What goes around...

GP2 replaces F3000

Twenty years after it started at a cold, wet Silverstone in March 1985, the Formula 3000 International Championship has been supplanted by the new GP2 Series. Just as in the final year of Formula Two in 1984, F3000s swansong featured grid numbers in the teens, so clearly something new was needed. GP2 already looks good: 24 of the Mecachrome-engined Dallaras are expected for the first round at Imola on April 23 — that’s seven more cars than F3000 started with. And there’s a host of talent aiming to emulate Mike Thackwell, the first F3000 race victor.