The 31-lap race of the new season began in warm and sunny conditions at Imola. Patrick Friesacher started the race from eighth position on the grid with teammate Alan van der Merwe lining up behind him in twelfth. When the lights turned green Alan made a fantastic start, gaining several places to put him in eighth position at the end of the first lap. He pitted for his compulsory pitstop at the end of lap thirteen in ninth position and when the field regained shape he was back to ninth. With just over ten laps remaining Lopez retired moving Alan back up to eighth and it enabled him to take his first point for his championship campaign. Unfortunately Patrick did not have such a good start and dropped to eleventh position by the end of lap one. After he pitted early on in the race he struggled with a problem and had to settle finishing just outside of the points behind Alan in ninth. Italian Vitantonio Liuzzi won the race ahead of fellow Italian Enrico Toccacelo and Robert Doornbos.
Patrick Friesacher - P9
"I'm not very happy. I made a bad start but at the first point I got away ok but then when I got on the throttle I had too much wheelspin and lost one position. Then going into the first corner I was on the inside and the guys in front of me braked really early so the drivers who were on the outside of the track passed me. After the pitstop I seemed to have a problem with the fifth and sixth gear, it was really strange because it kept cutting out. It was a really bad weekend for me and we have to work really hard for the next one."
Alan van der Merwe - P8
"It was ok for the first race but we really just have to sort out qualifying. Going into Barcelona I should be more familiar with the circuit, car and tyres and the result should be more positive."
Team Manager - David Sears
"In today's first round of the International Formula 3000 Championship at Imola both Super Nova drivers' Alan van der Merwe and Patrick Friesacher raced hard and finished close together in eighth and ninth positions. The team performed two slick pitstops to maintain the drivers' on track positions.
The whole team and drivers are looking forward to a stronger result in Barcelona in two weeks time as we have tested there recently."
