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3.0 Drivers and teams

3.1 Notable drivers and teams

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Superleague Formula Wiki Information

Superleague Formula is an open-wheel motor racing formula, which started in 2008, at Donington Park in the United Kingdom. The league introduced team sponsorship by association football clubs. It goes by the saying 'The Beautiful Race: Football at 300 km/h'. It is overseen by businessmen and Superleague Formula founders Alex Andreu and Robin Webb. The season runs between May and November at the same time as Formula One. The cars are similar to Formula One cars. However every team uses identical cars and engines. The Sonangol Group has been the series' title sponsor since June 2009. ^[1]

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History

Continuing the concept of Premier 1 Grand Prix, the Superleague Formula was announced in 2005, receiving the full approval of the FIA in December 2005. The goal was to have a starting grid of twenty teams, each of which with one car. Much of the sales, marketing and technology work would be handled centrally by the league, thus affording a considerable cost-savings to the teams.

First season

The first season was won by Chinese club Beijing Guoan, driven by Italian FIA GT Championship racer, Davide Rigon. The season contained a calendar of six double-headers, featuring 18 clubs, and also brought victories for Liverpool F.C., A.C. Milan, PSV Eindhoven, F.C. Porto, Sevilla FC, Al Ain FC and Borussia Dortmund. Superleague Formula's debut race was seen in 62 countries across the globe with 100,000 people relished twelve races of Superleague Formula and 34,000 fans attending the last race in Jerez, broadcast live in 70 countries. ^[2]

Second season

2009 is the current ongoing season of the series.

Third season

Champions

Season	Champion	Second	Third	Race team Champion
2008	Beijing Guoan (Davide Rigon)	PSV Eindhoven (Yelmer Buurman)	A.C. Milan (Robert Doornbos)	Zakspeed

Race format

Superleague Formula’s race format incorporates a Saturday qualification and races on Sunday, one with a reverse grid. For each round, the competing teams will compete for prize money, plus points in a yearly championship.

2008

Saturday: 45-minute free practice session, qualifying and rookie session
Sunday: Two 45-minute races (one with reverse grid)
One million Euros prize money per race weekend

2009

Saturday: Two 45-minute free practice sessions, 1 hour rookie session and qualifying
Sunday: Two 45-minute races (one with reverse grid)
Compulsory pit stop in Races 1 and 2 which must be made between laps 8 and 20
A third 10-minute 'Super Final' race in 4 of the 6 events with the top 3 from the two previous races racing to find a 'Weekend Winner'
€333,000 prize money to share per race weekend, including €5,000 for Race 1 pole position and €3,000, €2,000 and €1,000 for the three podium positions in the first two races as well as overall weekend prize money for the top 20 cars by performance, the most one club can get per weekend is €111,000 ^[3]

Qualifying

Superleague Formula employs a unique qualifying system based on a group stage to knock-out format used in some football tournaments: ^[4]

There is a draw on the Friday to split cars in Group A and Group B
No refueling or tyre changing can take place during the qualifying
Each group in turn has a 15 minute session to try and be in the fastest 4 in that group
Five slowest from the group of the fastest driver go 9th, 11th, 13th, 15th, 17th on the grid
Five slowest from the other group go 10th, 12th, 14th, 16th, 18th on the grid
Quarter Final 1: first from fastest group versus fourth from slowest: single flying lap: loser goes 8th on the grid
Quarter Final 2: first from slowest group versus fourth from fastest: single flying lap: loser goes 7th on the grid
Quarter Final 3: second from fastest group versus third from slowest: single flying lap: loser goes 6th on the grid
Quarter Final 4: second from slowest group versus third from fastest: single flying lap: loser goes 5th on the grid
Semi Final 1: winner from quarter final 1 versus winner from quarter final 4: single flying lap: loser goes 4th on the grid
Semi Final 2: winner from quarter final 2 versus winner from quarter final 3: single flying lap: loser goes 3th on the grid
Final: single flying lap: loser goes 2nd on the grid, winner gets pole position

Scoring

The championship is decided by points, which are awarded according to the place in which a driver classifies at each grand prix. The points are allocated as follows:

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	11th	12th	13th	14th	15th	16th	17th	18th	19th	20th	21st	22nd
Points	50	45	40	36	32	29	26	23	20	18	16	14	12	10	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1

Unlike in Formula One, the driver does not need to finish the race in order to collect points but does have to start. The same points are awarded for Race 1 as Race 2, despite Race 2 having a reverse grid with the slowest given the advantage at the front. The 2009 format of having a third race in some weekends does not award points for that race.

