2008 Vallelunga Superleague Formula round

Last updated
2008 Vallelunga Superleague Formula round
Superleague Formula round Italy

Autodromo Vallelunga.svg

Circuit Map
Date November 2, 2008
Location Flag of Italy.svg ACI Vallelunga Circuit, Vallelunga, Italy
Course Permanent racing facility
2.538 mi (4.085 km)
Laps 32 & 30
Pole position
Team Flag of England.svg Liverpool F.C. Adrián Vallés
Time 1:21.855
Podium (1st race)
First Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Beijing Guoan Davide Rigon
Second Flag of Italy.svg A.C. Milan Robert Doornbos
Third Flag of Turkey.svg Galatasaray S.K. Alessandro Pier Guidi
Fastest lap (1st race)
Team Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Beijing Guoan Davide Rigon
Time 1:23.586 (on lap 13)
Podium (2nd race)
First Flag of Portugal.svg F.C. Porto Tristan Gommendy
Second Flag of Italy.svg A.S. Roma Franck Perera
Third Flag of the Netherlands.svg PSV Eindhoven Yelmer Buurman
Fastest lap (2nd race)
Team Flag of Spain.svg Atlético Madrid Andy Soucek
Time 1:23.475 (on lap 14)

The 2008 Vallelunga Superleague Formula round was the fifth round of the inaugural Superleague Formula championship, with the races taking place on November 2, 2008. Eighteen football teams were represented on the grid, the same number of teams as there was at the previous three rounds. There were two driver changes before this round of the championship and one during the round: Duncan Tappy returned to the Tottenham Hotspur cockpit replacing Dominik Jackson, having missed the previous round in Portugal and Kasper Andersen was replaced by Stamatis Katsimis in the Olympiacos CFP car. [1] Having broken a bone in his right hand in practice, Paul Meijer was replaced by Dominick Muermans in the Al Ain car [2] becoming their fourth driver in five races. The meeting saw a third win for championship leaders Beijing Guoan and a first win for F.C. Porto. Beijing also extended their championship lead to an almost unassailable 59 points.

2008 Superleague Formula season

The 2008 Superleague Formula season was the inaugural Superleague Formula championship. The season started very late in 2008 with the first round being on August 31 at Donington Park. There were six rounds in total with the successful season finale at Circuito Permanente de Jerez on 23 November. In the 18 cars on the grid were established A1GP and GP2 drivers as well as two ex-Formula One race starters, Robert Doornbos and Antônio Pizzonia.

Superleague Formula was an open wheel single seater motor racing formula, which started in 2008, at Donington Park in the United Kingdom. The league introduced team sponsorship by association football clubs. It used the slogan 'The Beautiful Race: Football at 300 km/h'. By 2011 the link with football was fading with more than half the teams no longer associated with football teams. It was founded by businessmen Alex Andreu and Robin Webb. On 19 May 2010, Andreu stepped down in his role as series president, with his successor named as Alfredo Brisac not many weeks later. The season ran between April and November at the same time as most other European race series. Every team used identical cars and 750-horsepower V-12 engines. The Sonangol Group was the series' title sponsor from June 2009 until the end of the 2010 season.

Duncan Tappy British racing driver

Duncan Tappy is a professional racing driver from the United Kingdom.

Contents

Report

Qualifying

After the random draw which split the eighteen-car field into two groups, the fastest four qualifiers from each progressed into the knockout stages to decide places 1 to 8 on the grid. Andy Soucek (Atlético Madrid) missed out on the top eight, despite setting a time some 0.052 seconds faster than Group B 4th Adrián Vallés in the Liverpool F.C. car. As fastest drivers in their groups, Antônio Pizzonia (SC Corinthians) and Davide Rigon (Beijing Guoan) were expected to meet in the final, but neither made the final. Instead, Vallés and Robert Doornbos (A.C. Milan) battled it out, with Vallés coming out on top by 0.260 seconds the fifth different polesitter in five races.

Andy Soucek Austrian racing driver

Andy Christian Soucek, a.k.a. Souček is a professional racing driver.

Atlético de Madrid (Superleague Formula team) Superleague formula team

Atlético de Madrid Superleague Formula team was a motor racing team representing Spain's Atlético Madrid in the Superleague Formula championship.

Adrián Vallés Escortell is a Spanish race car driver.

