2002 French Formula Three Championship Explained

The 2002 French Formula Three season was the 35th and the final French Formula Three Championship season. It began on 31 March at Nogaro and ended on 20 October at Magny-Cours after fourteen races.^[1]

Tristan Gommendy of ASM won races at Lédenon, Albi, Le Mans, Magny-Cours and had another five podiums and ultimately clinched the title. He finished 17 points clear of ARTA/Signature driver Renaud Derlot, who won Nogaro, Lédenon and Magny-Cours races. Third place went to Gommendy's teammate Olivier Pla, who finished on the first position at Croix-en-Ternois and Le Mans. Bruno Besson, Derek Hayes and Yuji Ide were another race winners.

Teams and drivers

• All cars competed on Michelin tyres.

Entry List^[2]
Team	No	Driver	Chassis	Engine	Rounds
Saulnier Racing	1	Bruno Besson	Dallara F302	Renault	All
	2	Simon Abadie	Dallara F302		All
ASM	3	Tristan Gommendy	Dallara F302	Renault	All
	4	Olivier Pla	Dallara F302		All
Signature	5	Julien Pressac	Dallara F302	Renault	All
	6	Laurent Delahaye	Dallara F302		1–4
	15	Nicolas Lapierre	Dallara F302		5, 7
ARTA/Signature	7	Yuji Ide	Dallara F302	Renault	All
	8	Renaud Derlot	Dallara F302		All
LD Autosport	9	Kevin Nadin	Dallara F302	Mugen Honda	All
	10	Jeremie de Souza	Dallara F302		1–3
	11	Derek Hayes	Dallara F302		1–5
	16	Philippe Almèras	Dallara F302		6–7
Griffith's	12	Olivier Maximin	Dallara F302	Opel	1–4
		Geoffrey Dellus	Dallara F302	Ford	3–7
Prema Powerteam	40	César Campaniço	Dallara F302	Opel	7
	41	Ryan Briscoe	Dallara F302		7
Bertram Schäfer Racing	42	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Dallara F302	Opel	7
	43	Bernhard Auinger	Dallara F302		7
Class B
Jenichen Motorsport	20	Luca Iannacone	Dallara F399	Opel	All
	45	Diego Romanini	Dallara F399		7
JMP Racing	21	Jean Louis Bianchina	Dallara F399	Renault	1
	24	Stephane Mauget	Dallara F399		3, 6–7
	30	Anthony Janiec	Dallara F399		6–7
Griffith's	23	Benjamin Poron	Dallara F399		All
	25	David Moretti	Dallara F399	Opel	4
Optirace Sport	26	Jimmy Tarres	Dallara F399	Renault	1
	27	Nicolas Lapierre	Dallara F399		4
	28	Pascal Hernandez	Dallara F399		5
	29	Philippe Papin	Dallara F399		6
	31	Olivier Clement	Dallara F399		7
	81	Didier Sirgue	Dallara F399		1, 5, 7
JH Racing	35	Jacques Hulbert	Martini MK79	Opel	1, 4, 6–7

Race calendar and results

• All races were held in France.

