Superleague Formula

Superleague Formula
Category	Single seaters
Country	International
Inaugural season	2008
Folded	2011
Drivers	14
Teams	14
Constructors	Élan Motorsport Technologies
Tyre suppliers	Michelin
Last Drivers' champion	John Martin
Last Teams' champion	Australia
Official website	superleagueformula.com

Superleague Formula was an open wheel single seater formula racing series held from 2008 to 2011. The league introduced team sponsorship by association football clubs, using the slogan The Beautiful Race: Football at 300 km/h. By 2011 the link with football had fading as more than half the teams were no longer associated with football teams. The season ran between April and November at the same time as most other European race series, and unlike the rival A1 Grand Prix. Every team used identical Panoz DP09 racecars with 750-horsepower 4.2-liter V12 engines.

The series was founded by businessmen Alex Andreu and Robin Webb. On 19 May 2010, Andreu stepped down in his role as series president,^[2] with Alfredo Brisac named as his successor not many weeks later.^[3] The Sonangol Group was the series' title sponsor from June 2009 until the end of the 2010 season.^[4]

The future of the championship was in doubt after the cancellation of over three-quarters of 2011 season events. In April 2012, when most European motor racing started, there had been no news or information regarding the possibility of a 2012 or 2013 season running. The website updates ceased in 2011,^[5] and no further seasons were organised.

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 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.

The inaugural season, in 2008, was won by Chinese club Beijing Guoan, driven by Italian FIA GT Championship racer, Davide Rigon. The season consisted 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 and Borussia Dortmund. Superleague Formula's debut race was seen in 62 countries, and 100,000 people watched the twelve races, with 34,000 fans attending the last race in Jerez, broadcast live in 70 countries.^[6]

In 2009, the second season was won by English club Liverpool F.C., driven by Spanish racer Adrián Vallés. The season consisted of six double-headers, featuring 19 clubs, and brought first victories for Tottenham Hotspur, FC Basel 1893, Rangers F.C., Olympiacos CFP, Sporting CP, R.S.C. Anderlecht and Galatasaray S.K. This was the first season to feature the Super Final format, adding a six car shootout to four of the six rounds. The races were broadcast in 62 countries to a reach of 100 million people.^[7]

2010 was the third season and saw the biggest change yet, with the calendar increased from six to twelve race weekends and another increase to both race event and end-of-season prize money.^[8] An average of 18 clubs competed at each event throughout the season. In a pre-season interview, Superleague Formula's Competition Director Robin Webb said,^[8]

The new prize fund offers drivers and teams an even greater incentive to top the Superleague Formula table come November. I can't think of anything else in Europe that offers this level of prize money for the winners, not to mention for individual races as in the Super Final's case. All in all, the series really does now offer drivers the chance to earn a living from motor sport, something that's not possible in single seater racing outside of Formula 1.

After its biggest growth in 2010, 2011 saw a significant contraction with just six football clubs continuing their association into the series fourth season. The remaining cars carried national identities with many more closely associated with the competing drivers rather than any football connection. While an ambitious calendar was announced, several races were cancelled and relocated and as late as September organisers were still seeking to confirm some of its late season races, leaving doubt as to whether the series would have more than half the races of the 2010 season.

After the cancellation of the 2011 Chinese rounds,^[5] there were no news reports on the 2012 season. With many drivers and teams having joined other series, as well as no updates from the Superleague Formula website, the series was discontinued after just four seasons of racing.

Champions

Season	Champion	Second	Third	Ref
2008	Beijing Guoan (Davide Rigon)	PSV Eindhoven (Yelmer Buurman)	A.C. Milan (Robert Doornbos)	^[9]
2009	Liverpool F.C. (Adrián Vallés)	Tottenham Hotspur (Craig Dolby)	FC Basel 1893 (Max Wissel)	^[10]
2010	R.S.C. Anderlecht (Davide Rigon)	Tottenham Hotspur (Craig Dolby)	FC Basel 1893 (Max Wissel)	^[11]
2011	Australia (John Martin)	Japan (Duncan Tappy/Robert Doornbos)	Luxembourg (Frédéric Vervisch)	^[12]

Race format

Superleague Formula's race format incorporated a Saturday qualification and races on Sunday, one with a reverse grid. For each round, the competing teams competed 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).
€1 million prize money per race weekend.

