Zandvoort Masters 1999:

The Marlboro Masters of Formula 3

Most contestants in this year's Masters of Formula 3 were European, but there were a few exceptions to prove it is truly international event. One of these exceptions was Indonesian driver Narain Karthikeyan, he finished in 13th place.
The highest finishing non-European was South African Etienne van de Linde in third place, but he has a strong Dutch background and drives for the Dutch Van Amersvoort team. Other non-Europeans that finished this year's Masters were Toby Scheckter (South African and son of the famous Jody Scheckter, the F 1 Ferrari champion) in 9th, Ryo Fukuda (Japan) in 11th and Juan Manuel Lopez (Argentina) in 18th place.

Sven Heidveld in the Dallara F399 and Yannick Schroeder in the Martini MK79 fought over the last few places in the race. Schroeder finished as 22nd and Heidfeld, the younger brother of McLaren protégé Nick Heidfeld, finished as 23th of 25 classified cars. Heidfeld was the last driver finishing in the same lap as the race winner, 48.8 seconds down, which proves that the differences in F 3 are not very big.

This picture shows some very close racing by Peter Sundberg and Jenson Button. Button in the red, yellow and blue Dallara went on to take a good 5th place. Swede Sundberg in the yellow Dallara wasn't as fortunate, he dropped out in the 13th lap.

Here you see a closely packed backfield streaming through the Renault bend. The yellow car in the back is the Dallara of the talented 17 year old Dutchman Jeroen Bleekemolen. He messed up his start by letting his engine choke, but still managed to finish in 21st place. This race will have added to the experience of this young Benelux Formula Ford 1800 Championship winner.

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