Race 1

Before the race even began, there was dramas - Borja García (Sevilla FC) started from pit lane and Alessandro Pier Guidi (Galatasaray S.K.) having gearbox troubles on the grid. At the start, Vallés led away from Doornbos and Rigon, with Pier Guidi passing Tuka Rocha (CR Flamengo) for fourth on the opening lap. Lap three saw the end of Enrico Toccacelo's Borussia Dortmund car with suspension failure while running towards the back. The top ten somehow stayed in order, until the pit window. Rigon pitted first followed by Rocha, Franck Perera (A.S. Roma) and Yelmer Buurman (PSV Eindhoven. Doornbos and Vallés pitted on lap 11, allowing Pier Guidi to lead for two laps before his pit stop. Pizzonia took the lead for a lap until he pitted, and after the cycle through, Rigon led from Doornbos, Pier Guidi, Vallés and Rocha. Lap 16 saw Garcia's race end with a stuck throttle. There was a somewhat crazy finish to the race, with Soucek and Perera both retiring within the last five minutes of the race with engine problems and a puncture respectively. Vallés suffered fuel pressure problems towards the end, falling five places in as many minutes as Rigon went on to claim his third victory of the season, opening up a 67-point lead over PSV. Following him home were Doornbos, Pier Guidi, Rocha, Ryan Dalziel (Rangers F.C., Pizzonia, Craig Dolby (R.S.C. Anderlecht), Tristan Gommendy (F.C. Porto), Vallés, Buurman, Duncan Tappy (Tottenham Hotspur), Max Wissel (FC Basel 1893), Stamatis Katsimis (Olympiacos CFP) and Dominick Muermans (Al Ain) both rookies finishing a lap down.

Borja García is a Spanish race car driver. He was the 2004 Spanish Formula Three champion, and raced in the inaugural GP2 Series season.

Sevilla FC (Superleague Formula team)

Sevilla FC Superleague Formula team was the racing team of Sevilla FC, a football team that competes in Spain in the La Liga. The Sevilla FC racing team competed in the Superleague Formula. They were operated by GTA Motor Competición.

Alessandro Pier Guidi Italian racing driver

Alessandro Pier Guidi is a racing driver from Italy. He drove two races for the Italian A1 Team.

Race 2

Race two began with a bang a first corner incident taking out Pizzonia, Doornbos and Rocha at Curva Cimini, causing a long safety car period. Wissel retired the Basel car during this with engine trouble. All was cleared up for the restart on lap six with Toccacelo still leading from Soucek (up from third) and García. A brave move from Soucek at Campagnano moved the Spaniard into the lead with Perera passing García for third. Lap nine saw another accident, this time between Toccacelo and Perera again at Cimini. Toccacelo defended the inside line before moving sharply to the outside where Perera already was. Soucek pitted from the lead on lap eleven, but gremlins struck causing him to pit again, before retiring with gearbox trouble on lap 21. Katsimis led for a lap before he pitted, letting Tappy lead until his pitstop on lap 15. Perera took the lead, having pitted on lap eleven. A mistake from Buurman on lap 17 allowed Gommendy into second and after Perera. García retired again, with brake failure continuing Sevilla's spiral down the championship standings. The number of runners fell into single-figures on lap 27 with another three-car accident with Katsimis, Tappy and Pier Guidi crashing at Cimini. The race wasn't decided until the final lap when Perera made a slight mistake at Curva Soratte, allowing Gommendy through to win by 1.482 seconds from Perera, with Buurman, Vallés, Rigon, Dolby, Dalziel and Muermans completing the finishers. In the championship standings, Beijing had their lead cut to 59 points, which meant that a maximum of 42 points required for championship glory.

Results

Qualifying

Group A

Pos.TeamDriverTime
1 Flag of Brazil.svg SC Corinthians Flag of Brazil.svg Antônio Pizzonia 1:21.847
2 Flag of Italy.svg A.C. Milan Flag of the Netherlands.svg Robert Doornbos 1:22.551
3 Flag of Turkey.svg Galatasaray S.K. Flag of Italy.svg Alessandro Pier Guidi 1:22.684
4 Flag of Italy.svg A.S. Roma Flag of France.svg Franck Perera 1:22.715
5 Flag of Spain.svg Atlético Madrid Flag of Spain.svg Andy Soucek 1:22.833
6 Flag of the Netherlands.svg PSV Eindhoven Flag of the Netherlands.svg Yelmer Buurman 1:23.229
7 Flag of England.svg Tottenham Hotspur Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Duncan Tappy 1:24.345
8 Flag of Portugal.svg F.C. Porto Flag of France.svg Tristan Gommendy 1:24.516
9 Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Al Ain Flag of the Netherlands.svg Paul Meijer no time

