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Astromega to confirm second driver in January According to a recent provisional entry list from Team Astromega, the team-mate of Tony Schmidt is set to be announced in January. Rob Nguyen was reportedly under contract according to a team statement last month, but it appears that the Australian is as yet unconfirmed. The silly season page has been updated.

BCN Competición is the new FIA F3000 team Yesterday's Autosport confirms the identity of the Nordic Racing buyer as BCN Competición. The team laid down a deposit on Nordic's two cars and equipment, with Derek Mower saying the deal had to go through before Christmas. BCN, run by Enrique Scalabroni, finished sixth in the Teams championship in Formula Nissan 2000 this year. Drivers Andrea Belicchi and Carlos Martin were 5th and 16th respectively in the Drivers championship. The silly season page has been updated.

Zytek could bid for F3000 chassis contract Zytek Engineering, which supplies spec engines to the FIA F3000 series, is set to become a chassis constructor in the next two years, reports Autosport. The company is setting up a car making division in Banbury, having employed ex-Jordan F1 managing director Trevor Foster. It is looking at Formula 3 and the FIA F3000 chassis contract for 2005-2007, which will be open to bids from next October. Lola have won all of the three-year contracts tendered so far, since F3000 became a one-chassis category in 1996. The current Lola B2/50 introduced this year will continue to race until the end of 2004.

F3000 team manager to join Challenge Initiative team According to Autosport, Team SWR is lining up an "ex-Formula 3000 team manager" to lead its technical department as it expands into the new Challenge Initiative series. Team SWR, with experience in Formula Renault and F3, will enter the new low-cost one-make single seater series with four of the Hawke chassis. The Challenge Initiative has announced a provisional 8-round calendar, including three races on Rockingham's oval circuit.

Nordic sale confirmed; Barcelona Competición to enter It has been confirmed that Nordic Racing has closed down due to the retirement of founder, Derek Mower (source: autosport.com). The team's F3000 equipment has been sold to Barcelona Competición, a Spanish newcomer to the FIA series in 2003. Nordic dominated the 2001 championship with Justin Wilson, having originally made their debut in 1993. The silly season page has been updated.

Amaduzzi tests for PSM An Italian Formula 2 series still looks to be on the cards, with PSM continuing to make preparations (source: nuvolari3000). The team of Lorenzo Del Gallo tested at a wet Magione last Wednesday, with Formula Arcobaleno and Formula Ford 2000 driver Davide Amaduzzi at the wheel. The old F3000 Lola T96/50 machinery was running with a Cosworth Mader engine, suggesting that organisers will stick with the unit. Previously it was suggested the standard F3000 Zytek would be used for the series, after problems with the other engine. There is still no word as to if and when a Formula 2 championship will begin. The silly season page has been updated.

Nordic sold to new team? According to this forum thread, Derek Mower is said to have sold Nordic Racing's equipment to a team called Barcelona Racing. Chris Mower had already left the team to pursue opportunities in the USA, and Nordic was conspicuous by its absence in test sessions this winter.

Liuzzi signs for Coloni Highly rated Italian Vitantonio Liuzzi has been signed by Coloni for 2003. The German F3 frontrunner, a former Formula A Karting world champion, joins Zsolt Baumgartner and Patrick Friesacher at the squad. Coloni will be running four cars this year, having taken over European Minardi last season. As yet it is unclear how the drivers will be allocated between the two separate 2-car squads. According to Coloni, Liuzzi will will be the "ace" of the "Italian Project", which will focus on taking the best young Italian drivers to Formula 1. Read more on Liuzzi's signing here. The silly season page has been updated.

Farfus to stay at Draco Augusto Farfus has been confirmed for a second Euro 3000 season at Draco Junior Team Multiracing USA. The Brazilian was ninth overall with the team this year. The silly season page has been updated.

Brand Motorsports to enter CART International F3000 newcomers Brand Motorsports will enter CART next year, they recently announced. They are also planning a full season in the Indy Racing League for 2004. They announced that they will compete in "the two planned European rounds" of CART next year. Brands Hatch, Spa-Francorchamps and Estoril are all strongly linked to race slots in the calendar. Team founder Martin Kendrick said: "We are assembling a race team with the technical and engineering expertise to enable Brand Motorsports to compete in top level racing programmes in Europe and beyond and have already identified drivers to compete for us in the European CART rounds. The Brand Group is already very active in North America and the IRL in 2004 will present us with a powerful marketing platform from which to further grow our business." Meanwhile Brand have recruited former Arden chief race engineer Brad Joyce to their F3000 operation.

Lotterer wins Bologna Motorshow sprint Recent CART rookie Andre Lotterer won the Bologna Motorshow sprint event for Euro 3000 cars on Monday. The German, driving for Uboldi Corse, faced Marco Cioci (Victory Engineering) in the final, on a wet track. In the final for third place, Fabrizio Gollin defeated Gabriele Lancieri (ADM Motorsport). Results as known have been added to the Bologna '02 page here. More details are welcomed. (sources: Bologna Motorshow / F3000.com / Draco / crash.net).

Provisional 2003 calendar released A provisional calendar for next season's Euro 3000 championship has been released, featuring 10 rounds (source: crash.net). The same number had been planned for this year, but the Nurburging race was cancelled due to snow and fog. Gone are Vallelunga and Dijon, with new additions Estoril and Magny-Cours. See the new calendar here.

New French team enters Euro 3000 According to crash.net, a new team from France will enter Euro 3000 next year. The identity of the squad has not yet been revealed. The silly season page has been updated.

Farfus set Vallelunga test pace on new tyres The day after the promotional Euro 3000 test at Vallelunga, which saw 38 drivers try out the Lola chassis, normal testing resumed at the Italian circuit. The times from the 24th November have been added in the new various winter tests page. Augusto Farfus set the pace with Draco, using the new-for-2003 Avon tyre compound. The new tyres proved quick, with the other drivers trying them, GP Racing pair Fabrizio del Monte and Roman Rusinov, finishing second and third. The silly season page has been updated with the Euro 3000 news of the past two days.

Bologna Motorshow sprint entries released The entry list for the Bologna Motorshow Euro 3000 sprint event has been released. There are 12 entry slots, not 10 as expected, for the event which takes place on Sunday and Monday. The entries, which are added to our page for the event here, include some surprise newcomers to F3000. They include former Jaguar F1 test driver, and recent CART rookie Andre Lotterer, and Sven Heidfeld, the brother of F1 star Nick. The entries as yet are: Sven Heidfeld (Draco Junior Team Multiracing USA), Leonardo Orecchioni (GP Racing), TBA (GP Racing), Thomas Biagi (ADM Motorsport), Gabriele Lancieri (ADM Motorsport), Matteo Cressoni (B&C Competition/Bieffe), Raffaele Giammaria (Uboldi Corse), Andre Lotterer (Uboldi Corse), Marco Cioci (Victory Engineering), Massimiliano Busnelli (Victory Engineering), TBA (R&M Euronova Racing), Daniele Massaro [this ex-footballer?] (R&M Euronova Racing).

Arden deny Renault junior team rumours Arden International have denied rumours that they could become an official Renault F1 junior team next year, should Renault supported Heikki Kovalainen sign for them. Christian Horner told autosport.com: "There's been no discussion at all on that subject."

Kiesa to sign for Den Bla Avis? According to bt.dk, Jonathan Williams is saying that Nicolas Kiesa is close to signing with Den Blå Avis. He is quoted as saying that the Williams F1 team may want to use Nicolas as test driver on occasions where Giorgio Pantano or Marc Gene won't be at hand. (source: F3000.com / Thomas Lund). The silly season page has been updated.

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