2008 Vallelunga Superleague Formula round

Template:Superleague Formula race reportThe 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. Having broken a bone in his right hand in practice, Paul Meijer was replaced by Dominick Muermans in the Al Ain car – 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

• In each group, the top four qualify for the quarter-finals.

Group A

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

Group B

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

Grid

Pos.	Team	Driver	Time
1	Template:Flagicon Liverpool F.C.	Template:Flagicon Adrián Vallés	1:21.855
2	Template:Flagicon A.C. Milan	Template:Flagicon Robert Doornbos	1:22.115
3	Template:Flagicon Beijing Guoan	Template:Flagicon Davide Rigon	1:22.373
4	Template:Flagicon CR Flamengo	Template:Flagicon Tuka Rocha	1:30.310
5	Template:Flagicon Galatasaray S.K.	Template:Flagicon Alessandro Pier Guidi	1:22.771
6	Template:Flagicon R.S.C. Anderlecht	Template:Flagicon Craig Dolby	1:22.645
7	Template:Flagicon A.S. Roma	Template:Flagicon Franck Perera	1:21.998
8	Template:Flagicon SC Corinthians	Template:Flagicon Antônio Pizzonia	1:22.627
9	Template:Flagicon Atlético Madrid	Template:Flagicon Andy Soucek	1:22.833
10	Template:Flagicon Rangers F.C.	Template:Flagicon Ryan Dalziel	1:23.498
11	Template:Flagicon PSV Eindhoven	Template:Flagicon Yelmer Buurman	1:23.229
12	Template:Flagicon FC Basel 1893	Template:Flagicon Max Wissel	1:23.664
13	Template:Flagicon Tottenham Hotspur	Template:Flagicon Duncan Tappy	1:24.345
14	Template:Flagicon Sevilla FC	Template:Flagicon Borja García	1:23.758
15	Template:Flagicon F.C. Porto	Template:Flagicon Tristan Gommendy	1:24.516
16	Template:Flagicon Olympiacos CFP	Template:Flagicon Stamatis Katsimis	1:24.661
17	Template:Flagicon Borussia Dortmund	Template:Flagicon Enrico Toccacelo	no time
18	Template:Flagicon Al Ain	Template:Flagicon Paul Meijer	no time

Race 1

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

External links

• Official results from the Superleague Formula websiteTemplate:Category handler