<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0" atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"><channel><link href="http://www.superleagueformula.com//rss/feed/news" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><title>RSS - SF News</title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/</link><description>Add the Superleague Formula news RSS feeds</description><language>en-GB</language><item><title><![CDATA[Superleague Formula Series pulls out of Chinese rounds]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/superleague-formula-series-pulls-out-of-chinese-rounds</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/superleague-formula-series-pulls-out-of-chinese-rounds</guid><description><![CDATA[Superleague Formula Series has been forced to pull out of its scheduled trip to China later this month after terms between the championship and local authorities could not be reached. The nations cup series was expected to contest rounds in Beijing on October 29/30 and Shanghai a week later, before also making its first appearance in South Korea on November 12/13. But with negotiations at deadlock, the championship has been left with no other option than to abandon the Asian races and end its 2011 campaign early.
Competitions Director Robin Webb: &ldquo;While everyone at Superleague Formula recognises this is an unsatisfactory outcome for the thousands of fans, it was simply not possible to travel to China with certain details still to be agreed. That this announcement has come so close to the first scheduled event is testament to the championship&rsquo;s tireless attempts to stage the races as planned, especially after the warm welcome we received in China last season.

&ldquo;Naturally I am as frustrated as anyone that the championship will not be visiting Asia this year. I would like to reassure fans however that plans are already well advanced in putting together a much-improved package for 2012, announcements on which will be made in due course.&rdquo;]]></description><category/><pubDate>Oct 13, 2011 12:53:45 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Superleague Formula Series evaluating new chassis supply]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/superleague-formula-series-evaluating-new-chassis-supply</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/superleague-formula-series-evaluating-new-chassis-supply</guid><description><![CDATA[Superleague Formula Series could introduce a brand new chassis in time for the 2013 season with steps already being taken to find a suitable partner. With the current crop of bespoke single-seaters, built by Elan Motorsport Technologies in time for the inaugural 2008 campaign, due to enter their fifth year of competition in 2012, the nations cup series feels the time is right to begin evaluating its next generation of racing cars.Any new chassis will have a tough act to follow: the crowd-pleasing DP09&rsquo;s distinctive character, screaming V12, 750bhp and push-to-pass systems has ensured on-track action is seldom anything less than exhilarating as drivers battle wheel-to-wheel.While Superleague Formula will be consulting a number of proven suppliers in the coming months, championship officials recently visited world-renowned racing car firm Lola where they were treated to a glimpse of its World Senior Car.Over seven decades the British engineering company has gained a wealth of experience and an impeccable reputation for building both single-make and multi-competitive racing cars spanning Formula 1, IndyCar, F3, A1GP and Formula Nippon.Combining state-of-the-art F1 technology with Lola&rsquo;s expertise in delivering cost-effective one-make chassis, the World Senior Car has the potential to perfectly fulfill Superleague Formula&rsquo;s requirements.&nbsp; &nbsp;Steve Farrell, Superleague Formula Technical Director: &ldquo;Lola Group has an incredible pedigree in international motorsport which made them the ideal starting point in Superleague Formula&rsquo;s search for a new car. The championship has always been different from the mainstream. We would be looking for something exciting and distinctive, but most importantly driver-friendly whilst maintaining a tight control on parts and running costs. &ldquo;The amazing diversity of projects being undertaken at Huntingdon has helped the Lola Group prove they are capable of successfully tackling new challenges. The glimpse we saw of their World Senior Car gives us confidence in knowing that they perfectly understand our requirements.&rdquo; Robin Brundle, Managing Director of Lola Cars International Ltd: &ldquo;Lola has considerable experience in delivering high performance racing cars and after sales services for international one make-series such as Superleague Formula. SF&rsquo;s criteria fit well with Lola&rsquo;s capabilities and while our initial discussions remain at an embryonic stage, the championship is satisfied that our World Senior Car ticks all the relevant boxes. We wish Robin Webb and his team every success delivering their vision for the series.&rdquo;]]></description><category/><pubDate>Sep 23, 2011 5:44:47 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Superleague Formula Series moves to Silverstone HQ]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/superleague-formula-series-moves-to-silverstone-hq</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/superleague-formula-series-moves-to-silverstone-hq</guid><description><![CDATA[Superleague Formula Series has relocated its operations headquarters to the world famous Silverstone Circuit in the UK. After coordinating its first four seasons of competition from Barcelona, the nations cup series has moved to the home of British motorsport from where the remainder of this season&rsquo;s championship and forthcoming 2012 campaign will be directed.
Located at the heart of Britain&rsquo;s &lsquo;Motorsport Valley&rsquo;, Silverstone Business Park offers Superleague Formula the ideal environment in which to expand its global appeal further afield.
Robin Webb, Competitions Director: &ldquo;Superleague Formula&rsquo;s internal make-up has changed a great deal since the championship began in 2008. After four seasons of competition it was decided that basing our operations at Silverstone&rsquo;s burgeoning Business Park, which boasts a growing number of specialised industry leaders, could only be good for the series moving forward. Operating out of Silverstone also brings the championship closer to a number of its suppliers, which I hope will help strengthen existing partnerships and open doors to new ones. As someone brought up on a diet of British motor racing, it&rsquo;s a place that is particularly close to my heart.&rdquo;
&nbsp;]]></description><category/><pubDate>Sep 19, 2011 1:10:08 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Ongoing track changes force cancelation of Superleague Formula Series’ Brazil dates]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/ongoing-track-changes-force-cancelation-of-superleague-formula-series-brazil-dates</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/ongoing-track-changes-force-cancelation-of-superleague-formula-series-brazil-dates</guid><description><![CDATA[
Superleague Formula Series&rsquo; two scheduled rounds in Brazil this October will no longer go ahead after the championship received news from circuit bosses that Goi&acirc;nia will not be ready to host its event.
 

Goi&acirc;nia had been expected to hold the third round of the nations cup series on 8/9 October but the FIA-sanctioned championship has since been notified that the planned resurfacing of its 2.37-mile layout will not be completed in time.

With time now too short to arrange a replacement venue, Superleague Formula has taken the difficult decision to cancel both its 2011 South American dates, the second of which was scheduled to take place on October 15/16.

Competitions Director Robin Webb:&nbsp;&ldquo;Unfortunately time has run out for us to commit to transporting the cars and equipment across the Atlantic. For a European-based operation it is simply too much of a risk to send everything there without being wholly confident Goi&acirc;nia is ready to hold a race. It&rsquo;s also unfair on our teams and drivers who have understandably been seeking our assurances on this matter. I know our colleagues in Brazil are as frustrated as I am but realistically there was no other satisfactory decision we could consider. I want to make it clear however that this has in no way affected the chances of hosting a race next season.&rdquo;


]]></description><category/><pubDate>Sep 14, 2011 1:02:09 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[F1 test for Maria de Villota]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/f1-test-for-maria-de-villota</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/f1-test-for-maria-de-villota</guid><description><![CDATA[Superleague Formula driver, Maria de Villota, has become the first woman to test for an F1 team since 2005. Maria completed almost 200 miles at the Paul Ricard circuit at Le Castellet in the south of France at the wheel of a Lotus Renault R29. She ran in the car in early August with the aim of providing her with her first taste of F1 and 'allow her to become familiar with the onboard systems and car balance'. Team Lotus Renault GP team principle Eric Boullier was pleased with the way that the 31 year old took to her new surroundings: &ldquo;We were delighted to offer Maria the chance to drive in the R29, as a team we pride ourselves on our ability to assess new talents and offer different driver opportunities with us. Maria did exactly what we expected of her; she took things one step at a time, and achieved some reasonable lap times, not putting a foot wrong all day.&rdquo;Maria, who&acute;s father Emilio runs the De Villota Racing Team in Superleague Formula, was delighted to get behind the wheel. &ldquo;As a female driver I was very happy to get the opportunity to drive in an F1 car. Formula One is the pinnacle of motor racing and has always been a dream for me. The running went very well, conditions were ideal, and the team made me feel at ease straight away.&rdquo;&ldquo;It did not take too long to get used to the car and, after I felt comfortable with it, I was able to start pushing and as a result really enjoyed the experience. I have been impressed with Lotus Renault GP&acute;s professionalism. I want to thank the team a lot for this opportunity.&rdquo;]]></description><category/><pubDate>Aug 19, 2011 1:08:53 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Frederic Vervisch aiming for Superleague Formula glory]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/frederic-vervisch-aiming-for-superleague-formula-glory</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/frederic-vervisch-aiming-for-superleague-formula-glory</guid><description><![CDATA[Frederic Vervisch is looking relaxed. Out of his race suit he could pass for many things in life; you wouldn't automatically associate him with driving a screaming V12, thoroughbred race-car at speeds of over 300kph for a career. But racing cars is what he does, and he does it very well. On his way to Superleague Formula the hugely talented Belgian driver won the German and the Asian F3 titles, before heading to America to race in the Formula Atlantic series. He won the rookie title in his only season.A few weeks after the GP of Zolder, his thrilling Super Final victory has taken on a different perspective. &ldquo;Zolder was a great weekend, at the time I didn&rsquo;t quite realize how good, but now I've had some time away, you realize that it really is a dream to win your home Grand Prix. Winning at your home race is so special. If you look at F1, Sebastian Vettel has yet to win in Germany and Mark Webber hasn't won in Australia. It's not easy. Whatever people expect of you, even if you are dominating a season. You want to win it of course, but then so does everyone else.&rdquo;The unique format of Superleague Formula with three races back-to-back can bring huge pressures to bear on the drivers, the teams and also the cars. &ldquo;People don't realize how difficult it is to win a Superleague Formula event, so many things can happen in those two and a half hours, it's three races. Mechanical problems can happen, and the drivers can't make too many errors, none is better of course, but everything has to come together in that time. Even if you are the fastest on the day, it doesn't automatically mean that you'll win. A Superleague Formula weekend is so hard to win.&rdquo;Vervisch, Belgian by birth, drives the Luxembourg car and enjoys great support from the people and country. &ldquo;The Luxembourg people are really supportive. They are a very proud people and having their anthem played in Zolder was something really unique for them. The Schleck brothers didn&rsquo;t quite manage to win the Tour de France, so for them it was a really good thing to hear in in Zolder, and I'm happy to be a part of that.&rdquo;The Luxembourg car is prepared by the Atech Reid GP team, and Team Principle Anthony Reid is amongst those who have tipped Vervisch to take the Superleague Formula title. &ldquo;That was my personal aim at the beginning of the season, we have a deal together because we both believe that we can do it. Coming from eighth before Zolder, to third afterwards, gives me a lot to aim for and the confidence to go forward. The key is to be consistent. The team have to do a great job and I have to do a great job, if one or both of us doesn't do it well, then it's difficult. I have a lot of faith in the team.&rdquo;&ldquo;We made huge progress between Assen and Zolder, and that&rsquo;s fantastic. Luckily I didn&rsquo;t make any errors that weekend, well the small one in the Super Final, but when you have been driving on the limit, its difficult when you are told to take it steady, I don't know why that is.&rdquo;As challenging as it is, Vervisch has very much found his place in Superleague. &ldquo;It's really fun, it's really good to watch but it&rsquo;s not easy to come through the whole afternoon. It's really challenging. We have rolling starts, we have standing starts and pit stops, and there is almost no time to get out of the car. You have to manage a lot of things. I like it a lot, drivers really make the difference here.&rdquo;If there is one circuit that the Belgian pilot would love to see on the Superleague Formula calendar, it would be one that he encountered during his US oddesy. &ldquo;I liked Sebring a lot, that's one of my favourites, it&rsquo;s really bumpy as they still the same surface as the old landing strip. In Europe the circuits can be almost too perfect. I also liked the Beijing street circuit last year, I love tracks that are challenging, that you need to demonstrate a lot of commitment from yourself, to do things better than another driver - even if you have no run off or anything. That is real racing.&rdquo;]]></description><category/><pubDate>Aug 10, 2011 1:04:11 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Doornbos Set to Return to Assen]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/doornbos-set-to-return-to-assen</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/doornbos-set-to-return-to-assen</guid><description><![CDATA[ 
Superleague Formula favourite Robert Doornbos returns to Assen this weekend to put in some hot demonstration laps of the famous TT circuit in his 4.2 litre, V12 car. The Dutch driver will be on hand to give thousands of race fans attending the Gamma Racing Day a look at just what a Superleague car can do.
&nbsp;  

Superleague fans will remember that on his last visit to the circuit, in the Superleague Grand Prix of Assen, which has become the most important race to take place in the Netherlands, Doornbos was involved in a titanic struggle for the race lead with fellow Dutch driver Yelmer Buurman, only for the two &nbsp;to make contact, which launched Doornbos high over the kerbs and effectively ended his race weekend. The image of the super fast 750 BHP V12 racing car bearing GAMMA RACING DAY colours and leading the pack will however be remembered by the fans as one of the most spectacular races for the ex-F1, Champcar and Indycar driver at Assen.