Group B

Pos.TeamDriverTime
1 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Beijing Guoan Flag of Italy.svg Davide Rigon 1:22.322
2 Flag of Brazil.svg CR Flamengo Flag of Brazil.svg Tuka Rocha 1:22.471
3 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg R.S.C. Anderlecht Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Craig Dolby 1:22.874
4 Flag of England.svg Liverpool F.C. Flag of Spain.svg Adrián Vallés 1:22.885
5 Flag of Scotland.svg Rangers F.C. Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Ryan Dalziel 1:23.498
6 Flag of Switzerland.svg FC Basel 1893 Flag of Germany.svg Max Wissel 1:23.664
7 Flag of Spain.svg Sevilla FC Flag of Spain.svg Borja García 1:23.758
8 Flag of Greece.svg Olympiacos CFP Flag of Greece.svg Stamatis Katsimis 1:24.661
9 Flag of Germany.svg Borussia Dortmund Flag of Italy.svg Enrico Toccacelo no time

Knockout stages

Quarter-Finals Semi-Finals Pole Shoot Out
A1 SC Corinthians 1:22.627
B4 Liverpool F.C. 1:22.411B4 Liverpool F.C. 1:22.524
A3 Galatasaray S.K. 1:22.771 B2 CR Flamengo 1:30.310
B2 CR Flamengo 1:22.261B4 Liverpool F.C. 1:21.855
A2 A.C. Milan 1:22.122A2 A.C. Milan 1:22.115
B3 R.S.C. Anderlecht 1:22.645 A2 A.C. Milan 1:21.680
A4 A.S. Roma 1:21.998 B1 Beijing Guoan 1:22.373
B1 Beijing Guoan 1:21.836

Grid

Pos.TeamDriverTime
1 Flag of England.svg Liverpool F.C. Flag of Spain.svg Adrián Vallés 1:21.855
2 Flag of Italy.svg A.C. Milan Flag of the Netherlands.svg Robert Doornbos 1:22.115
3 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Beijing Guoan Flag of Italy.svg Davide Rigon 1:22.373
4 Flag of Brazil.svg CR Flamengo Flag of Brazil.svg Tuka Rocha 1:30.310
5 Flag of Turkey.svg Galatasaray S.K. Flag of Italy.svg Alessandro Pier Guidi 1:22.771
6 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg R.S.C. Anderlecht Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Craig Dolby 1:22.645
7 Flag of Italy.svg A.S. Roma Flag of France.svg Franck Perera 1:21.998
8 Flag of Brazil.svg SC Corinthians Flag of Brazil.svg Antônio Pizzonia 1:22.627
9 Flag of Spain.svg Atlético Madrid Flag of Spain.svg Andy Soucek 1:22.833
10 Flag of Scotland.svg Rangers F.C. Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Ryan Dalziel 1:23.498
11 Flag of the Netherlands.svg PSV Eindhoven Flag of the Netherlands.svg Yelmer Buurman 1:23.229
12 Flag of Switzerland.svg FC Basel 1893 Flag of Germany.svg Max Wissel 1:23.664
13 Flag of England.svg Tottenham Hotspur Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Duncan Tappy 1:24.345
14 Flag of Spain.svg Sevilla FC Flag of Spain.svg Borja García 1:23.758
15 Flag of Portugal.svg F.C. Porto Flag of France.svg Tristan Gommendy 1:24.516
16 Flag of Greece.svg Olympiacos CFP Flag of Greece.svg Stamatis Katsimis 1:24.661
17 Flag of Germany.svg Borussia Dortmund Flag of Italy.svg Enrico Toccacelo no time
18 Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Al Ain Flag of the Netherlands.svg Paul Meijer no time

