2008 Vallelunga Superleague Formula round

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

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.

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.

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

Group B

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

Knockout stages

Quarter-Finals Semi-Finals Pole Shoot Out
A1 SC Corinthians 1:22.627
B4 Liverpool F.C. 1:22.411 B4 Liverpool F.C. 1:22.524
A3 Galatasaray S.K. 1:22.771 B2 CR Flamengo 1:30.310
B2 CR Flamengo 1:22.261 B4 Liverpool F.C. 1:21.855
A2 A.C. Milan 1:22.122 A2 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. Team Driver Time
1 England Liverpool F.C. Spain Adrián Vallés 1:21.855
2 Italy A.C. Milan Netherlands Robert Doornbos 1:22.115
3 China Beijing Guoan Italy Davide Rigon 1:22.373
4 Brazil CR Flamengo Brazil Tuka Rocha 1:30.310
5 Turkey Galatasaray S.K. Italy Alessandro Pier Guidi 1:22.771
6 Belgium R.S.C. Anderlecht United Kingdom Craig Dolby 1:22.645
7 Italy A.S. Roma France Franck Perera 1:21.998
8 Brazil SC Corinthians Brazil Antônio Pizzonia 1:22.627
9 Spain Atlético Madrid Spain Andy Soucek 1:22.833
10 Scotland Rangers F.C. United Kingdom Ryan Dalziel 1:23.498
11 Netherlands PSV Eindhoven Netherlands Yelmer Buurman 1:23.229
12 Switzerland FC Basel 1893 Germany Max Wissel 1:23.664
13 England Tottenham Hotspur United Kingdom Duncan Tappy 1:24.345
14 Spain Sevilla FC Spain Borja García 1:23.758
15 Portugal F.C. Porto France Tristan Gommendy 1:24.516
16 Greece Olympiacos CFP Greece Stamatis Katsimis 1:24.661
17 Germany Borussia Dortmund Italy Enrico Toccacelo no time
18 United Arab Emirates Al Ain Netherlands Paul Meijer no time

Race 1

Pos No Team Driver Laps Time/Retired Grid Pts.
1 12 China Beijing Guoan Italy Davide Rigon 32 45:40.448 3 50
2 3 Italy A.C. Milan Netherlands Robert Doornbos 32 +1.679 2 45
3 4 Turkey Galatasaray S.K. Italy Alessandro Pier Guidi 32 +11.750 5 40
4 7 Brazil CR Flamengo Brazil Tuka Rocha 32 +32.539 4 36
5 17 Scotland Rangers F.C. United Kingdom Ryan Dalziel 32 +33.205 10 32
6 14 Brazil SC Corinthians Brazil Antônio Pizzonia 32 +34.288 8 29
7 8 Belgium R.S.C. Anderlecht United Kingdom Craig Dolby 32 +35.238 6 26
8 16 Portugal F.C. Porto France Tristan Gommendy 32 +35.712 15 23
9 21 England Liverpool F.C. Spain Adrián Vallés 32 +38.594 1 20
10 5 Netherlands PSV Eindhoven Netherlands Yelmer Buurman 32 +43.216 11 18
11 19 England Tottenham Hotspur United Kingdom Duncan Tappy 32 +59.987 13 16
12 10 Switzerland FC Basel 1893 Germany Max Wissel 32 +1:02.549 12 14
13 9 Greece Olympiacos CFP Greece Stamatis Katsimis 31 +1 Lap 16 12
14 6 United Arab Emirates Al Ain Netherlands Dominick Muermans 31 +1 Lap 18 10
15 22 Italy A.S. Roma France Franck Perera 29 Puncture 7 8
16 15 Spain Atlético Madrid Spain Andy Soucek 27 Engine 9 7
17 18 Spain Sevilla FC Spain Borja García 15 Throttle 14 6
18 11 Germany Borussia Dortmund Italy Enrico Toccacelo 2 Suspension 17 5
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 Portugal F.C. Porto France Tristan Gommendy 30 46:15.508 11 50
2 22 Italy A.S. Roma France Franck Perera 30 +1.482 4 45
3 5 Netherlands PSV Eindhoven Netherlands Yelmer Buurman 30 +4.562 9 40
4 21 England Liverpool F.C. Spain Adrián Vallés 30 +13.321 10 36
5 12 China Beijing Guoan Italy Davide Rigon 30 +14.126 18 32
6 8 Belgium R.S.C. Anderlecht United Kingdom Craig Dolby 30 +25.284 12 29
7 17 Scotland Rangers F.C. United Kingdom Ryan Dalziel 30 +30.185 14 26
8 6 United Arab Emirates Al Ain Netherlands Dominick Muermans 30 +1:04.015 5 23
9 9 Greece Olympiacos CFP Greece Stamatis Katsimis 26 Accident 6 20
10 19 England Tottenham Hotspur United Kingdom Duncan Tappy 26 Accident 8 18
11 4 Turkey Galatasaray S.K. Italy Alessandro Pier Guidi 26 Accident 16 16
12 15 Spain Atlético Madrid Spain Andy Soucek 21 Gearbox 3 14
13 18 Spain Sevilla FC Spain Borja García 18 Brakes 2 12
14 11 Germany Borussia Dortmund Italy Enrico Toccacelo 8 Accident 1 10
15 10 Switzerland FC Basel 1893 Germany Max Wissel 3 Engine 7 8
16 14 Brazil SC Corinthians Brazil Antônio Pizzonia 0 Accident 13 7
17 3 Italy A.C. Milan Netherlands Robert Doornbos 0 Accident 17 6
18 7 Brazil CR Flamengo Brazil Tuka Rocha 0 Accident 15 5
Fastest lap: Andy Soucek (Atlético Madrid) 1:23.475 (109.469 mph)

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.

External links

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