Dutch Moto Grand Prix riders Jasper Iwema (125cc) and Michael van der Mark (Moto2), will also put in runs on their GP bikes.&nbsp;
Doornbos will be a part of a huge number of demonstrations at Assens, in what is planned to be biggest combined car, motorcycle and superkart race event ever held in the Netherlands.
&nbsp;
The event also focuses on some possible race machines of the future. Among these will be Dutch driver Tim Coronel in his electric powered buggy, which he will compete in the world famous Dakar Rally.&nbsp;

The GAMMA RACING DAY will also be the venue for the high-profile debut run, of a 250 km/h high-speed electrical powered &lsquo;Superbus&rsquo; developed by the first Dutchman in space, Prof. Dr. Wubbo Ockels.&nbsp;

Jasper Iwema, who will also race as a &lsquo;wild card&rsquo; in TTXGP the eGrandPrix, the world&rsquo;s first electrical powered motorcycle racing championship will also be lapping the famous old circuit.


&nbsp;]]></description><category/><pubDate>Aug 5, 2011 10:13:05 AM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[From Zolder to Brazil with Atech Reid GP]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/from-zolder-to-brazil-with-atech-reid-gp</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/from-zolder-to-brazil-with-atech-reid-gp</guid><description><![CDATA[You can almost relive the excitement of Zolder when you talk to Atech Reid GP&acute;s team principal Anthony Reid about the event, and after the teams Frederic Vervisch took victory in the Super Final, it&acute;s perhaps easy to understand why. &ldquo;It was a fantastic weekend for us, I really thought that the boys did a great job getting four cars through to the Super Final. Obviously Frederic (Vervisch) drove exceptionally well. We have hedged our bets with him this year and he&acute;s paying us back now. Zolder was a really, really good effort by everyone on the team.&rdquo;Reid, a very shrewd judge of racing drivers, rates Vervisch as a driver to keep an eye on. &ldquo;Frederic was recommended to us by one of our engineers who ran with him in the German F3 Championship. So at the back-end of last season we gave him a shot, and he proved his worth and now he&acute;s come back with the backing from Luxembourg this year.&rdquo;&ldquo;I think that Frederic will be a strong contender for the championship, I&acute;m convinced that the guy will go all the way and win it.&rdquo;Vervisch&acute;s only noticeable &acute;moment&acute; at the weekend came in the Super Final, with the race seemingly won, he slowed to such an extent that he came under intense pressure from John Martin and Neel Jani. &ldquo;That was a team call, we told him to back off a bit when the rain came, we didn&acute;t want him to slip in the wet. We thought that if he backed off then he&acute;d be more than capable of going forward again, so we told him to take it easy for the last lap or two.&rdquo;One of the big talking points before Zolder was the arrival of Mikhail Aleshin, the reigning World Series champion, to the team. Rated one of the top young drivers in the world, he came into the series with a big reputation. &ldquo;Mikhail is undoubtedly a great addition to the team and he showed a great deal of promise at Zolder, and there&acute;s no reason why he can&acute;t go all the way to the end of the season as well. To get into the Super Final in his very first event is no mean achievement.&rdquo;Reid is convinced that the ultra-tight schedule of Sunday&acute;s brings team-work to the fore and that brings out the best in Atech Reid. &ldquo;It was the normal hectic race-day, really frantic, it&acute;s really tight getting things through the new format. It&acute;s effectively three races in two and a half hours and the guys now are really up with it, they know what they are doing and they all do it really well.&rdquo;&ldquo;There was a fantastic crowd at Zolder, just like there was at Assen; both of these promoters do a great job. So it&acute;s next stop Brazil, fantastic! We have lots of contacts and friends there and they, just like the rest of the Atech Reid team, are all really looking forward to it. We want to show them what Superleague Formula is all about.&rdquo;]]></description><category/><pubDate>Jul 28, 2011 8:26:25 AM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Azerti Files]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/the-azerti-files</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/the-azerti-files</guid><description><![CDATA[While Azerti may have missed out on a second consecutive win at their home Grand Prix, after Davide Rigon success at Zolder last year, team principle Wim Coekelbergs still came away from the weekend in a positive frame of mind. With three driver&acute;s in Neel Jani, Yelmer Buurman and Tristan Gommendy all looking capable of winning races, things began well. &ldquo;The weekend started very promisingly in Free Practice, but we had a few small setbacks in qualifying. Yelmer got a little blocked on a really quick lap by the Brazilian car, otherwise he&acute;d have been P1 in his group.&ldquo;&ldquo;We sent Neel out very early which is not ideal, but we wanted to set a time to get to the shoot out. So unfortunately it meant that he was drawn against Yelmer. We thought at that stage that we could get two or three cars through but we only ended up with just one, Neel&acute;s.&rdquo;&ldquo;Then in the semi-final we had the Dolby issue.&nbsp; Craig stalled his car right in front of Neel, which meant that we had to go out first, and it left Neel just a little bit wound up. I have to say Craig put in a great lap to take it.&rdquo;Assen pole man Tristan Gommendy was surprisingly amongst the slowest qualifiers, so the team decided to look to Race Two for the French driver to make his mark. &ldquo;In Race One we sent Tristan out on old tyres keeping new ones for the second race, but he made a mistake in the final chicane and ended up in the wall &ndash; which was not the best position for him!&rdquo;&ldquo;Yelmer was quick in the race but the problem at Zolder is executing the overtaking opportunities and we didn&rsquo;t want to take any silly risks as he&rsquo;s running for the championship.&rdquo;While Craig Dolby took the race win, Jani battled him all of the way. &ldquo;Neel took second in the first race which was very good. He&acute;s certainly quick enough and I feel his first victory will come very soon.&rdquo;&ldquo;In Race Two Yelmer had a great run, and we got both cars into Race Three. Unfortunately we had the same situation with Neel that we had in Assen. He was blocked very heavily again by the Australian car, otherwise I think we&acute;d have won the Super Final. Yelmer did what he could but over five laps its tough starting in P7.&rdquo;With Jani eventually taking third on the podium, it was more of a case of &lsquo;what-might-have-been&rsquo; for the Azerti team. However, the better than expected weather and a large and enthusiastic crowd helped create a fantastic atmosphere around the famous old Belgian circuit, which the Azerti team and their guests readily contributed to. &ldquo;We had over 400 guests on Sunday and we thought that we were going to have a very big party.&nbsp; I guess that we still did, but we had planned to christen the swimming pool by throwing the winning driver in, but sadly no one ended up in the pool!&rdquo;]]></description><category/><pubDate>Jul 26, 2011 1:39:39 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Zolder in review - Alan Docking Racing]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/zolder-in-review-alan-docking-racing</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/zolder-in-review-alan-docking-racing</guid><description><![CDATA[With the cars and crew now all back at base after Zolder, Alan Docking has had time to reflect on a weekend that promised much, but just failed to deliver the big prize. While Craig Dolby won Race One and John Martin took Race Two in Alan Docking Racing prepared cars, it was Atech Reid&acute;s Fr&eacute;d&eacute;ric Vervisch driving the Luxembourg car who walked away with the &euro;100,000 prize, with Martin in second spot. &ldquo;I can&acute;t be too disappointed, all round it was a good weekend for us. I was pleased with John&acute;s result and also his performance. He did a great job there. He could have done a little better in qualifying for Race One, so he didn&rsquo;t score too well there, but in the second race he really brought that home very well.&rdquo;&ldquo;In the changing conditions he drove superbly, others were slipping and sliding, especially in that third race, he stayed true and I was impressed with that.&rdquo;The weekend started superbly for ADR, with Craig Dolby winning the Pole Position shoot-out, only to be demoted to second on the grid by the race stewards for a pit lane infringement. &ldquo;We got ourselves snookered a little bit when we started Craig&acute;s car in the fast lane in the qualifying session, we should have known that.&rdquo;Dolby though made light of the demotion, and a storming drive saw him take a well deserved victory. However triumph turned to disaster for the English driver in Race Two. &ldquo;We try to get our driver to the Final and to stack up points and unfortunately for Craig it didn&rsquo;t work out.&rdquo;&ldquo;With Craig&acute;s car we had a gearbox issue in the second race which was disappointing, as that really bumped him out of the weekend; he could have got big points there. He was disappointed as you would expect, we still haven&acute;t got to the bottom of the problem. We are trying to unpick and analyse the data to see what actually went wrong and if it was a component failure or if it was an electrical or pressure issue.&rdquo;The third ADR driver Antonio Pizzonia in the Brazil car had a weekend to forget, despite showing some great pace in race trim. &ldquo;With Antonio, we struggled a little in qualifying, we had a seat issue and driver comfort in the car. Then he had the jump start in the second race, which prevented him from making progress into the Super Final.&rdquo;Docking though came away from the weekend in a positive mood, and looking forward to the next round. &ldquo;It looked like a very good crowd there and it was another very good event, the support events as well as our own. The weather threatened but in the end it didn&acute;t do any damage.&rdquo;&ldquo;The next challenge is onto Brazil, I&acute;m looking forward to that, it will be a first time for me going to Brazil and I can&acute;t wait. Neither can the drivers!&rdquo;]]></description><category/><pubDate>Jul 22, 2011 8:40:13 AM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[IWI Watches on the grid]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/iwi-watches-on-the-grid</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/iwi-watches-on-the-grid</guid><description><![CDATA[IWI Watches, the new Official Timing Partner of Superleague Formula, were in Zolder for the second round of the 2011 Championship. IWI Watches is the brainchild of watchmaker Ian Walsh, who was on hand to present watches to Competition Director Robin Webb and to television pit-lane reporter Lisa Leyland. &ldquo;The watches are beautiful,&rdquo; said Lisa. &ldquo;I just loved the crystals around the face, the attention to detail is fantastic. It&acute;s very sporty but also very feminine and trendy, I could wear it during the day and also on a night out.&rdquo;&ldquo;I&acute;d like to thanks Ian on behalf of Superleague Formula,&rdquo; added Robin Webb. &ldquo;It&acute;s an exceptional timepiece. We are really proud to have IWI Watches on board as Timing Partner it will be an exciting journey for both our brands.&rdquo;&ldquo;Seeing the buzz and excitement in Zolder was the reason why we decided to work with Superleague Formula&rdquo;, said Ian Walsh. &ldquo;Not only was the racing amazing, but the crowd really lived every minute of all three races. They were immersed in the show and that is something essential to a successful partnership.