenheim,Brands Hatch andSpa-Francorchamps. His success was blamed in part on the exotic fuel blend provided byAgip, which would be banned the following year.
Fittipaldi'sPacific teammate Antonio Tamburini won on theBugatti Circuit atLe Mans. In the finale atNogaro, Fittipaldi beat title rival Zanardi for the race win and the championship.
For every race points were awarded: 9 points to the winner, 6 for runner-up, 4 for third place, 3 for fourth place, 2 for fifth place and 1 for sixth place. No additional points were awarded.[8]
| Pos | Driver | VLL | PAU | JER | MUG | PER | HOC | BRH | SPA | BUG | NOG | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Christian Fittipaldi | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | Ret | 4 | 3 | Ret | 2 | 1 | 47 | |
| 2 | Alessandro Zanardi | 1 | Ret | 2 | 1 | Ret | Ret | 2 | 2 | Ret | 2 | 42 | |
| 3 | Emanuele Naspetti | 10 | 9 | DNQ | DNS | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Ret | 6 | 37 | |
| 4 | Antonio Tamburini | 3 | 10 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 5 | Ret | 1 | Ret | 22 | |
| 5 | Marco Apicella | Ret | 4 | Ret | 2 | 2 | Ret | 4 | Ret | Ret | 11 | 18 | |
| 6 | Jean-Marc Gounon | DNQ | 1 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 5 | Ret | 7 | Ret | Ret | 13 | |
| 7 | Damon Hill | 4 | Ret | 8 | Ret | 11 | Ret | 6 | Ret | 4 | 3 | 11 | |
| 8 | Vincenzo Sospiri | Ret | DNQ | 15 | 4 | Ret | 2 | 16 | 10 | Ret | 13 | 9 | |
| 9 | Éric Hélary | 11 | 3 | Ret | 16† | 15 | 4 | Ret | 5 | 9 | |||
| 10 | Andrea Montermini | Ret | Ret | 3 | 11 | 10 | Ret | 10 | Ret | 3 | Ret | 8 | |
| 11 | Giuseppe Bugatti | 5 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 3 | Ret | Ret | 16 | Ret | 7 | 6 | |
| 12 |  Karl Wendlinger | 5 | Ret | 3 | Ret | Ret | 6 | ||||||
| 13 | Fabrizio Giovanardi | 12 | 5 | DNQ | 8 | Ret | 13† | 8 | 6 | DNS | 4 | 6 | |
| 14 | Heinz-Harald Frentzen | Ret | Ret | 12 | 6 | 5 | DNQ | 12 | 5 | Ret | Ret | 5 | |
| 15 | Laurent Aïello | Ret | DNS | 7 | Ret | Ret | 7 | 9 | 3 | Ret | Ret | 4 | |
| 16 | Allan McNish | DNQ | 13 | DNQ | 5 | 8 | Ret | Ret | 8 | Ret | 8 | 2 | |
| 17 | Philippe Gache | DNQ | 12 | 10 | Ret | 9 | Ret | 11 | 9 | 5 | Ret | 2 | |
| 18 |  Alain Menu | 6 | 6 | 18 | 12 | Ret | DNS | 2 | |||||
| 19 |  Gabriel Furlán | 9 | DNQ | Ret | Ret | 7 | 8 | Ret | Ret | 6 | Ret | 1 | |
| 20 |  David Brabham | 7 | 7 | 11 | 9 | 0 | |||||||
| 21 | Paul Stewart | Ret | DNQ | 16 | DNQ | 12 | Ret | 7 | 14 | 8 | 9 | 0 | |
| 22 | Giovanna Amati | DNQ | Ret | DNQ | 14† | Ret | 9 | 19 | DNQ | 7 | Ret | 0 | |
| 23 | Roberto Colciago | 8 | 11 | DNQ | Ret | Ret | DNQ | 18 | 17 | Ret | Ret | 0 | |
| 24 | Michael Bartels | DNQ | 8 | Ret | 15 | 0 | |||||||
| 25 | Andrea Chiesa | Ret | Ret | 9 | DNQ | Ret | 10 | 14 | 13 | 0 | |||
| 26 | Paolo Delle Piane | Ret | DNQ | 17 | Ret | DNQ | Ret | Ret | 15 | 9 | Ret | 0 | |
| 27 | David Velay | 10 | 0 | ||||||||||
| 28 | Peter Zakowski | DNQ | Ret | 11 | 0 | ||||||||
| 29 | Andrew Gilbert-Scott | DNQ | 11 | 0 | |||||||||
| 30 | Paul Belmondo | 14 | Ret | 14 | 13 | Ret | Ret | DNQ | 12 | Ret | Ret | 0 | |
| 31 | Giovanni Lavaggi | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | Ret | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | 12 | 0 | |
| 32 | Fabiano Vandone | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | 12 | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | 0 | ||
| 33 | Giovanni Bonanno | Ret | 13 | Ret | DNQ | Ret | 17 | Ret | DNQ | 0 | |||
| 34 | Vittorio Zoboli | Ret | DNQ | Ret | DNQ | Ret | DNQ | 13 | Ret | 0 | |||
| 35 | Fabrizio Barbazza | 13 | 0 | ||||||||||
| 36 | Felice Tedeschi | 15 | DNQ | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | DNQ | DNQ | 0 | |||
| Emmanuel Collard | Ret | Ret | |||||||||||
| Jean-Denis Délétraz | DNS | DNQ | Ret | ||||||||||
| Massimo Monti | DNQ | Ret | |||||||||||
| Dave Coyne | Ret | ||||||||||||
| Max Angelelli | Ret | ||||||||||||
 Fernando Plata | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | ||||||||
| Thierry Delubac | DNQ | DNQ | |||||||||||
| Simon Kane | DNQ | DNQ | |||||||||||
| Pascal Witmeur | DNQ | ||||||||||||
| Sources:[9][10][11] | |||||||||||||
| first column of every race | 10 | = grid position |
| second column of every race | 10 | = race result |
R16=retired, but classifiedR=retiredNS=did not startNQ=did not qualify