Race 1

Pos No Team Driver Laps Time/Retired Grid Pts.
1 12 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Beijing Guoan Flag of Italy.svg Davide Rigon 32 45:40.448 350
2 3 Flag of Italy.svg A.C. Milan Flag of the Netherlands.svg Robert Doornbos 32 +1.679 245
3 4 Flag of Turkey.svg Galatasaray S.K. Flag of Italy.svg Alessandro Pier Guidi 32 +11.750 540
4 7 Flag of Brazil.svg CR Flamengo Flag of Brazil.svg Tuka Rocha 32 +32.539 436
5 17 Flag of Scotland.svg Rangers F.C. Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Ryan Dalziel 32 +33.205 1032
6 14 Flag of Brazil.svg SC Corinthians Flag of Brazil.svg Antônio Pizzonia 32 +34.288 829
7 8 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg R.S.C. Anderlecht Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Craig Dolby 32 +35.238 626
8 16 Flag of Portugal.svg F.C. Porto Flag of France.svg Tristan Gommendy 32 +35.712 1523
9 21 Flag of England.svg Liverpool F.C. Flag of Spain.svg Adrián Vallés 32 +38.594 120
10 5 Flag of the Netherlands.svg PSV Eindhoven Flag of the Netherlands.svg Yelmer Buurman 32 +43.216 1118
11 19 Flag of England.svg Tottenham Hotspur Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Duncan Tappy 32 +59.987 1316
12 10 Flag of Switzerland.svg FC Basel 1893 Flag of Germany.svg Max Wissel 32 +1:02.549 1214
13 9 Flag of Greece.svg Olympiacos CFP Flag of Greece.svg Stamatis Katsimis 31 +1 Lap 1612
14 6 Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Al Ain Flag of the Netherlands.svg Dominick Muermans 31 +1 Lap 1810
1522 Flag of Italy.svg A.S. Roma Flag of France.svg Franck Perera 29 Puncture 78
16 15 Flag of Spain.svg Atlético Madrid Flag of Spain.svg Andy Soucek 27 Engine 97
17 18 Flag of Spain.svg Sevilla FC Flag of Spain.svg Borja García 15 Throttle 146
18 11 Flag of Germany.svg Borussia Dortmund Flag of Italy.svg Enrico Toccacelo 2Suspension 175
Fastest lap: Davide Rigon (Beijing Guoan) 1:23.586 (109.323 mph)

Race 2

Pos No Team Driver Laps Time/Retired Grid Pts.
1 16 Flag of Portugal.svg F.C. Porto Flag of France.svg Tristan Gommendy 30 46:15.508 1150
222 Flag of Italy.svg A.S. Roma Flag of France.svg Franck Perera 30 +1.482 445
3 5 Flag of the Netherlands.svg PSV Eindhoven Flag of the Netherlands.svg Yelmer Buurman 30 +4.562 940
4 21 Flag of England.svg Liverpool F.C. Flag of Spain.svg Adrián Vallés 30 +13.321 1036
5 12 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Beijing Guoan Flag of Italy.svg Davide Rigon 30 +14.126 1832
6 8 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg R.S.C. Anderlecht Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Craig Dolby 30 +25.284 1229
7 17 Flag of Scotland.svg Rangers F.C. Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Ryan Dalziel 30 +30.185 1426
8 6 Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Al Ain Flag of the Netherlands.svg Dominick Muermans 30 +1:04.015 523
9 9 Flag of Greece.svg Olympiacos CFP Flag of Greece.svg Stamatis Katsimis 26Accident 620
10 19 Flag of England.svg Tottenham Hotspur Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Duncan Tappy 26 Accident 818
11 4 Flag of Turkey.svg Galatasaray S.K. Flag of Italy.svg Alessandro Pier Guidi 26 Accident 1616
12 15 Flag of Spain.svg Atlético Madrid Flag of Spain.svg Andy Soucek 21 Gearbox 314
13 18 Flag of Spain.svg Sevilla FC Flag of Spain.svg Borja García 18 Brakes 212
14 11 Flag of Germany.svg Borussia Dortmund Flag of Italy.svg Enrico Toccacelo 8 Accident 110
15 10 Flag of Switzerland.svg FC Basel 1893 Flag of Germany.svg Max Wissel 3Engine 78
16 14 Flag of Brazil.svg SC Corinthians Flag of Brazil.svg Antônio Pizzonia 0 Accident 137
17 3 Flag of Italy.svg A.C. Milan Flag of the Netherlands.svg Robert Doornbos 0 Accident 176
18 7 Flag of Brazil.svg CR Flamengo Flag of Brazil.svg Tuka Rocha 0 Accident 155
Fastest lap: Andy Soucek (Atlético Madrid) 1:23.475 (109.469 mph)

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References

  1. "Stamatis Katsimis takes over as first driver of the Olympiacos Racing Team". Automobil Sport. 2008-10-30. Retrieved 2008-12-06.
  2. "Meijer breaks wrist". Autosport . 194 (6): 11. 6 November 2008.