&rdquo;]]></description><category/><pubDate>Jul 20, 2011 10:46:09 AM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Vervisch lands €100,000 payday with thrilling Superleague triumph at Zolder]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/vervisch-lands-100000-payday-with-thrilling-superleague-triumph-at-zolder</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/vervisch-lands-100000-payday-with-thrilling-superleague-triumph-at-zolder</guid><description><![CDATA[Frederic Vervisch (Luxembourg) has won Superleague Formula's weekend-closing Superfinal at Zolder, triumphing in a thrilling encounter and netting himself a cool &euro;100,000 in the process. Following the excitement of last month&rsquo;s season opener at Assen the action resumed at typically relentless pace at the Belgian venue, with three winners from three races in two-and-a-half breathless hours.Vervisch had earlier taken third in the day's opening race before making stellar progress through the field in race two, carving his way up the order from the penultimate row of the grid to finish fourth on the road.That gave him the box seat for the dash-for-cash Superfinal, and after getting a perfect start he looked largely untroubled from behind. With second place starter and race two winner John Martin (Australia) finding his mirror&rsquo;s full of Neel Jani&rsquo;s Belgium-RSC Anderlecht car, Vervisch's win looked to be in the bag.But rain began to hit the circuit on the penultimate lap, and it was now Martin in the ascendency. The Australian quickly destroyed Vervisch's lead and was all over the gearbox of the Luxembourg car throughout the final tour. Vervisch looked vulnerable, sliding across the chicane as he struggled for grip, but somehow held on to claim the win. Martin crossed the line just 0.268s shy of the victor with Jani a further 0.498s behind the Australian.The day had begun in typically exciting fashion, with Craig Dolby (England) triumphing in the opening race thanks to a lightning-fast pitstop and his own relentless pace. After taking pole on Saturday Dolby was relegated to second on the grid for race one following a qualifying pitlane infringement by his team, but the Englishman wasn't going to let that stop him triumphing at Zolder, a circuit he has excelled on throughout his career. Harrying poleman Chris van der Drift (New Zealand) during the opening stint, Dolby snatched the lead of the 40-minute run during the pitstops. The England crew turned their man the best part of a second faster than their rivals, allowing Dolby to re-join the action in P1.From here Dolby was in his element. With a clear track in front of him he hammered home the fast laps to carve out a comfortable lead and eventually win by 3.051s from Jani.Vervisch meanwhile snatched the final podium spot with a pass on erstwhile leader van der Drift just a few corners from home. The Belgian had spent the entire second stint harrying the Kiwi and finally made that pressure pay at the last gasp.Just 25-minutes later the racing resumed, with Martin scoring a dominant victory to book his place in the Superfinal.Starting from seventh on the reversed grid, Martin climbed up the order early on to put himself in contention for the win early on.The Australian racer then lit up the timing screens and enjoyed a perfect pitstop to rejoin second, which was almost certain to become P1 with the race-leading car of Tristan Gommendy (France - Girondins de Bordeaux) having failed to make his mandatory pitstop.But Martin was in no mood to wait for a stewards&rsquo; decision to hand him the lead, steaming up the inside of Gommendy into turn one to grab first position with a little over ten minutes remaining in the 40-minute run. From there Martin was untouchable, disappearing at the head of the field to win by 5.383s from series returnee Max Wissel (South Korea). The podium was completed by debutant Mikhail Aleshin (Russia), a superb result in only his second Superleague Formula race. Meanwhile there was heartbreak for race one winner and erstwhile championship leader Dolby. The Englishman&rsquo;s car developed gearbox problems that forced him from proceedings and ruled him out of the Superfinal, where he would undoubtedly have been a major contender for the victory.Australia now lead the points standings following the Zolder thriller, from where Superleague Formula next travels to Brazil, with Goi&acirc;nia hosting the series for what is sure to be yet another classic racing encounter. Frederic Vervisch (Luxembourg): &ldquo;I am really happy to win the Superfinal. I thought I had a comfortable lead, but when it started to rain my engineer was saying over the radio to be careful and not go off. In the end I slowed down a bit too much, and it became very close with John, so I decided to drive the way I was before and I almost lost it in the first chicane!&nbsp; It was really exciting at the last corner, but fortunately nobody did anything crazy. My other Superfinal win was also tight, but this was one of the closest finishes of my whole career. I will have a big party tonight with the team to celebrate.&rdquo;John Martin (Australia): &ldquo;The entire weekend went well for us: we&rsquo;ve been fast since Friday. We made a small mistake in qualifying, but today was almost perfect, so I can&rsquo;t complain too much. I tried my best to overtake Frederic on the last lap of the Superfinal, but there was nothing I could do and I did not want to crash into him. When the rain started, the circuit became very slippery, so I decided to be careful and see what happened. Then I caught him, but he did a good job to keep me behind. Overall, to be on the Superfinal podium, win race two and extend our championship lead is great.&rdquo;Neel Jani (Belgium &ndash; RSC Anderlecht): &ldquo;I am delighted to put Belgium on the podium for their home event. As a Swiss this is the closest I can get to a home race, as we do not have any circuits in Switzerland! In the Superfinal, we were running well and putting a lot of pressure on John. Obviously he and I have a little history from Assen, where I was running third before he took me out, so I was careful to avoid another incident. Still, it is great for us to be on the podium this weekend.&rdquo;]]></description><category/><pubDate>Jul 17, 2011 2:54:56 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Unstoppable Dolby rules race one at Zolder]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/unstoppable-dolby-rules-race-one-at-zolder</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/unstoppable-dolby-rules-race-one-at-zolder</guid><description><![CDATA[Craig Dolby (England) has triumphed in the opening race of Superleague Formula's Grand Prix of Zolder, taking full advantage of a lightning-fast pitstop to grab a lead he would not surrender. After taking pole in yesterday's qualifying session Dolby was relegated to second on the grid for the race one for a pitlane infringement by his team, but the Englishman wasn't going to let that stop him triumphing at Zolder, a circuit he has excelled on throughout his career. Harrying poleman Chris van der Drift (New Zealand) during the opening stint, Dolby snatched the lead of the 40-minute run during the pitstops. The England crew turned their man the best part of a second faster than their rivals, allowing Dolby to re-join the action in P1.From here Dolby was in his element. With a clear track in front of him he hammered home the fast laps to carve out a comfortable lead and eventually win by 3.051s.Neel Jani (Belgium - RSC Anderlecht) took second position, the Swiss-born racer also leapfrogging van der Drift during the pitstop phase. From there he worked to eliminate Dolby's advantage but didn't have the ultimate pace of the Englishman.Frederic Vervisch (Luxembourg) snatched the final podium spot with a pass on erstwhile leader van der Drift just a few corners from home. The Belgian-born racer had spent the entire second stint harrying the Kiwi and finally made that pressure pay at the last gasp.Dutch racers Robert Doornbos (Japan) and Yelmer Buurman (Netherlands - PSV Eindhoven) came home fifth and sixth, with John Martin (Australia) a muted seventh. Max Wissel (Korea), Antonio Pizzonia (Brazil) and Duncan Tappy (Turkey - Galatasaray) completed the top ten.With just 25-minutes between races one and two the drivers have little time to recover from the opening run. With a full reverse grid Tristan Gommendy (France - Girondins de Bordeaux) is set to start in P1 but crash damage sustained early in the opening race make his participation uncertain. Should the Frenchman fail to make the grid Andy Soucek (Spain &ndash; Atletico de Madrid) will take the box seat for race two.]]></description><category/><pubDate>Jul 17, 2011 1:04:33 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Dolby charges to well deserved Zolder pole]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/all/dolby-charges-to-well-deserved-zolder-pole</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/all/dolby-charges-to-well-deserved-zolder-pole</guid><description><![CDATA[Craig Dolby (England) has taken a superb pole position for tomorrow&rsquo;s Superleague Formula Grand Prix of Zolder, keeping his cool during a rain-affected final contest with Chris van der Drift (New Zealand) to grab the box seat for the Belgian event. Dolby topped Group A before overcoming Andy Soucek (Spain &ndash; Atletico de Madrid) in the quarter finals of Superleague&rsquo;s unique qualifying format. He then looked set for a semi final exit as Neel Jani (Belgium &ndash; RSC Anderlecht) outpaced him in the first two sectors of the lap, but the Englishman &ndash; who has his family cheering him on this weekend &ndash; dug deep to produce a breathtaking final sector and join van der Drift in the final. Jani &ndash; one of the pre-qualifying favourites for pole position &ndash; had to be satisfied with third on the grid for tomorrow&rsquo;s opening race.Series returnee van der Drift also escaped from Group A, progressing with the fourth fastest lap. His quarter final was an all-Antipodean encounter, with the New Zealander pulling off something of a shock by eliminating the much-fancied Australia entry of John Martin. Van der Drift continued his march to the final by easily dispatching Frederic Vervisch (Luxembourg) in the semis by a margin of 0.717s. As if the prospect of a final between Dolby and van der Drift wasn&rsquo;t excitement enough, rain began to fall as the cars waited to hit the track. Slicks were still the order of the day but the circuit had undoubtedly been made far more challenging.Dolby was fastest from the word go. Second on the road for the deciding encounter, he was nearly a second to the good through the first sector. During the second sector van der Drift locked up and ran off the road, giving Dolby a clear run to a well-deserved pole position. The Kiwi racer joins him on the front row, a stellar result in his first Superleague Formula appearance of the season.Third place starter Jani will be joined by Vervisch on the second row of the grid with Dutch-born racers Robert Doornbos (Japan) and Yelmer Buurman (Netherlands-PSV Eindhoven) sharing row three. Defeated quarter-finalists Martin and Soucek make up row four.The group stages of qualifying produced a few shocks, with Assen polesitter Tristan Gommendy (France-Girondins de Bordeaux) eliminated as the slowest qualifier in Group B and opening round victor Duncan Tappy (Turkey-Galatasaray) eliminated from Group B. Craig Dolby (England): "It was an interesting session. The group stages went to plan but in my semi-final I made a mistake at the start of the lap. Fortunately I was able to make the time up later on, but Neel Jani was very fast. We then spent a long time in the pitlane before the final and it began to rain. Being second on the road for the final was a good thing because it allowed me to see what Chris was doing and that made my life a lot easier. It's great to be on pole - I'm very happy."Chris van der Drift (New Zealand): &ldquo;Being the one leading the way in the final I had to judge the grip on the track, which was difficult. Conditions were tricky, and halfway around the circuit I locked the rears and went straight on. But it&rsquo;s still really good to be back at the front and I&rsquo;m really looking forward to tomorrow. Weather-wise I don&rsquo;t mind if it&rsquo;s wet or dry, so long as it&rsquo;s one or the other.&rdquo;Neel Jani (Belgium &ndash; RSC Anderlecht): &ldquo;It was quite a good qualifying session for us. In my semi final with Craig, I think he used push-to-pass in a better part of the circuit than I did and that cost us. Still, I&rsquo;m pleased to be on the second row; we&rsquo;ve been quick all weekend so tomorrow we will go for it.&rdquo;Frederic Vervisch &ndash; (Luxembourg): &ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy as this is my best qualifying position so far in Superleague Formula. Qualifying isn&rsquo;t my strongest suit, but it&rsquo;s something I&rsquo;m working on and getting stronger in. I&rsquo;m looking forward to tomorrow and think we&rsquo;ve got a lot to be positive about heading in to race day.&rdquo;]]></description><category/><pubDate>Jul 16, 2011 4:23:42 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Vervisch lays down the gauntlet in second Zolder session]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/vervisch-lays-down-the-gauntlet-in-second-zolder-session</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/vervisch-lays-down-the-gauntlet-in-second-zolder-session</guid><description><![CDATA[Frederic Vervisch (Luxembourg) set the pace in second practice for Superleague Formula's Grand Prix of Zolder, recording a blistering lap late in the 40-minute session. The Belgian-born racer became the first and only driver to dip into the 1m18s and ended the run almost four-tenths faster than his nearest challenger. However the gap between second and third was far smaller. Having kept their heads down for much of the session both Andy Soucek (Spain - Atletico de Madrid) and Max Wissel produced brilliant late showings to set identical laps of 1:19.179. The duo finished second and third respectively, Soucek classified ahead of series returnee Wissel by dint of having set his lap first.Practice one pacesetter Neel Jani (Belgium - RSC Anderlecht) ended the session fourth with Superleague newboy Mikhail Aleshin fifth. The Russian&rsquo;s session had begun in troubled fashion as he spun exiting the final chicane early in the run, stalling in the process and prompting a red flag to be dropped. But when proceedings resumed Aleshin displayed the pace that took him to last year's Formula Renault 3.5 title, going fastest midway through the session and remaining there until the late flurry dropped him to a still-impressive fifth.The second session brought less joy for practice one pacesetters Craig Dolby (England) and John Martin (Australia). Dolby &ndash; a self-confessed lover of the Zolder circuit &ndash; ended up tenth fastest, whilst Australian racer Martin was seventh.Overall the session was characterized by minute time differences between drivers, with gaps in the thousandths of a second common right down the order. Aside from Soucek and Wissel&rsquo;s identical laps Duncan Tappy (Turkey &ndash; Galatasaray) edged Martin by 0.005s, with the Australian just 0.042s faster than Yelmer Buurman (Holland &ndash; PSV Eindhoven). Further back 11th place Tristan Gommendy (France -Girondins de Bordeaux) was a mere 0.004s faster than Robert Doornbos (Japan), whilst Filip Salaquadra (Czech Republic &ndash; Sparta Prague) was 0.031s quicker than Superleague regular Antonio Pizzonia.Frederic Vervisch (Luxembourg): &ldquo;The second session was really good; the car feels better than it did in Assen. I am happy so far, and although practice times don&rsquo;t mean anything it is nice to end the day in P1.&rdquo;Andy Soucek (Spain &ndash; Atletico de Madrid): &ldquo;It&rsquo;s been a good day, with sixth in the first session and second in practice two. We made some improvements on the car throughout, but there&rsquo;s still some work to be done and tomorrow we should be aiming to qualify in the top three. The team is doing a great job and if we improve the car a little further we can definitely fight for wins here.