New in 2009

Saturday: Two 45-minute free practice sessions, 1 hour rookie session and qualifying.
Sunday: Two '44-minute plus a lap' races (the latter with reverse grid).
Compulsory pit stop in Races 1 and 2 which must be made between laps 8 and 20. Both races feature a rolling start.
A third, 5 lap 'Super Final' race in 4 of the 6 events in which the weekend's top six cars/drivers, found based on their combined points scores from the first two races, race to decide a 'Weekend Winner' and the distribution of prize money. This race begins with a standing start.
€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.^[13]

New in 2010

Race and qualifying format was largely unchanged from the 2009 season, although practice sessions moved to Friday.
There was a 'Super Final' race at the end of all twelve events instead of just at select weekends, and which counted for points.^[14]
The series offered the biggest prize fund in European motorsport with the end-of-season champions set to earn €1 million in prize money. €500,000 went to second place and €250,000 to the third place entry. Over €5 million in total was on offer throughout 2010, with €100,000 going to the 'Weekend Winner' of each of the twelve rounds. It was therefore possible for an entry to earn up to €2.2 million over the course of the season.^[8]
Drivers had to finish a race, not only start, in order to score points.^[14]

Qualifying

Superleague Formula employed a unique qualifying system based on a group stage to knock-out format used in some football tournaments:^[15]

There was a draw on the Friday to split cars in Group A and Group B
No refueling or tyre changing could take place during the qualifying
Each group in turn had a 15-minute (2008–2009)/10-minute (2010) session to try to be in the fastest four in that group
Five slowest from the group of the fastest driver went 9th, 11th, 13th, 15th, 17th on the grid
Five slowest from the other group went 10th, 12th, 14th, 16th, 18th on the grid
Quarter Final 1: first from fastest group versus fourth from slowest: single flying lap: loser went 8th on the grid
Quarter Final 2: first from slowest group versus fourth from fastest: single flying lap: loser went 7th on the grid
Quarter Final 3: second from fastest group versus third from slowest: single flying lap: loser went 6th on the grid
Quarter Final 4: second from slowest group versus third from fastest: single flying lap: loser went 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 went 3rd on the grid
Final: single flying lap: loser went 2nd on the grid, winner got pole position

Scoring system

The championship was decided by points, which were awarded according to the position in which a driver classifies at the end of each race, of which there were three per race weekend. The points were allocated as follows:^[13]

Race 1 and 2 points

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	11th	12th	13th	14th	15th	16th	17th	18th	19th	20th	21st	22nd	DNF	DNS
Points	50	45	40	36	32	29	26	23	20	18	16	14	12	10	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1	0	0

Super Final points (since 2010)

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	DNQ	DNS
Points	6	5	4	3	2	1	0	0

For the first two seasons the driver did not need to finish the race in order to collect points, but did have to start. However, in 2010 a driver needs to start and finish the race in order to score.^[14] 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. In 2009 began the running of a third race, a 'Super Final', at the end of certain weekends, however no points were awarded this race. As a result, the maximum number of points any football club/driver could score in one round during 2008 or 2009 was 100, by winning both main races. This feat wasn't achieved although Sébastien Bourdais, Craig Dolby, Robert Doornbos and Max Wissel all scored 90 points in a weekend by finishing either 2nd and 2nd or 1st and 3rd.

In 2010 however, with the Super Final also counting for points and 6 points going to the winner, the maximum points haul was now 106, achieved by winning all three races during the weekend.^[14] The record was 92 points, held by Craig Dolby from the 2010 Silverstone Superleague Formula round.