In 1998 the Spanish Organizers (the RPM abbrev. for the 
spanish meaning of the Revolutions Per Minute)  created 
a new championship called the Open Fortuna by Nissan. 
It was based on a single seater derived from a Dallara F3 
with larger tyres and driven by a Nissan 2-liter 4 cylinder 
engined with 250 HP.In 2000 the series became known as 
the Open Telefonica by Nissan and from 1998 to 2001 the 
project triumphed with a series of successes never before 
achieved in Europe outside of Formula 1. 
An average of 40,000 spectators attended each race and 
an average of 1,500.000 television viewers watched the 
direct broadcast of each competition between 1998 and 
2001. 
With the exception of the Formula One no other single -
seater championship in Europe has benefited from such a 
structure and the sufficient means to truly become and 
internationally renowned event. 
The Series is a unique dimension, as yet unexplored, the 
main aim of which is not so much to promote drivers to 
Formula 1 but rather to create a championship with suffi-
cient capacity to include both elite professional drivers 
and younger drivers. 
In four years, 79 drivers from 14 participated in the Nissan 
Formula Championship; Marc Gené and Fernando Alonso
champions in 1998 and 1999 respectively, reached the 
Formula One. 
With this mind World Series by Nissan drivers who already 
act as test drivers for different Formula 1 teams become 
a point of reference and, as rivals on the track too they 
also provide a great incentive for new drivers who aspire 
to reach the top. 
For the up till now winners the here reached result, was a 
lot of help in the career: 

1998 - 1.Marc Gené ('99-2000 Minardi F1 pilot, '01 Williams F1 testdr.)
1999 - 1.Fernando Alonso (2001 Minardi F1 pilot,'03 Renault F1 driver)
2000 - 1.Antonio Garcia (2001 Red Bull F3000 driver) 
2001 - 1. Frank Montagny (2002 Super Nissan, '03 Renault F1 testdr.)
2002 - 1. Ricardo Zonta (1999-2000 BAR driver, 2001 Jordan driver)