&rdquo;Max Wissel (South Korea):&nbsp; &ldquo;Today felt good after nine months out of a racing car! It was a bit difficult during the first few laps, but by the end of the session we found some good pace. I&rsquo;m with a new team this weekend, so we worked extremely hard and now we&rsquo;re just three tenths off the pace. I&rsquo;m really looking forward to tomorrow.&rdquo;]]></description><category/><pubDate>Jul 15, 2011 5:33:04 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Jani puts Belgium car top on home soil]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/jani-puts-belgium-car-top-on-home-soil</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/jani-puts-belgium-car-top-on-home-soil</guid><description><![CDATA[Neel Jani (Belgium - RSC Anderlecht) topped the timesheets in first practice for Superleague Formula's Grand Prix of Zolder, producing a lap of 1:20.020 to edge out Craig Dolby (England) and John Martin (Australia) in a closely-fought opening run.  Neel Jani (Belgium - RSC Anderlecht) topped the timesheets in first practice for Superleague Formula's Grand Prix of Zolder, producing a lap of 1:20.020 to edge out Craig Dolby (England) and John Martin (Australia) in a closely-fought opening run. The Belgian car didn't hit the track until halfway through the 40-minute session, but when it did finally emerge Swiss-born racer Jani wasted little time in getting among the pacesetters, leaping to P4 on his first flying&nbsp; lap. He then went to the top of the times with under five minutes remaining, toppling Dolby to end the session a slender 0.161s clear of the England car. Martin - who set the pace for much of the first half of the session - was just 0.018s behind Dolby in third. A race winner at last month&rsquo;s season opener, Dutchman Yelmer Buurman (Netherlands &ndash; PSV Eindhoven) was on the pace throughout opening practice, eventually setting the fourth fastest lap of the session. Behind him Assen polesitter Tristan Gommendy (France &ndash; Girondins de Bordeaux) was fifth, whilst Andy Soucek (Spain &ndash; Atletico de Madrid) delivered a strong final lap to end the session sixth.Series debutant Mikhail Aleshin (Russia) quickly displayed his pace, ending the session eighth fastest on his maiden run in Superleague Formula machinery. He finished behind Belgian-born racer Fr&eacute;d&eacute;ric Vervisch (Luxembourg) but ahead of series regulars Antonio Pizzonia (Brazil) and Duncan Tappy (Turkey - Galatasaray). Meanwhile series returnees Max Wissel (South Korea) and Chris van der Drift (New Zealand) spent first practice reacclimatizing to Superleague Formula competition, ending up 11th and 13th respectively in the opening session.]]></description><category/><pubDate>Jul 15, 2011 3:09:02 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Jani ready for special moment in unique Belgium experience]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/jani-ready-for-special-moment-in-unique-belgium-experience</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/jani-ready-for-special-moment-in-unique-belgium-experience</guid><description><![CDATA[Neel Jani is certainly looking forward to the Superleague Formula Grand Prix of Zolder this weekend, although the Swiss driver could be forgiven for having something of a split personality.&nbsp; Not only has he been driving top-level sports cars since Assen, he&acute;s also making a rare visit to Zolder, in his home race. &ldquo;It will be very special racing the Belgian car in Belgium, especially being a Swiss driver. That&acute;s a unique situation for me, but I hope that I can deliver a good result. It would be fantastic to deliver a win in the Belgium car for the Belgian crowd; that would be special.&rdquo;At the opening round in Assen, Jani qualified for the Super Final, looking very much at home in the Superleague Formula car. &ldquo;The first race was pretty good with fourth position, but what wasn&acute;t so good was that I stalled the car in the pit-lane during my pit-stop. It cost about 12 seconds and I think that until that moment we actually had a shot for the win there, but anyway we finished well.&rdquo;&ldquo;In race two it was fine and we&acute;d even saved some tyres for the Super Final, and thankfully we qualified for it. The Super Final was going very well and I took third from John Martin, but unfortunately he thought more about the car than actually racing and he hit me from the back at the next corner, so I was out which was a shame two laps from the end.&rdquo;While Zolder is a favourite with many drivers it will be another almost new experience for Jani, not that he seems daunted by it. &ldquo;I&acute;ve only raced there once, in Champ Car but that was some time ago. But a race-track is a race-track and if you are a good driver you should know it after five laps.&rdquo;It&acute;s been a busy time since Assen for Jani, in the past month he&acute;s competed in various sports car events, including putting in a fantastic performance at the 24 Hours of Le Mans where he drove for Rebellion Racing. &ldquo;We finished best petrol car, so that was good for us, in sixth overall which was a great result. Then we went to Imola for the next Le Mans series round and we&acute;ve has a few tests in between.&nbsp; I went to China as well, so it&acute;s been a busy time.Jani is enjoying the challenge of Superleague Formula and also racing sports cars, and sees it as a potentially good mixture in the longer term. &ldquo;A lot depends upon how things develop but for next year it could be very interesting again to make a joint programme between sports cars and Superleague, maybe in a Swiss car, you never know.&rdquo;]]></description><category/><pubDate>Jul 15, 2011 9:45:37 AM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Doornbos gets the Japan seat in Zolder]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/doornbos-gets-the-japan-seat-in-zolder</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/doornbos-gets-the-japan-seat-in-zolder</guid><description><![CDATA[Dutch driver Robert Doornbos will line up this weekend at the Superleague Formula Grand Prix of Zolder in the Japan car. The former F1, IndyCar and Champ Car driver, was a regular in the championship last season after and had previously finished third overall in 2008, the first season of Superleague Formula. The Japan car is run by Atech Reid GP and was the winning car of Race 2 at the season opener in Assen in the hands of Duncan Tappy. Japan are currently joint championship leaders alongside the team Australia car of John Martin. Doornbos is supported in his drive by ERU Prestige and the car will be fully branded alongside the Japan flag. &ldquo;Zolder is a really good circuit, and also intersting. There are some very fast and also some technical sections which makes it really interesting in a Superleague Formula Car. These cars are really powerfull and you have to be very precise.&rdquo;&ldquo;I'd like to thank ERU Prestige to make it possible for me to race in Zolder.&nbsp; We had some problems at Assen with a coming together, which meant that unfortunately the car had too much damage to finish the race and we were unable to start in race 2. &ldquo;I think that we should have a nice crowd in Zolder and it would be great to win for the Dutch fans and for the Japan team and ERU Prestige. Atech always produce good cars so we will be looking to score some good points.&rdquo;The weekend begins with Free Practice on Friday with Qualifying at 2:25 on Saturday. Race 1 will get underway at 12:00 on Sunday.Robert will appear with the Superleague Formula car during a demo at the Bavaria City Racing on the 21st of August to promote the ERU Prestige action.&nbsp; See www.kaasvoorkerels.nl for more information.]]></description><category/><pubDate>Jul 14, 2011 4:47:42 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Superleague Formula set for Grand Prix of Zolder]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/superleague-formula-set-for-grand-prix-of-zolder</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/superleague-formula-set-for-grand-prix-of-zolder</guid><description><![CDATA[The second event of the 2011 Superleague Formula season comes from the Circuit Terlaeman in Zolder on July 16 /17. The ten-turn, undulating, 4.1km circuit was built in 1963 and hosted the Belgian F1 Grand Prix on ten occasions. The circuit is a mixture of fast straights, sweeping corners mixed with slower technical sections. It&rsquo;s a circuit that the drivers to man all seem to like. The season opener at Assen last month saw Craig Dolby, driving the England car, maintain his superb Superleague Formula form as he took the Super Final victory ahead of Antonio Pizzonia (Brazil) and Yelmer Buurman (Netherlands &ndash; PSV Eindhoven). Dolby&acute;s win put him at the top of the money list and the England team into third spot, behind the joint championship leaders Japan and Australia who respectively managed 7th and 6th place finishes in Race 1 and followed up with 1st and 2nd positions in Race 2.Dolbly is looking forward to getting back on track this weekend, especially at a track that he knows well. &ldquo;Zolder is a track that I really enjoy, I first started racing single-seater cars in Belgium and I won the Belgium Formula Renault Championship there. I also won in Superleague back in 2009, so hopefully we can maintain our winning ways&rdquo;, said the British driver.Although he won the Super Final in Assen, Dolby didn&acute;t have things all his own way. &ldquo;Assen was obviously a great result for us, but we had a mistake in qualifying which was frustrating as I got wrongly called into the pits and it left us qualifying in 9th. So in Race One we started in P9 and still finished second which was exciting. Race Two was a more normal one, starting from the back. The Super Final was obviously a really good one to finish on. We put some really good points on the table which puts us in a nice position after the first event. We want the opportunity to fight for the championship so I&acute;m happy.&rdquo;Zolder though is likely to be tougher, with the superfast Russian, Mikhail Aleshin making his Superleague Formula debut and big rivals Chris van der Drift and Max Wissel re-joining the championship. Dolby knows that the series is going to get harder and harder, although you also sense that he is looking forward to testing himself. &ldquo;It&acute;s good to see Aleshin joining the championship, it&acute;s nice to see that kind of talent coming into Superleague Formula. We had Bourdais last year and now Aleshin. The Superleague Formula cars are one of the toughest cars in the world to race, and luckily I seem to have mastered it. So if people rate Aleshin as one of the best young drivers in the world, then I&acute;m very happy to have that kind of talent to rate myself against. I really would like to welcome him to the championship; it will be very interesting to see how he does. &ldquo;&ldquo;I&acute;m also excited to have Chris van der Drift and Max Wissel back in the championship because they are two of my best friends, so I&acute;m glad that they are back for Zolder, I&acute;m really happy for them. I know that they will both be as strong as ever.&rdquo;]]></description><category/><pubDate>Jul 12, 2011 10:20:02 AM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Yelmer Buurman to get new PSV Shirt]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/yelmer-buurman-to-get-new-psv-shirt</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/yelmer-buurman-to-get-new-psv-shirt</guid><description><![CDATA[Superleague Formula racing driver Yelmer Buurman, who drives the Netherlands-PSV Eindhoven car in the international racing championship, will be presented with the new season PSV shirt and introduced to fans at the club&acute;s Fan day tomorrow. He is due to be at the stadium at around 18:45 tomorrow and will be meeting fans after the presentation. PSV Fan day begins at 16:00 and runs until 20:00.Yelmer will also be taking along his 300kph race car.&nbsp; &ldquo;It&acute;s an honour to drive for PSV, and I hope that people get a good chance to look at the car. These cars are V12 thoroughbred racing machines and they are so fast&rdquo;, said the Dutch driver. Buurman won the opening race of the 2011 season at Assen in June, and he will be looking to build upon a great start to the year at Zolder in Belgium next weekend. &ldquo;It will be good to meet the fans tomorrow and it will be great if some of them can get to watch me in action live in Zolder!&rdquo;.]]></description><category/><pubDate>Jul 7, 2011 5:22:17 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Superleague Formula adds more champions!]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/superleague-formula-adds-more-champions</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/superleague-formula-adds-more-champions</guid><description><![CDATA[Mikhail Aleshin will become the first Russian racer to take the wheel of a Superleague Formula car when he gets behind the wheel of the new Russia team at the Grand Prix of Zolder of the 2011 championship. The 24 year old, who was born in Moscow, became the first Russian driver ever to win an international single-seater championship last year when he took the 2010 Formula Renault 3.5 series, after finishing runner-up in the 2009 FIA Formula 2 Championship. He has also tested for the Renault F1 team.&ldquo;It is great to be coming to Superleague Formula and to race for Russia&rdquo;, says Aleshin. &ldquo;I&acute;ve watched the series on TV and I&acute;ve been told how good the cars are to drive. I know some of the guys on the grid and there are some very good racers in the championship. I&acute;m confident that I will be quick straight away, and I hope to be challenging from the very beginning.&rdquo;The Russia car (n&ordm; 17) will be prepared by the Cardiff based AtechReidGP squad.