2008 Zolder Superleague Formula round explained

The 2008 Zolder Superleague Formula round was the third round of the inaugural Superleague Formula championship, with the races taking place on October 5, 2008. Eighteen football teams were represented on the grid, the same number of teams as there was at the Nürburgring. There were three driver changes for this round of the championship: Ryan Dalziel returned to the Rangers F.C. car (replacing James Walker), after missing the previous round due to a clash with his Rolex Sports Car Series commitments at Miller Motorsports Park. Two drivers made their debuts, with Dutchman Paul Meijer replacing Nelson Philippe in the car representing Borussia Dortmund and Belgian Bertrand Baguette replaced Andreas Zuber in the Al Ain car. The meeting saw a first win for Liverpool F.C. and a second win for championship leaders Beijing Guoan. However, the championship lead for the Chinese side was cut to 14 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. For the third race in succession, drivers missed out on places in the knockout stages, despite setting a faster time than the fourth-placed qualifier in the slower group. On this occasion, three Group A drivers were eliminated despite setting times up to half a second faster than the fourth-placed qualifier of Group B. The unlucky drivers turned out to be Max Wissel (FC Basel 1893), Ryan Dalziel (Rangers F.C.) and Enrico Toccacelo (A.S. Roma), who were all quicker than Craig Dolby's R.S.C. Anderlecht machine, which made it through from Group B. A.C. Milan and Atlético Madrid topped their respective groups and were expected to face each other in the final, yet both teams were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Anderlecht and Paul Meijer's Borussia Dortmund machine. Sevilla FC and Liverpool F.C. were the other semi-finalists, yet neither would make the final as Meijer and Dolby sealed their places by beating the somewhat more experienced GP2 Series drivers Borja García and Adrián Vallés. In the final, Dolby would not set a time, thus giving Meijer a debut pole, becoming the third different polesitter in three races.

Race 1

A wet raceday greeted the drivers on Sunday, and it was all action right from the rolling start. Fifth-placed Davide Rigon (Beijing Guoan) and seventh-placed Robert Doornbos (A.C. Milan) came together, with Doornbos being unsighted due to the spray. The accident caused terminal damage to both cars, yet would aid them for the second race of the afternoon - thanks to the reverse grid system. Dolby had taken the lead off Meijer ahead of the midfield chaos, due to a tentative start by the Dutch rookie. The two ran in very close formation, until a safety car was called for on lap 4, with García in the wall at the Lucien Bianchi Bocht, having dropped a wheel on the wet grass. The mandatory pit stop window came as the safety car was out, and after the race went green, the first of the leaders came in - Vallés from third, complaining of a vibration and balance issues on the Liverpool car. These new boots had an effect on the Spanish driver rattling off a series of fastest laps and coupled with shoddy pitstops by Dolby and Meijer, a first win was on the cards. Not even a late safety car for spinners Toccacelo and Alessandro Pier Guidi (Galatasaray S.K.) could halt the Vallés steamroller, as he would go on to win by 2.257 seconds from Dolby, recording his third runner-up placing in five races. Following them home were Meijer, Wissel, Andy Soucek (Atlético Madrid), Tristan Gommendy (F.C. Porto), Yelmer Buurman (PSV Eindhoven), Dalziel, Tuka Rocha (CR Flamengo), Antônio Pizzonia (SC Corinthians), Bertrand Baguette (Al Ain), with Duncan Tappy (Tottenham Hotspur) completing the finishers, having suffered a puncture.

Race 2

After the first race clash between them, Rigon and Doornbos lined up together on the front row and just like the first race, the outside of turn one saw the second-place starter overtake the polesitter around the outside, with Rigon skating his way around the Dutchman. But again, the safety car came out for a first-lap incident. Pizzonia had misjudged his braking point for the Klein Chicane, barrelled past a number of cars and skated straight into Dalziel, causing both to retire. After this safety car period, Rigon strolled off into a 23-second victory, leaving the rest of the field in his wake. The battle for second was on with both Doornbos and Toccacelo struggling with car setups. Buurman made a mistake while trying to pass the Italian, knocking his pit limiter on and lost ground. García spun again, with an almost carbon copy of his race one spin - this time, he stayed on circuit. With all the problems about him, Tappy moved through the melée and ended up second, ahead of Buurman, Doornbos, Wissel, Vallés, Toccacelo, García, Kasper Andersen (Olympiacos CFP), Baguette, Meijer, Pier Guidi, Soucek, Rocha and Gommendy. With the win, Rigon managed to get back some of the damage caused to the points lead in race one - Guoan's championship lead now stands at 14 points from PSV with Sevilla falling further back.