Round		Circuit	Date	Pole Position	Fastest Lap	Winning Driver	Winning Team	Class B Winner
1	R1	Circuit Paul Armagnac, Nogaro	31 March	Tristan Gommendy	Renaud Derlot	Renaud Derlot	ARTA/Signature	Benjamin Poron
	R2	1 April	Renaud Derlot	Renaud Derlot	Renaud Derlot	nowrap	ARTA/Signature	nowrap	Benjamin Poron
2	R1	Circuit de Lédenon	28 April	Tristan Gommendy	Tristan Gommendy	Tristan Gommendy	ASM	Benjamin Poron
	R2			Tristan Gommendy	Renaud Derlot	Renaud Derlot	ARTA/Signature	Benjamin Poron
3	R1	Dijon-Prenois	30 June	Tristan Gommendy	Tristan Gommendy	Bruno Besson	Saulnier Racing	Benjamin Poron
	R2			Tristan Gommendy	Tristan Gommendy	Derek Hayes	LD Autosport	Benjamin Poron
4	R1	Circuit de Croix-en-Ternois	27 July	Olivier Pla	Olivier Pla	Olivier Pla	ASM	nowrap	Nicolas Lapierre
	R2		28 July	Tristan Gommendy	Bruno Besson	Yuji Ide	ARTA/Signature	Nicolas Lapierre
5	R1	Circuit d'Albi, Le Sequestre	8 September	nowrap	Tristan Gommendy	nowrap	Tristan Gommendy	nowrap	Tristan Gommendy	ASM	Benjamin Poron
	R2		Tristan Gommendy	Tristan Gommendy	Tristan Gommendy	ASM	Benjamin Poron
6	R1	Bugatti Circuit, Le Mans	6 October	Olivier Pla	Renaud Derlot	Olivier Pla	ASM	Benjamin Poron
	R2			Tristan Gommendy	Tristan Gommendy	Tristan Gommendy	ASM	Benjamin Poron
7	R1	Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours	20 October	Tristan Gommendy	Tristan Gommendy	Tristan Gommendy	ASM	Benjamin Poron
	R2	Olivier Pla		Renaud Derlot	Renaud Derlot	ARTA/Signature	Benjamin Poron

Standings

• Points are awarded as follows:

Pos Driver NOG LÉD DIJ CRO ALB LMS MAG Pts 1 Tristan Gommendy 2 9 1 Ret 3 7 3 5 1 1 2 1 1 2 202 2 Renaud Derlot 1 1 3 1 5 13 4 6 4 3 3 2 4 1 185 3 Olivier Pla 6 Ret 10 2 4 3 1 2 13 2 1 3 2 3 159 4 Simon Abadie 3 2 4 7 7 4 Ret 8 2 5 4 4 6 4 120 5 Bruno Besson 5 3 2 5 1 2 9 11 5 4 5 Ret 8 11 119 6 Derek Hayes 4 5 6 4 2 1 6 7 3 10 94 7 Yuji Ide 9 4 5 3 8 8 2 1 Ret 8 8 Ret 13 12 84 8 Julien Pressac 7 8 7 Ret 6 9 10 9 7 7 7 5 5 8 62 9 Kevin Nadin 13 16 Ret 6 10 15 11 10 6 6 6 Ret 10 14 33 10 Laurent Delahaye 10 7 8 Ret Ret 5 7 4 32 11 Geoffrey Dellus 12 10 5 12 9 Ret 9 Ret 14 19 15 12 Jeremie de Souza 8 6 Ret Ret 11 6 15 13 Nicolas Lapierre 8 9 9 10 15 14 Olivier Maximin 11 10 Ret 8 9 11 12 Ret 6 Philippe Almèras Ret Ret Ret NC 0 guest drivers ineligible for championship points César Campaniço 3 7 0 Ryan Briscoe 7 5 0 Vitantonio Liuzzi 12 6 0 Bernhard Auinger 11 9 0 Class B 1 Benjamin Poron 12 11 9 9 13 12 15 13 10 11 10 6 15 13 265 2 Luca Iannacone 16 Ret 11 10 14 14 Ret 16 14 14 13 9 Ret 22 122 3 Didier Sirgue 15 14 12 13 17 17 73 4 Jacques Hulbert 17 15 14 15 12 8 Ret 21 63 5 Stephane Mauget Ret DNS 11 7 Ret 16 45 6 Nicolas Lapierre 8 3 40 7 Pascal Hernandez 11 12 30 8 Jimmy Tarres 14 12 30 9 David Moretti 13 14 27 10 Olivier Clement 18 18 22 11 align=left nowrap Jean Louis Bianchina 18 13 18 12 Philippe Papin 14 10 18 13 Anthony Janiec 15 Ret Ret 20 14 guest drivers ineligible for championship points Diego Romanini 16 15 0 Pos Driver NOG LÉD DIJ CRO ALB LMS MAG Pts

Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap

External links

• Standins on Driver Database

Notes and References

1. Web site: Race Calendar: French Formula 3 Championship – Season 2002. Speedsport Magazine. 18 January 2013. Race at Pau was non-championship.
2. Web site: Entrylist: French Formula 3 Championship – Season 2002. Speedsport Magazine. 19 January 2013.