&ldquo;Mikhail is a great signing for AtechReidGP and Superleague Formula&rdquo;, said Anthony Reid, Team Manager of AtechReidGP. &ldquo;Anyone who can match results with, and then beat a driver of the calibre of Daniel Ricciardo is certainly going to be a contender. It&acute;s great that as a championship we can attract drivers like Mikhail, who is young, hungry, fast and ambitious.&rdquo;Next grand prix of the 2011 Superleague Formula Championship takes place at Zolder in Belgium on July 16 / 17.]]></description><category/><pubDate>Jul 7, 2011 9:05:57 AM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[IWI Watches and Superleague Formula in official timing partnership]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/iwi-watches-and-superleague-formula-in-official-timing-partnership</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/iwi-watches-and-superleague-formula-in-official-timing-partnership</guid><description><![CDATA[Superleague Formula today announced that they have reached agreement with English watch-maker IWI Watches for the highly prestigious brand to become the Official Timing Partner of the international single-seater motor racing championship. IWI Watches is the inspiration of watch-maker Ian Walsh, who builds, finishes, inspects, calibrates and tests each individual watch produced. The watches themselves have all been designed to pay homage to motorsport, with classic dials evoking images of Fangio and Moss charging for the line.As part of the agreement IWI Watches will receive prominent brand exposure including on-screen TV graphics, trackside signage, branding on live streaming, and on-car presence. &ldquo;We are truly delighted to welcome IWI Watches to the championship&rdquo;, says Robin Webb, Superleague Formula Competition Director. &ldquo;The watches themselves really speak of motor sport and it is great to have partnered with a young, dynamic company who are ready to take on the world.&rdquo;&ldquo;Ian really understands motor racing and was heavily involved in supplying timing advice for Aston Martin&acute;s assault on Le Mans.&nbsp; We are proud to be instrumental in taking the IWI Watches brand around the world as an integral partner of Superleague Formula.&rdquo;Tim Nadin, Commercial Director of IWI Watches adds: &ldquo;We&acute;ve been hugely impressed by the way that Superleague Formula has grown and matured into a great racing series. It&acute;s a young championship and its growth fits perfectly with our own growth and aspirations.&rdquo;&ldquo;Now that the series has taken on such an international dimension, with races in such key growth markets such as China, Brazil and Australasia there is a huge natural synergy between our two companies. The absolute accuracy of timing is at the heart of everything that we do, and we will now take that to some of the great race tracks of the world.&rdquo;The partnership will become active at the Superleague Formula Grand Prix of Zolder, which takes place at the Belgian race track on July 16 / 17.IWI Watches are based in the heart of Lancashire, England. The luxury watches are all hand-made to the highest possible standards. Using the latest technology at every step to design and create modern classics from the finest materials and components.
For additional information on IWI Watches please contact Tim Nadin on +44 (0)7973 196778 tim.nadin@iwiwatches.com;&nbsp; www.iwiwatches.com&nbsp;]]></description><category/><pubDate>Jul 6, 2011 11:49:27 AM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Max Wissel returns to Superleague Formula]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/max-wissel-returns-to-superleague-formula</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/max-wissel-returns-to-superleague-formula</guid><description><![CDATA[German racer Max Wissel will make his return to Superleague Formula at the up-coming Grand Prix of Zolder on July 16 / 17. The 21 year old had previously finished third in the championship in both the 2009 and 2010 seasons. Max made his Superleague Formula debut at just 18 and is the youngest driver ever to appear in the championship.&ldquo;I can&acute;t wait to get back out on the track again, it feels like a really long time since Navarra last year&rdquo;, says Wissel. &ldquo;I&acute;ve been working hard on my strength, stamina and overall fitness and I feel really ready for this. I&acute;ve had some good results in the past and now I think that I&acute;m better prepared as a driver. The level of drivers in the championship is getting higher and higher and I know that I&acute;ve also improved as a driver. I am looking forward to the higher level of competition.&rdquo;Wissel will be in the n&ordm; 19 South Korea car, which is run by the Spanish, DeVillota squad.&ldquo;It&acute;s good to have Max back in the championship&rdquo;, says Robin Webb, Superleague Formula Competitions Director. &ldquo;His results speak for themselves as to his ability and we consider him to be very much a home grown talent. For a driver of his age he has performed fantastically and it will be fascinating watching his progress in what is a very tough championship.&rdquo;The Superleague Formula Grand Prix of Zolder takes place on July 16 / 17. ]]></description><category/><pubDate>Jun 27, 2011 1:12:50 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Smolensk Ring put Superleague Formula race date back to 2012]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/smolensk-ring-put-superleague-formula-race-date-back-to-2012</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/smolensk-ring-put-superleague-formula-race-date-back-to-2012</guid><description><![CDATA[Superleague Formula&acute;s plans to race at the newly built Smolensk Ring in Russia in September this year have been put on hold until 2012 after the circuit directors decided that the venue won&acute;t be ready to host an international event before 2012. Superleague Formula was due to be the first major international championship to visit the venue on September 3-4 but a communiqu&eacute; from senior management at the venue states that, &ldquo;we had a meeting yesterday and have decided not to have the race this year. We have decided to put all our forces into circuit and infrastructure preparation, in order that we can have the race in 2012.&rdquo;Superleague Formula Competition Director Robin Webb commented: &ldquo;It a great pity for our 2011 calendar that we won&acute;t now be going to the Smolensk Ring in 2011, we visited the circuit a number of times and it seemed that progress was ongoing. As a Championship we are bound by decisions that circuits and promoters make. However we are hopeful that it may well fit into our calendar in 2012.&rdquo; &ldquo;We have received other offers to take the series elsewhere in Russia and also to alternative territories on the September date, and we are actively investigating further options. We need to make sure that our race teams and drivers are 100% in the loop, so we hope to be able to make a further statement as to an updated race schedule as soon as possible.&rdquo;Next meeting of the 2011 Superleague Formula Championship takes place at Zolder in Belgium on July 16 / 17.]]></description><category/><pubDate>Jun 22, 2011 12:26:29 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Chris van der Drift returns to Superleague Formula]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/chris-van-der-drift-returns-to-superleague-formula</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/chris-van-der-drift-returns-to-superleague-formula</guid><description><![CDATA[Superleague Formula favourite Chris van der Drift, returns to the series for the second-round of the championship at Zolder in July. The popular New Zealander steps into the all black Atech Reid prepared car, dubbed Black Beauty by the Kiwi race fans. Van der Drift last sat in a Superleague Formula car at the final round of the 2010 season, after making a remarkable recovery from a huge accident at Brands Hatch earlier in the season. He comes to Superleague Formula after a busy start to 2011.&ldquo;At least I know that I&acute;m coming to Superleague race-ready.&rdquo;, said van der Drift. &ldquo;I&acute;m really looking forward to this, the Superleague cars are certainly the most enjoyable racing car that I&acute;ve ever driven, they&acute;re big for one thing, and they have all that horse power. You have so much under your right-foot to play with, and then you have the &acute;Push-to-Pass&acute; as well. Add in lots of pit stops, and it&acute;s all there to make great racing.&rdquo;&ldquo;It&acute;s pretty special to be back driving the All Black car, I watched the first round live on-line and on TV, and the car looks stunning in that livery. I know that fans back in New Zealand will be keen to get behind it. It will be great to get behind the wheel of Black Beauty.&rdquo;&nbsp;&ldquo;It will also be good to catch up with a few of the guys and to race against them too. They are a good bunch of guys and you have good racing, everyone respects each other and it&rsquo;s a great place to race.&rdquo;Anthony Reid, Team Principle of Atech Reid is excited at the prospect of having Chris back with the Cardiff based team. &ldquo;I&acute;m delighted to have Chris back in the car, he&acute;s an entertainer and a very good driver. He was leading the championship when he had his accident and you would expect him to be a real contender. We have a great relationship with him as a racing driver, and also throughout the business, he&acute;s a very nice person.&rdquo;The second round of the Superleague Formula 2011 Championship takes place at Zolder in Belgium on July 16-17.]]></description><category/><pubDate>Jun 17, 2011 1:09:41 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Getting to know the Superleague Formula Race Teams (Part I)]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/getting-to-know-the-superleague-formula-race-teams-i</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/getting-to-know-the-superleague-formula-race-teams-i</guid><description><![CDATA[Azerti Motorsport are one of the race teams who will be running cars in Superleague Formula in 2011. They proved their competitive edge last season by providing the winning car for the 2010 champion Davide Rigon in the RSC Anderlecht car. This year they began the season with three cars on the grid at Assen, and again they brought together a formidable driver line-up. Former F1 racer and GP2 star Neel Jani taking over from Rigon in the Belgium - RSC Anderlecht car, while Tristan Gommendy and Yelmer Buurman stepping into the France - Girondins de Bordeaux and Netherlands - PSV Eindhoven cars respectively. The team was founded in 2002 by Wim Coekelbergs, and is based in Belgium. At the time Wim was as much a driver as team boss. &ldquo;We began racing back in 2002 under the brand &acute;Racing for Belgium&acute; and we competed in series like the Renault Clio Cup and the EuroCup Megane Trophy, where we became the European Champions. Then in 2007 we did the WTCC for one season, but then in 2008 I heard about the Superleague Formula project, and we decided to take a look. We have been with Superleague Formula ever since.&rdquo; The move away from saloon cars to single-seaters was initially a difficult one for the team. &ldquo;We still have some team members who have been with us since the very first hour, but single-seaters were completely new to us at the time, so we had to find good people who were experienced.&nbsp; At the time it was quite difficult to build the team, but now we have a really good group of people with a lot of knowledge in-house.&rdquo;After two seasons of near misses, Azerti put the 2008 champion Davide Rigon in the RSC Anderlecht car. &ldquo;2010 was obviously our best season so far, winning the Championship was a dream.&nbsp; We had a great driver in Davide Rigon which helped, especially with the development of the car, in which he did a fantastic job.&rdquo;Rigon left the team with the championship in the bag to take up a role at Ferrari, initially in their simulator. Coekelbergs is certain that he has the ability to go all the way to the top. &ldquo;I&acute;m 100% convinced that he&acute;s a guy who will be in Formula One, he&acute;s so professional as a person and as a driver. He makes no mistakes, he&acute;s hard working and he&acute;s concerned about his job and his job is racing cars.&rdquo;Wim has seen Superleague Formula grow and also change from the opening season, and he expects a lot more drivers to make their names in the championship, and to make good careers from doing so. &ldquo;Superleague Formula started as an idea that we would bring the world&acute;s two most popular sports together. But maybe it didn&rsquo;t quite work as we planned. I think now that Superleague Formula has made the right move. We have a fantastic race format and unique qualifying system. We have made something new but not perhaps as we originally thought. The level of the drivers is very high now because drivers from GP2, World Series and even F1 talk to us as a possible career move and that&acute;s good. We have become a very serious championship with serious contenders and good race teams. It is a good way that we are going and the future is very bright.&rdquo;]]></description><category/><pubDate>Jun 15, 2011 10:16:26 AM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[For Flag and country!]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/for-flag-and-country</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/for-flag-and-country</guid><description><![CDATA[We caught up with some of the SF drivers in the paddock at Assen and asked them what they thought of their new look cars, and what it feels like to race for their national flag. Craig Dolby - England
&ldquo;It was a great first weekend for me racing under the England banner and I&rsquo;m so proud to have scored a victory for my country. It&acute;s special and you could say that it&acute;s even more incentive to win the championship. &rdquo;