Results

Qualifying

Group A

Pos.TeamDriverTime
1 A.C. Milan Robert Doornbos1:17.309
2 Sevilla FC Borja García1:17.383
3 Liverpool F.C. Adrián Vallés1:17.587
4 Borussia Dortmund Paul Meijer1:17.733
5 FC Basel 1893 Max Wissel1:17.798
6 Rangers F.C. Ryan Dalziel1:17.839
7 A.S. Roma Enrico Toccacelo1:17.949
8 Olympiacos CFP Kasper Andersen1:18.812
9 PSV Eindhoven Yelmer Buurman1:19.285

Group B

Pos.TeamDriverTime
1 Atlético Madrid Andy Soucek1:16.969
2 F.C. Porto Tristan Gommendy1:17.341
3 Beijing Guoan Davide Rigon1:18.131
4 R.S.C. Anderlecht Craig Dolby1:18.313
5 Tottenham Hotspur Duncan Tappy1:18.389
6 Galatasaray S.K. Alessandro Pier Guidi1:18.563
7 CR Flamengo Tuka Rocha1:18.981
8 SC Corinthians Antônio Pizzonia1:19.017
9 Al Ain Bertrand Baguette1:19.115

Grid

Pos.TeamDriverTime
1 Borussia Dortmund Paul Meijer1:20.826
2 R.S.C. Anderlecht Craig Dolbyno time
3 Liverpool F.C. Adrián Vallés1:19.006
4 Sevilla FC Borja García1:17.423
5 Beijing Guoan Davide Rigon1:17.901
6 F.C. Porto Tristan Gommendy1:18.657
7 A.C. Milan Robert Doornbos1:18.169
8 Atlético Madrid Andy Soucek1:17.772
9 Tottenham Hotspur Duncan Tappy1:18.389
10 FC Basel 1893 Max Wissel1:17.798
11 Galatasaray S.K. Alessandro Pier Guidi1:18.563
12 Rangers F.C. Ryan Dalziel1:17.839
13 CR Flamengo Tuka Rocha1:18.981
14 A.S. Roma Enrico Toccacelo1:17.949
15 SC Corinthians Antônio Pizzonia1:19.017
16 Olympiacos CFP Kasper Andersen1:18.812
17 Al Ain Bertrand Baguette1:19.115
18 PSV Eindhoven Yelmer Buurman1:19.285

Race 1

Pos No Team Driver Laps Time/Retired Grid Pts.
121 Liverpool F.C. Adrián Vallés2445:51.628350
28 R.S.C. Anderlecht Craig Dolby24+2.257245
311 Borussia Dortmund Paul Meijer24+4.045140
410 FC Basel 1893 Max Wissel24+5.9281036
515 Atlético Madrid Andy Soucek24+8.201832
616 F.C. Porto Tristan Gommendy24+9.111629
75 PSV Eindhoven Yelmer Buurman24+11.4351826
817 Rangers F.C. Ryan Dalziel24+11.6011223
97 CR Flamengo Tuka Rocha24+12.7841320
1014 SC Corinthians Antônio Pizzonia24+13.6501518
116 Al Ain Bertrand Baguette24+14.4821716
1219 Tottenham Hotspur Duncan Tappy23+1 Lap914
1322 A.S. Roma Enrico Toccacelo18Spin1412
144 Galatasaray S.K. Alessandro Pier Guidi18Spin1110
159 Olympiacos CFP Kasper Andersen17Spin168
1618 Sevilla FC Borja García3Accident47
1712 Beijing Guoan Davide Rigon1Accident56
183 A.C. Milan Robert Doornbos0Accident75
Fastest lap: Adrián Vallés (Liverpool F.C.) 1:38.031 (91.526 mph)

Race 2

Pos No Team Driver Laps Time/Retired Grid Pts.
112 Beijing Guoan Davide Rigon2647:23.624250
219 Tottenham Hotspur Duncan Tappy26+23.436745
35 PSV Eindhoven Yelmer Buurman26+24.5041240
43 A.C. Milan Robert Doornbos26+26.176136
510 FC Basel 1893 Max Wissel26+29.0971532
621 Liverpool F.C. Adrián Vallés26+31.2601829
722 A.S. Roma Enrico Toccacelo26+34.194626
818 Sevilla FC Borja García26+34.270323
99 Olympiacos CFP Kasper Andersen26+34.742420
106 Al Ain Bertrand Baguette26+50.926818
1111 Borussia Dortmund Paul Meijer26+50.9481616
124 Galatasaray S.K. Alessandro Pier Guidi26+51.286514
1315 Atlético Madrid Andy Soucek26+55.9931412
147 CR Flamengo Tuka Rocha26+1:13.1911010
1516 F.C. Porto Tristan Gommendy26+1:21.368138
168 R.S.C. Anderlecht Craig Dolby18Transmission177
1717 Rangers F.C. Ryan Dalziel1Suspension116
1814 SC Corinthians Antônio Pizzonia0Accident95
Fastest lap: Andy Soucek (Atlético Madrid) 1:37.370 (92.147 mph)

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