The Formula 3000 International Championship was a motor racing series created by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) in 1985 to become the final preparatory step for drivers hoping to enter Formula One. Formula Two had become too expensive, and was dominated by works-run cars with factory engines; the hope was that Formula 3000 would offer quicker, cheaper, more open racing. The series began as an open specification, then tyres were standardized from 1986 onwards, followed by engines and chassis in 1996. The series ran annually until 2004, and was replaced in 2005 by the GP2 Series.
Christian Fittipaldi is a Brazilian former racing driver who has competed in various forms of motorsport including Formula One, Champ Car, and NASCAR. He was a highly rated young racing driver in the early 1990s, and participated in 43 Formula One Grands Prix for Minardi and Footwork between 1992 and 1994.
Lola Cars International Ltd. was a British race car engineering company in operation from 1958 to 2012. The company was founded by Eric Broadley in Bromley, England, before moving to new premises in Slough, Buckinghamshire and finally Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, and endured for more than fifty years to become one of the oldest and largest manufacturers of racing cars in the world. Lola Cars started by building small front-engined sports cars, and branched out into Formula Junior cars before diversifying into a wider range of sporting vehicles.
Buddy Rice is an American former race car driver. He is best known for winning the 2004 Indianapolis 500 while driving for Rahal Letterman Racing, and the 2009 24 Hours of Daytona for Brumos Racing.
Toranosuke "Tora" Takagi is a Japanese former racing driver.
Edward McKayCheever Jr. is an American former racing driver who raced for almost 30 years in Formula One, sports cars, CART, and the Indy Racing League. Cheever participated in 143 Formula One World Championship races and started 132, more than any other American, driving for nine different teams from 1978 through 1989. In 1996, he formed his own IRL team, Team Cheever, and won the 1998 Indianapolis 500 as both owner and driver. The team later competed in sports cars.
Marco Apicella is an Italian professional racing driver. He competed in one Formula One Grand Prix for the Jordan team in the 1993 Italian Grand Prix. He later won the 1994 Japanese Formula 3000 Championship driving for Dome.
Mark Blundell is a British racing driver who competed in Formula One for four seasons, sports cars, and CART. He won the 1992 24 Hours of Le Mans. He was a Formula One presenter for the British broadcaster ITV until the end of the 2008 season when the TV broadcasting rights switched to the BBC. Blundell returned to the track in 2019, driving in the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship for the Trade Price Cars team. Blundell has returned to the series in a new role for 2020 helping to form the latest name to line the grid - MB Motorsport as Sporting Director working with Laser Tools Racing. He is CEO of Europe wide sports management group, MB Partners.
Eliseo Salazar Valenzuela is a Chilean former racing driver. As of 2022, he is the only Chilean to have participated in a Formula One World Championship. He made his Formula One debut on 15 March 1981, and ultimately contested 37 races scoring a total of three championship points. After Formula One, Salazar has participated in numerous motorsport disciplines, including the Chilean national rally championship, Formula 3000, IndyCar, and the World Sportscar Championship.
Fabrizio Barbazza is an Italian former Formula One driver who raced for the AGS and Minardi teams and was the 1987 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year.
Johannes Antonius "Jan" Lammers is a racing driver from the Netherlands whose most notable claim to fame is victory in the 1988 Le Mans 24 Hours for Silk Cut Jaguar/TWR, next to a four-season spell in Formula One in 1979-1982, driving for Shadow, ATS, Ensign and Theodore. This was followed by a comeback with March for two races in 1992, after a world-record time gap of ten years.
Ryan John Briscoe is an Australian-American professional racing driver from Sydney who has predominantly raced open-wheel and sports cars in Europe and America.
Chip Ganassi Racing, LLC (CGR), also sometimes branded as Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, is an American auto racing organization with teams competing in the NTT IndyCar Series, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, FIA World Endurance Championship, and Extreme E. They have formerly competed in the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series, Global Rallycross Championship and the Rolex Sports Car Series. It was founded in 1990 by businessman and former racecar driver Chip Ganassi, from the assets of Patrick Racing to compete in the CART IndyCar World Series.
Kenny Bräck is a Swedish former race car driver. Until his retirement from racing, he competed in the CART, Indy Racing League and the IROC series. He won the 1998 Indy Racing League championship and the 1999 Indianapolis 500, becoming the first Swedish driver to win the race.
Tomas Scheckter is a South African former racing driver best known for his time in the IndyCar Series.
Vincenzo Sospiri is an Italian former racing driver.
Donald Scott Goodyear is a Canadian retired racing driver. He competed in CART Championship cars and the Indy Racing League. Along with Michael Andretti, Goodyear is the only driver to have won the Michigan 500 more than once, in 1992 and 1994. Goodyear also twice finished second in the Indianapolis 500, both times under contentious circumstances.
Alex Barron is an American former race car driver. He began racing CART FedEx World Series Championship cars in 1998 and made his first Indy Racing League Northern Lights Series start in 2001.
Claude Bourbonnais, is a former driver in the Toyota Atlantic, Indy Lights, and CART Championship Car series. He raced in the 1994 CART series with 5 starts. He also raced in the 1997 Indianapolis 500, which by then had become part of the Indy Racing League, completing 9 laps and finishing in 30th position.
Takao Wada is a Japanese former racing driver. He competed at the top level of Japanese Open Wheel racing between 1977 and 1993, scoring two wins, one pole position and five podium finishes over a career that spanned 14 seasons and 90 races, but he was better known for winning the 1979 Japanese Formula Pacific Championship and the 1986 Japanese Touring Car Championship.
Toyota Team Tom's 
Paolo Barilla 