Filip Salaquarda &ndash; Czech Republic - AC Sparta Praha
&ldquo;It&acute;s very nice to be here racing for the Czech Republic and Sparta Praha as well. I did a couple of races in A1GP racing for the Czech Republic and it is very exciting to race in the flag of your country!&rdquo;

Earl Bamber &ndash; New Zealand
&ldquo;I raced for New Zealand before and it&acute;s absolutely amazing coming back and racing for New Zealand in Superleague Formula. &nbsp;It&rsquo;s really fantastic to race for your country. I&acute;m loving being back in the car as it&acute;s been a while and I have to say Atech Reid did a fantastic job. The car looks stunning in its all black livery, I guess we have to say that Black Beauty is back.&rdquo;&acute;

Yelmer Buurman &ndash; Netherlands &ndash; PSV Eindhoven
&ldquo;It feels great to be racing for your country and to finish on the podium of the Super Final having also won Race 1. The team worked hard last night to solve our brake issues from qualifying and the car felt great. It was great having so much support from the home fans.&rdquo;

John Martin - Australia
&ldquo;It&acute;s not often in motorsport that you get to drive for your own country, and to have the green and gold livery on the car is really special. The flag is always special to Aussie sportsmen and I&acute;m looking forward to driving the car all over the world.&rdquo;&nbsp;

Antonio Pizzonia - Brazil
&ldquo;I love racing for Brazil and I know a lot of people are following me, so I have to do my best not only for me, but also my country. The people back home will be very happy and it will be a big boost for the series when we go to Brazil later in the year.&rdquo;
]]></description><category/><pubDate>Jun 9, 2011 3:23:47 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Superleague Formula seeks to confirm series title with FIA approval]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/superleague-formula-seeks-to-confirm-series-title-with-fia-approval</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/superleague-formula-seeks-to-confirm-series-title-with-fia-approval</guid><description><![CDATA[At the request of the FIA, Superleague Formula has removed all reference to the word &ldquo;World&rdquo; in communications surrounding its international series. This request and subsequent response are in recognition of a regulation in the FIA Sporting Code which restricts the use of such terms at the discretion of the FIA in accordance with Article 24 of the FIA International Sporting Code.&nbsp; Superleague Formula intends to apply to the FIA for a new title that reflects its intended international events, and the many nations that are represented in the championship, combined with the fact that many events are planned on at least four continents around the world during the next 36 months.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Spokesman Robin Webb said: &ldquo;We apologise for the confusion in these name changes but it is important that we follow the correct FIA procedures. We are a Series that is &lsquo;sanctioned&rsquo; by the FIA and this is important for Superleague Formula both in terms of safety criteria and the FIA being the ultimate body for Sporting justice and regulatory processes for our events.&rdquo;&nbsp;

&ldquo;We will apply for a title that reflects the current status of Superleague Formula and our international aspirations via the processes set out by the FIA. &ldquo;]]></description><category/><pubDate>Jun 8, 2011 3:48:07 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Dolby takes €100,000 prize after incredible Superleague Formula opener]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/dolby-takes-100000-prize-after-incredible-superleague-formula-opener</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/dolby-takes-100000-prize-after-incredible-superleague-formula-opener</guid><description><![CDATA[Craig Dolby (England) netted a cheque for &euro;100,000 and a bag full of championship points after winning the weekend-ending Super Final as the 2011 Superleague Formula season began in spectacular style in Assen. Watch the Super Final video on the Assen's video gallery.

After two thrilling 40-minute feature races, Dolby came out on top in the five-lap, dash-for-cash Super Final having jumped from fourth to second at the standing start before passing John Martin (Australia) for the lead and then holding off a determined challenge from Antonio Pizzonia (Brazil) in the final two laps.

Pizzonia, who hadn&rsquo;t even sat in a single-seater for 18 months, rounded off a fine return to the series with second place and &euro;50,000, while Yelmer Buurman (Netherlands &ndash; PSV Eindhoven) grabbed &euro;40,000 and third place, despite making a terrible getaway at the start.

Martin, rookie Filip Salaquarda (Czech Republic &ndash; Sparta Prague) and Duncan Tappy (Japan) also secured cash prizes in fourth, fifth and sixth although Tappy&rsquo;s disappointment at not having capitalised on his Super Final pole position was tempered by his stunning recovery throughout the weekend.

The British driver had suffered a gearbox problem on Friday, meaning he missed both Free Practice sessions, and then qualified at the very back of the 14-car on Saturday.

However, a strong drive through the field to seventh in the first race followed by an incredible victory in the second leaves the 26-year-old top of the points standings after the opening round, something that seemed barely feasible at the start of the weekend.

In typical Superleague Formula fashion, both races were stunning, action-packed affairs.

Tristan Gommendy (France &ndash; Girondins de Bordeaux) started on pole position for the opener and seemed destined for victory after a fault-free drive and pit stop in the first half of the race.

Unfortunately it wasn&rsquo;t to be for the Frenchman, who pulled off into retirement with a throttle cable issue at mid-distance, but then the action kicked off!

Home favourite Robert Doornbos (Netherlands) inherited the lead from countryman Buurman, who had leapfrogged up the order having stopped late during the pit window. A gaggle of cars also formed behind including Frederic Vervisch (Luxembourg), Andy Soucek (Turkey &ndash; Galatasaray), Neel Jani (Belgium &ndash; RSC Anderlecht) and Dolby.

With just a few minutes remaining, Buurman made his move for the lead by going around the outside of Doornbos into the chicane, but the latter was squeezed so much that he leapt over the kerbs and suffered front wing damage.

While an unscathed Buurman pulled away into the lead, Doornbos battled desperately in his crippled car to hold onto second, causing a whole melee of action behind.

First Soucek moved past Vervisch for third as Dolby did the same to Jani for fifth, but then Soucek made contact with Doornbos as he challenged the Dutchman for second place and span down the order.

With one lap to go and barely 0.5 seconds covering second to fifth, Vervisch made his move on Doornbos, but the two also made contact, allowing Dolby to jump past both!

Buurman crossed the line with a comfortable lead at the finish ahead of Dolby, while Vervisch survived to complete the podium in front of Jani. Having suffered suspension damage, Doornbos didn&rsquo;t make the chequered flag, gifting Salaquarda a solid fifth on debut ahead of Martin, Tappy and Pizzonia.

The second race was just as pulsating and again it looked like Gommendy might run away at the head of the field.

With the starting grid fully-reversed from the race 1 finishing order, Gommendy was once more on pole position and led the prior to the pit stops from Soucek and Earl Bamber (New Zealand).

However, Gommendy rejoined from his stop with his lead dramatically reduced and Soucek made his way past out of turn 1, only to be immediately handed a drivethrough penalty for crossing the white line when exiting the pit lane.

While Gommendy now led again, his pace slowed significantly in the final ten minutes of the race, allowing both Martin and Tappy to close up. Both got ahead of the Frenchman soon after and Tappy made a race-winning pass on Martin into the first corner late on, sealing a miraculous turnaround in his fortunes after the gearbox problems of Friday.

Second for Martin was a good result following his own issues in qualifying, while Pizzonia grabbed third in the dying stages of the race. Gommendy held on for fourth, scant reward having looked the strongest driver for much of the weekend, while Bamber was fifth.

Salaquarda again impressed with sixth place ahead of Soucek, while Dolby fought his way from the back of the grid to eighth ahead of Jani and race 1 winner Buurman.

After such a breathtaking opening event, the Superleague Formula now heads to Zolder in Belgium for round 2 on 16/17 July.

Craig Dolby (England): &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a great first weekend for me racing under the England banner and I&rsquo;m so proud to have scored a victory for my country. We didn&rsquo;t make it easy for ourselves in qualifying, but I think people know by now that we will always be there or thereabouts in the race. It was fantastic to be racing so close with John (Martin) and Antonio (Pizzonia) in the Super Final and I have a lot of respect for those guys. We&rsquo;ve got &euro;100,000 in our pockets and that means a big party tomorrow when we get back to England!&rdquo;

Antonio Pizzonia (Brazil): &ldquo;I&rsquo;m really happy and we saw today that Superleague Formula produces the best racing! It&rsquo;s amazing to race against these guys and the five-lap shootout was incredible. I tried to pass Craig (Dolby) and maybe I should have been more aggressive, but I used the push-to-pass in the wrong place twice. I love racing for Brazil and I know a lot of people are following me, so I have to do my best not only for me, but also my country. The people back home will be very happy and it will be a big boost for the series when we go to Brazil later in the year.&rdquo;

Yelmer Buurman (Netherlands &ndash; PSV Eindhoven): &ldquo;It feels great to be racing for your country and to finish on the podium of the Super Final having also won race 1. The team worked hard last night to solve our brake issues from qualifying and the car felt great. To come from eighth to win in the first race, at a track where it&rsquo;s difficult to pass, was also very pleasing. We had some damage after the incident with Robert (Doornbos) but we didn&rsquo;t really have time to fix it for race 2 so it was difficult. For the Super Final I made a really bad start, but then made up some places for a good result.&rdquo;
]]></description><category/><pubDate>Jun 5, 2011 3:35:25 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Duncan Tappy bounces back to take incredible race 2 win]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/duncan-tappy-bounces-back-to-take-incredible-race-2-win</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/duncan-tappy-bounces-back-to-take-incredible-race-2-win</guid><description><![CDATA[After missing all of practice on Friday with a gearbox issue and then qualifying at the very back of the grid on Saturday, Duncan Tappy (Japan) scored an incredible victory in the second race of the Superleague Formula&rsquo;s visit to Assen. Watch the Race 2 video on the Assen's video gallery.

Tappy passed John Martin (Australia) inside the last three minutes of the race to secure the win after both drivers had made it ahead of long-time leader Tristan Gommendy (France &ndash; Girondins de Bordeaux) in the last ten minutes of the race.

Having retired from the lead in race 1 with a throttle issue, Gommendy started the reversed-grid second race from pole position and led the early stages prior to the pit stop window opening.&nbsp;

The Frenchman lost his lead soon after to Andy Soucek (Turkey &ndash; Galatasaray) but when the Spaniard was forced to serve a drivethrough penalty for crossing the white line as he exited the pits, Gommendy was back in front.

His pace dropped dramatically towards the end of the race however and first Martin, then Tappy made their past.

Tappy then closed up on the back of the Martin in the dying stages before making his race-winning move into the first corner before pulling away to victory.

Martin came home in a comfortable second place, a strong result having started eighth, while Antonio Pizzonia (Brazil) completed the podium.

Gommendy held off a gaggle of cars to finish fourth ahead of Earl Bamber (New Zealand), Filip Salaquarda (Czech Republic &ndash; Sparta Prague), Soucek and Craig Dolby (England). Neel Jani (Belgium &ndash; RSC Anderlecht) and race 1 winner Yelmer Buurman (Netherlands &ndash; PSV Eindhoven) completed the top ten.

Home favourite Robert Doornbos (Netherlands) was unable to start the race due to the damage sustained in the first race.]]></description><category/><pubDate>Jun 5, 2011 3:01:47 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Buurman scores home win in Assen thriller]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/buurman-scores-home-win-in-assen-thriller</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/buurman-scores-home-win-in-assen-thriller</guid><description><![CDATA[Yelmer Buurman (Netherlands &ndash; PSV Eindhoven) scored a dramatic home victory in the opening race of the 2011 Superleague Formula as the new season began in incredible style at Assen. Watch the Race 1 video on the Assen's video gallery.Pole sitter Tristan Gommendy (France &ndash; Girondins de Bordeaux) had looked set to start his campaign in style with a dominant win having controlled the early stages of the event but, having driven a perfect race, he retired from the lead with a throttle cable issue.

That left Robert Doornbos (Netherlands) and Buurman, who had utilised his late pit stop to jump up the field having started down in eighth, to fight it out for the lead in the final ten minutes while Frederic Vervisch (Luxembourg), Andy Soucek (Turkey &ndash; Galatasaray), Neel Jani (Belgium - RSC Anderlecht) and Craig Dolby (England) also closed up to set up a grandstand finale.

With two minutes remaining the action reached a crescendo as Buurman made a move for the lead around the outside of Doornbos and the two Dutch drivers made contact, the latter&rsquo;s car suffering front wing damage.

While Buurman escaped unscathed into the lead, Doornbos&rsquo; crippled Netherlands machine stayed second, with a gaggle of cars behind constantly swapping positions.