Drivers and teams

Notable drivers and teams

; Drivers who have also raced in Formula One

Enrique Bernoldi (2001, 2002)
Sébastien Bourdais (2008, 2009)
Robert Doornbos (2005, 2006)
Giorgio Pantano (2004)
Antônio Pizzonia (2003, 2005)

; Teams who have also raced in Formula One

Zakspeed (1985-1989)

Broadcasters

Fans globally are able to view the championship on national TV channels or via live streaming from the Superleague Formula website.

Future

The organisers of Superleague Formula are looking to expand and evolve the sport very quickly with up to 17 races by 2012 and the possibility of a separate street race series so the fans can get up close to the cars and drivers. Their original plan was to have:

Season	Races in Europe	Races outside Europe	Total races
Year 1	6	0	6
Year 2	8	1	9
Year 3	10	2	12
Year 4	12	3	15
Year 5	13	4	17

Current planned expansion: ^[5]

Season	Total races (outside Europe)
Year 3 (2010)	9 (1)
Year 4 (2011)	12 (2)
Year 5 (2012)	15 (3)

In June 2009 Robin Webb stated he wanted the formula to eventually increase to 26 cars and 12 rounds per season: all going well he hoped 2010 would see 9 rounds including one outside Europe, most likely in Brazil. He expects the formula to quickly attract more big football clubs from yesterday and today. He was keen to promote the idea that "Superleague Formula combines the passion of football with the thrill of auto racing". ^[6]

The circuits of Assen and Zandvoort from Holland, the circuit in Abu Dhabi and one from Brazil are all being considered for future racing venues in the series. ^[7]
PSV Eindhoven has a contract with Superleague Formula until 2013. ^[8] The contract includes the condition that they will only race if they are the sole club entrant from Holland. Fellow Dutch football giants AFC Ajax have said that even come 2013 they have little wish to venture into motorsport pointing out that they would have no control over the running of their car in the series and that they are primarily a football club. ^[9]
A state-of-the-art video game for Superleague Formula, to be named Superleague Formula 2009:The Game, is being worked on by Media Game and Image Space Incorporated and will be released for PC in September 2009. ^[10] The game, to be released for download by the series' official website, will feature the 19 clubs and 6 circuits from in the 2009 season. During the 2009 Donington round some star drivers tested out the new game, giving it positive feedback. ^[11]
It is strongly expected that French team Girondins de Bordeaux will enter mid-way through the 2009 season. They have revealed a car (number 25, navy blue & white livery) and made known that Franck Perera would be their number one choice for a driver. They are likely to drive managed by local racing organisation, Bordeaux Racing. The team are currently in negotiations with SLF organisers but will not enter in time for Round 1 at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours. ^[12] ^[13]

Technology

The car has been built by Panoz under the Élan Motorsport Technologies banner and offically named the Panoz DP09. It will be powered by a 750bhp 4.2-litre V12 engine designed by US-owned Menard Competition Technologies. Élan manufactured the Panoz DP01 for Champ Car, as well as cars for other championships.
The chassis is built on a two-metre wide track with entertainment in mind, using under-body aerodynamics to create the needed conditions for increased overtaking opportunities. The cars have been subjected to the latest FIA safety tests, and the car has continued under development during 2007.

Car Details

Carbon fibre tub for extreme strength / lightness
Under-body aerodynamics to facilitate nose-to-tail driving/overtaking
Hewland 6 speed LSFA gearbox with Hewland semi-automatic system
Pi “SIGMA” based dashboard / data logging system
‘Slick’ racing style tyres with no grooves or tread
Weight Target: 750 kg ^[14]

Engine Details

No of Cylinders: 12
Capacity: 4.2 Litres
Configuration: 60 degrees V formation
Weight: 140 kg (308lb) Dry
Peak Power: 750bhp (560kW) @ 11,750 rpm
Maximum RPM: 12,000
Peak Torque: 510N·m (376ft·lb) @ 9,500-10,500 ^[15]

Performance

At Magny-Cours in 2009, the best qualfying time for a Superleague car was 1:26.391, almost 11.5 seconds slower than the fastest qualifying time for an F1 car in 2008 of 1:15.024. ^[16] Both Superleague Formula and Formula One will be racing at Monza in 2009 where a real time comparision will be possible assuming conditions such as rain are similar.