First Soucek made it ahead of Vervisch into third, only to spin while trying to pass Doornbos for second, while Dolby moved past Jani for fifth. Then, on the final lap, Vervisch made his bid for second place but also made contact with Doornbos, allowing Dolby to dive past both cars to grab second place.

As the breathless action came to an end after 40 minutes racing, Buurman crossed the line 9.076 seconds clear, while Dolby held on to a magnificent second place ahead of Vervisch and Jani.

Rookie Filip Salaquarda (Czech Republic &ndash; Sparta Prague) finished a fine fifth place ahead of John Martin (Australia), Duncan Tappy (Japan) and Antonio Pizzonia (Brazil). Earl Bamber (New Zealand), who spun early on while fighting Doornbos for second and Ho-Pin Tung (China) completed the top ten.


Yelmer Buurman (Netherlands &ndash; PSV Eindhoven): &ldquo;It was a nice battle and a shame we touched but Robert went on the kerbs and there was nothing he could do. That&rsquo;s racing. We have a little time now before the next race, but I&rsquo;m super happy because we worked hard on the car last night after the problems we had in qualifying.&rdquo;

Craig Dolby (England): &ldquo;I knew it was going to be a difficult race and then we had a bad pit stop. I kept my push to pass buttons for the last three laps and it worked out in the end. I hurt my arm in training last week and it hurts a bit but it will be fine for the rest of the weekend and I&rsquo;m looking forward to going again.&rdquo;

Robert Doornbos (Netherlands): &ldquo;It was a fun race, but Buurman tried to overtake me in the chicane and left me no room. I had to go over the kerbs and onto the grass and he&rsquo;s destroyed my day because we have broken suspension.&rdquo;&nbsp;
&nbsp;]]></description><category/><pubDate>Jun 5, 2011 1:57:40 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Weather warning?]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/weather-warning</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/weather-warning</guid><description><![CDATA[With the threat of wet weather hanging around Assen, Atech Reid team boss Anthony Reid was in optimistic mood this morning about a possible wet race. &ldquo;I think that the drivers are looking forward to it&rdquo;, says Reid. &ldquo;Earl Bamber and Filip Salaquarda are both very good in the wet so I don&rsquo;t think that it will be a problem for either of them. It looks like it will be showers rather than heavy rain. It&acute;s a challenge but that&rsquo;s part of Superleague Formula, you&acute;ve got to be prepared to play in the wet on the track.&rdquo; &ldquo;I&acute;ve not had a chance to talk to Robert (Doornbos) about it yet, but his record says that he&acute;s a good driver in the wet too. He has enough experience to drive in the conditions.&rdquo;

Reid was understandably upbeat about the result of yesterdays qualifying session. &ldquo;Yesterday was fantastic, three cars in the top five is remarkable. If you&acute;d have offered me that in the week then I&acute;d have said yes please. Happy days.&rdquo;

Superleague Formula Race One gets underway at 1:10 local time.
]]></description><category/><pubDate>Jun 5, 2011 11:07:01 AM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Emotional Gommendy grabs Assen pole]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/emotional-gommendy-grabs-assen-pole</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/emotional-gommendy-grabs-assen-pole</guid><description><![CDATA[Tristan Gommendy (France &ndash; Girondins de Bordeaux) grabbed a superb pole position in a thrilling qualifying session in Assen at the opening round of the 2011 Superleague Formula on Saturday. Watch the qualifying video on the Assen's video gallery.

Gommendy, who was only confirmed in the Azerti Motorsports-run car earlier in the week, was left visibly emotional after beating Earl Bamber (New Zealand) in the final of the series&rsquo; unique qualifying knockout stages to secure the top spot on the grid for Sunday&rsquo;s opening race.

Having made it past Frederic Vervisch (Luxembourg) and Antonio Pizzonia (Brazil) in the earlier rounds, Gommendy&rsquo;s win in the pole shootout came despite Bamber leading in the opening sector of the lap, the Frenchman eventually overcoming his deficit to grab victory by 0.432 seconds.

For Bamber, a first pole shootout appearance and second on the grid for tomorrow&rsquo;s opening race continues the youngster&rsquo;s stunning start to life in Superleague Formula following his superb performances at the end of last season in China.

Home favourite Robert Doornbos (Netherlands) will start third on the grid after losing a very closely-fought semi final with Bamber, while Pizzonia celebrated his return to the series with a strong run to fourth.

Vervisch saw victory against Gommendy in his QF slip away after a big understeer moment in the final sector of his lap and will start fifth alongside Andy Soucek (Turkey &ndash; Galatasaray) who was beaten at the same stage by Bamber.

Neel Jani (Belgium &ndash; RSC Anderlecht) starts on the inside of row 4 after falling victim to Doornbos in the quarter finals while Yelmer Buurman (Netherlands &ndash; PSV Eindhoven) will begin his home race down in eighth. Buurman was fastest of all 14 drivers in the first part of qualifying but lost his quarter final to Pizzonia after a brake issue early in his lap saw him run out wide.

There were a couple of major surprises in the Group Stages of qualifying as two of the pre-season title favourites missed out on making it through to the knockouts.

In Group A John Martin (Australia), who won more races than any other driver last season, didn&rsquo;t make the cut off by just a couple of tenths of a second, while last year&rsquo;s runner-up Craig Dolby (England) failed to progress from Group B when a miscommunication with his team, who thought he was definitely through, saw him back off in the dying stages of the session and then others leap above him. Dolby will line up ninth on the grid tomorrow with Martin in tenth.

Newcomer Filip Salaquarda (Czech Republic &ndash; Sparta Prague) and Duncan Tappy (Japan) also went out in Group A while Ho-Pin Tung (China) and Maria de Villota (Spain &ndash; Atletico Madrid) failed to make the cut from Group B, de Villota failing to set a time after spinning into the wall on her first flying lap.

Tristan Gommendy (France &ndash; Girondins de Bordeaux):&nbsp;&ldquo;The team did a really good job today, they were the team champions last year so what can I say. &nbsp;It&acute;s quite a special situation for me because the decision (to confirm the drive) was really really late so we did the seat during the night and everybody did their best, and I did my job. I think that I did well this time. I&acute;m really happy for the team and I&acute;d like to say a big thanks to Wim to put me in the car. I hope that this is the best answer that I can give.&nbsp;
We have really low grip if we compare last year, it&acute;s really tough to not make a mistake. All through qualification I preferred not to make a mistake, not to push too much and it was an acceptable lap each time. &nbsp;We can be faster but it was a good lap and we are on pole. When you start on pole you have to win.&rdquo;

Earl Bamber (New Zealand): "Today was fantastic, we were a little bit slower in practice but we had a really good first run, the team made a few good changes overnight. The furthest I&acute;ve ever got before was the quarter finals so it&rsquo;s a different experience getting through. It was great to be against Tristan the final. I hope for the best tomorrow. We have a good race set up, well I hope so anyway also it could be rainig tomorrow I heard so that could throw a few things into the mix as well. But its just fantastic to be back in the car and I have to thanks everyone that made it happen. It&acute;s special to be driving for New Zealand again, especially driving in Superleague".

Robert Doornbos (Netherlands): &ldquo;The semi finals were really close, but we lost some grip on the car. I can live with third though and I&rsquo;d like to thank everyone at Superleague Formula for giving me the chance to race again. I am looking forward to tomorrow, to see the fans and to get some good results. I was in Assen last night for the demo and handing out some tickets and I think a lot of fans will be here so it should be great. It&rsquo;s obviously great to start the season with a home race, but it does put some extra pressure on your shoulders, but I think we have a good car.&rdquo;

Antonio Pizzonia (Brazil): &ldquo;It&rsquo;s my first time here in Assen and I haven&rsquo;t driven a single-seater for around a year and a half so I&rsquo;m extremely happy to be back in Superleague Formula and P4 on the grid. It&rsquo;s a great achievement for me and the team. I didn&rsquo;t expect it after yesterday, as we didn&rsquo;t get much running, so I&rsquo;m delighted and we&rsquo;ll see what happens tomorrow. Hopefully it will be a good show for everyone!&rdquo;
]]></description><category/><pubDate>Jun 4, 2011 4:03:37 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Welcome to a new face for Superleague Formula viewers]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/welcome-to-a-new-face-for-superleague-formula-viewers</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/welcome-to-a-new-face-for-superleague-formula-viewers</guid><description><![CDATA[Viewers will see a new face on the screen from tomorrow, as Lisa Leyland makes her debut as pit-lane reporter, getting the lowdown from the drivers as soon as they come off the track. &ldquo;Sometimes you are the first one that they see as they take their helmet off, you never quite know what is going to come out of their mouth, hopefully it&acute;s something interesting and not rude. Sometimes they just don&rsquo;t want to talk and will try to avoid you, but it&acute;s in their interest and the viewer&rsquo;s interest to get an answer, so you have to press them gently. I think that&acute;s what makes it entertaining. &ldquo;

While knowing that she has a job to do, Lisa is aware that emotions can be running really high. &ldquo;In some ways you can understand it if I&acute;m the first person that they see as they come off the track, but I don&rsquo;t mind that. I&acute;ve had people push straight past me without speaking but you have to take the rough with the smooth.&rdquo;

Lisa comes from west London and while she may be new to Superleague Formula she comes from a motorsport background. &rdquo;I&acute;ve always been interested in motorsport watching it on TV, every Sunday I was glued to the TV. I was lucky enough to get a job presenting Motor X, the off-road bikes, so I did two seasons of that and absolutely loved it.&rdquo;

&ldquo;After two years on Motor X I wanted to see what else there was out there and I spent the off season talking to various people and here I am.&rdquo;

&nbsp;&ldquo;Since then I heard about the Superleague Formula project, I started watching it and getting to know the series and the drivers. I think that it&acute;s a different concept, which mixes up motorsport a little bit and that&acute;s what appealed to me, it&acute;s something different.&rdquo;

&ldquo;I met all of the drivers yesterday and they&acute;re all great. In Motor X there was around 80 riders each round, so it was difficult getting to know them all. Here as there are far less drivers so I can get to know them and to know what makes them tick, and then hopefully the viewers will get a better insight into both the drivers and also into Superleague Formula.&rdquo;]]></description><category/><pubDate>Jun 4, 2011 12:03:37 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Fans flock to Assen for Superleague Formula street demo]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/fans-flock-to-assen-for-superleague-formula-street-demo</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/fans-flock-to-assen-for-superleague-formula-street-demo</guid><description><![CDATA[
Downtown Assen reverberated to the high-pitched scream of 750bhp V12 engines on Friday night as the Superleague Formula wowed the packed crowds with a spectacular street show ahead of this weekend&rsquo;s opening round of the 2011 season. Watch the Street Show video on the Assen's video gallery.

An incredible 15,000 spectators, even more than last year&rsquo;s impressive turnout, lined the town centre&rsquo;s canal to catch a glimpse of home favourites Yelmer Buurman and Robert Doornbos powering their Netherlands &ndash; PSV Eindhoven and Netherlands cars up and down the main street.

Yelmer Buurman: &ldquo;It was great, an experience we only get one day a year. It&rsquo;s nice that being a hooligan is legal! You don&rsquo;t have to check for speed cameras or anything, you just drive flat out! We did some donuts and burnouts, but of course the car has to race on Sunday so we had to save it for that! There were so many people lining the streets, it was really good.&rdquo;

Robert Doornbos: &ldquo;It was good to see so many people, even more than last year. I did some demos and donuts and managed some good speed down the straight, more than 200km/h in fourth or fifth gear. It&rsquo;s great to do this stuff and when you ask a racing driver to play with 750bhp it will always puts a smile on his face. I got a speed camera to flash me too so it&rsquo;s all good!&rdquo;

The drivers also took part in a penalty shootout and then got down to the serious business of drawing the qualifying groups in De Kolk Square, producing some interesting match ups.

Home drivers Buurman and Doornbos, both of whom showed strong pace in Friday&rsquo;s practice sessions, will do battle in Group B along with last year&rsquo;s runner-up Craig Dolby (England), Tristan Gommendy (France &ndash; Girondins de Bordeaux), Earl Bamber (New Zealand) and Maria de Villota (Spain &ndash; Atletico Madrid).

Group A sees Andy Soucek (Turkey &ndash; Galatasaray), fastest of all 14 drivers in practice, drawn against John Martin (Australia), Frederic Vervisch (Luxembourg) and Neel Jani (Belgium &ndash; RSC Anderlecht), all of whom also were also quick on Friday. Antonio Pizzonia (Brazil), Duncan Tappy (Japan) and rookie Filip Salaquarda (Czech Republic &ndash; Sparta Prague) complete a tough half of the draw.

The top four drivers in each group will make it through to the knockout stages of Saturday&rsquo;s qualifying, which starts at 13:40 local time.

Group A
John Martin (Australia)
Neel Jani (Belgium &ndash; RSC Anderlecht)
Antonio Pizzonia (Brazil)
Filip Salaquarda (Czech Republic &ndash; Sparta Prague)
Duncan Tappy (Japan)
Frederic Vervisch (Luxembourg)
Andy Soucek (Turkey &ndash; Galatasaray)

Group B
Yelmer Buurman (Netherlands &ndash; PSV Eindhoven)
Robert Doornbos (Netherlands)
Ho-Pin Tung (China)
Craig Dolby (England)
Tristan Gommendy (France &ndash; Girondins de Bordeaux)
Ealr Bamber (New Zealand)
Maria de Villota (Spain &ndash; Atletico Madrid)]]></description><category/><pubDate>Jun 4, 2011 9:37:10 AM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Soucek fastest in FP2]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/all/soucek-fastest-in-fp2</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/all/soucek-fastest-in-fp2</guid><description><![CDATA[Andy Soucek celebrated his recent announcement as driver of the Turkey &ndash; Galatasaray car by topping the timesheets in Friday&rsquo;s second Free Practice session at the 2011 Superleague Formula season-opener at Assen.
 
The 25-year-old Spaniard, a front runner in the series last season, was only 11th quickest in the first session, but lowered his morning&rsquo;s best time by 2.3 seconds in the afternoon &ndash; a 1:25.471 proving to be the benchmark time.

Robert Doornbos (Netherlands) continued his strong start to his home event with the second best lap, just one tenth slower than Soucek, while Yelmer Buurman (Netherlands &ndash; PSV Eindhoven) completed the top three having topped the morning&rsquo;s times.

John Martin (Australia) was fourth ahead of Alan Docking Racing team-mate Craig Dolby (England), although, on old tyres, both were more than one second adrift of the quickest trio.

Fr&eacute;d&eacute;ric Vervisch (Luxembourg), Tristan Gommendy (France &ndash; Girondins de Bordeaux), Neel Jani (Belgium &ndash; RSC Anderlecht), Earl Bamber (New Zealand) and Filip Salaquarda (Czech Republic &ndash; Sparta Prague) completed the top ten, although none were able to improve their best times from FP1.

Ho-Pin Tung (China) was able to lower his previous best effort, but was still only 12th behind Antonio Pizzonia (Brazil) and ahead of Maria de Villota (Spain &ndash; Atletico Madrid). Duncan Tappy (Japan) again didn&rsquo;t take part in the session as his team prepares his car for qualifying on Saturday.

Andy Soucek (Turkey &ndash; Galatasaray): &ldquo;That was a good session, definitely a lot better than the first one! It was difficult in FP1 because the car hasn&rsquo;t run since November, but we worked hard afterwards, analysed all the data and put some new tyres on for one lap to see how the car would behave tomorrow. The Netherlands car did the same and we&rsquo;re one tenth quicker so I&rsquo;m hoping for a good performance in qualifying. A big thank you to the team who worked until 6:30am to get the car ready and only slept for one hour! Hopefully they can finish early today and get some sleep!&rdquo;

Robert Doornbos (Netherlands): &ldquo;First I&rsquo;d like to thank the organisers for inviting me back into the series. This is my home race and I have been looking forward to it because Assen is a great venue. It&rsquo;s a long time since I have driven a proper race car so it&rsquo;s good to be on the pace straight away. Also a thank you to Anthony Reid, the team and my sponsors and we&rsquo;re now looking forward to a good performance on Sunday.&rdquo;

John Martin (Australia): &ldquo;So far, so good. Having not raced since Navarra last year, the first session was about getting ready and working on everything. The car seems quick on old tyres so it&rsquo;s looking really good for the race. We didn&rsquo;t use new tyres today because we were focussing on race set-up. My best lap was the penultimate one so that is a positive sign for Sunday. We&rsquo;ll see how qualifying goes tomorrow now.&rdquo;

]]></description><category/><pubDate>Jun 3, 2011 3:23:52 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Buurman tops first practice session of 2011]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/buurman-tops-first-practice-session-of-2011</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/buurman-tops-first-practice-session-of-2011</guid><description><![CDATA[Yelmer Buurman (Netherlands &ndash; PSV Eindhoven) topped the first practice session of the 2011 Superleague Formula as the new season got underway in earnest at Assen on Friday morning. &nbsp;
The Dutch driver, a race winner in each of the last three seasons, gave the home fans something to cheer with a best time of 1:25.564, four tenths of a second quicker than closest rival Neel Jani (Belgium &ndash; RSC Anderlecht), who was the only other driver to dip below the one minute 26 seconds barrier.
Craig Dolby (England), who missed out on the Superleague Formula title by just two points in 2010, was third fastest ahead of another home favourite, Robert Doornbos (Netherlands).
Fr&eacute;d&eacute;ric Vervisch (Luxembourg) and John Martin (Australia) were fifth and sixth on the final timesheet while Tristan Gommendy (France &ndash; Girondins de Bordeaux), newcomer Filip Salaquarda (Czech Republic &ndash; Sparta Prague), Antonio Pizzonia (Brazil) and Earl Bamber (New Zealand) completed the top ten.
Andy Soucek (Turkey &ndash; Galatasaray), Maria de Villota (Atl&eacute;tico Madrid) and Ho Pin Tung (China) also enjoyed track time although Duncan Tappy&rsquo;s Japan car failed to set a time.
Yelmer Buurman (Netherlands &ndash; PSV Eindhoven): &ldquo;It was a good session, but then it&rsquo;s always good when you&rsquo;re fastest! The track was really green with not much rubber down, so it wasn&rsquo;t easy and quite slippery. I think we can continue with this pace, compared to the others, all weekend. I like this circuit, it&rsquo;s my home track and I have driven here a few times. I haven&rsquo;t been in a racing car since the F1 rookie test in November, so it has been a while, but here we are and we&rsquo;re good shape.&rdquo;
Craig Dolby (England): &ldquo;P3 is a good start for us. I haven&rsquo;t been in the car since Navarra at the end of last season, so we were just getting used to everything again. It&rsquo;s nice to be back behind the wheel. Normally, when you haven&rsquo;t driven for eight months it&rsquo;s difficult to get straight back on the pace, but we&rsquo;ve done so here. We&rsquo;ll continue to work in the next session, but so far we&rsquo;re looking strong for qualifying. This circuit is tricky, but if you take out turns 3 and 4 then I love it! Those two corners are quite technical and difficult for these big cars.&rdquo;
Fr&eacute;d&eacute;ric Vervisch (Luxembourg): &ldquo;I am delighted to be back in a racing car after so many months away. We got to work straight away and I enjoyed it at the beginning. There was a lot to get through in the first session so I can&rsquo;t make any predictions yet, but the general feeling is good and we should continue to improve. I am confident for this afternoon and, if we don&rsquo;t have any problems, we can look forward to a good weekend.&rdquo;
&nbsp;]]></description><category/><pubDate>Jun 3, 2011 12:25:39 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Superleague Formula announces full line-up]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/superleague-formula-announces-full-line-up</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/superleague-formula-announces-full-line-up</guid><description><![CDATA[The team and driver full line-up for the opening round of the 2011 Superleague Formula was announced today. The line-up at Assen sees one of the best drivers in world motorsport and the cars look stunning liveried in the national flag of their home countries.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;




Driver
Team


Neel Jani
SF Belgium &ndash; RSC Anderlecht 


Yelmer Buurman
SF Netherlands - PSV Eindhoven&nbsp;


Filip Salaquarda
SF Czech Republic - AC Sparta Praha&nbsp;


Fr&eacute;d&eacute;ric Vervisch
SF Luxembourg&nbsp;


Earl Bamber
SF New Zealand


Duncan Tappy
SF Japan&nbsp;


Robert Doornbos
SF Netherlands


Mar&iacute;a de Villota
SF Spain - Atl&eacute;tico de Madrid


Andy Soucek
SF Turkey - Galatasaray SK&nbsp;


Ho-Pin Tung
SF China&nbsp;


Antonio Pizzonia
SF Brazil&nbsp;


John Martin
SF Australia&nbsp;


Craig Dolby
SF England&nbsp;


Tristan Gommendy
SF France - Girondins de Bordeaux&nbsp;



















The action gets underway tomorrow Friday with Free Practice at 10:00 and 14:00, which will be followed later in the day with an amazing and unprecedented Street Show in the town of Assen.

Saturday sees qualifying taking place at 13:40 CET.

Race One begins on Sunday at 13:10 and Race Two at 14:20. The top eight placed cars will then be back onto the grid almost immediately for the five lap dash for cash Super Final.&nbsp;

The winner will walk away with &euro;100,000, while the runner-up will collect &euro;50,000 and the third-placed driver &euro;40,000. The prize money extends down to the driver in sixth spot who will bank &euro;10,000.

Produced by Endemol Sport, the TV production which will also have pit cams introduced in the team garages, promises to bring viewers the drama and emotion of the race weekend. This seasons broadcast agreements will make the championship available to 400m homes and live streaming in its own website at www.superleagueformula.com.&nbsp;
]]></description><category/><pubDate>Jun 2, 2011 8:58:29 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Superleague Formula available in over 400m TV households for 2011 season]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/superleague-formula-available-in-over-400m-tv-households-for-2011-season</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/superleague-formula-available-in-over-400m-tv-households-for-2011-season</guid><description><![CDATA[The Superleague Formula today announced that it has concluded a number of broadcast deals, which will see the championship available in over 400m homes worldwide for the 2011 season.&nbsp; The agreements will see coverage of the series, both live and delayed, in over 180 territories from major European markets to countries as far apart as the Americas, Asia, Oceania and Africa.

The series will also stream races live via its own website www.superleagueformula.com and also through a number of online partnerships.

The innovative race production is fully produced by Endemol Sport. The live package includes two 40 minute races, separated by a 20 minute gap, in which the broadcasters will have full live access to the drama and emotion of the pit garages as crews and drivers prepare for the second race.

At the conclusion of the second race the top eight points-scoring drivers taking to the track for a five lap sprint Super Final race with &euro;250,000 prize money to race for.

&ldquo;The cars look spectacular in their newly designed liveries and we have a great line-up of drivers,&rdquo; says Teba Gomez-Monche, Head of TV at Superleague Formula. &ldquo;Endemol Sport are a fantastic partner to produce this innovative package of top class action, mixing the raw drama and reality of motorsport in a way never captured on screen before. We are confident that our audience will grow and grow throughout the season, and also our rosta of broadcast partners.&rdquo;

Lawrence Duffy of Endemol Sport adds: &ldquo;Superleague Formula has grown enormously in its first four years and is now really a global championship. Motorsport can at its best be a heady cocktail of drama and emotions and we want to bring some of that to the viewers worldwide in a way that grows the understanding and theatre of the races, the drivers and the championship itself.&rdquo;

The Superleague Formula gets underway at Assen in Holland this weekend and will feature races in Belgium, Russia, Brazil, China, the Middle East and New Zealand*
*Subject to contract and FIA Approval

Please see full TV listing in our website http://www.superleagueformula.com/sf-live/tv-listings

]]></description><category/><pubDate>Jun 2, 2011 5:56:24 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Superleague Formula gets underway in Assen]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/superleague-formula-gets-underway-in-assen</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/superleague-formula-gets-underway-in-assen</guid><description><![CDATA[The famous Assen TT Circuit in Holland plays host to the opening round of the 2011 Superleague Formula. 2011 marks the fourth season of the series, which first ran in 2008. The championship sees some of the best drivers in world motorsport compete in the magnificent 4.2 litre, V12 Superleague Formula cars, capable of speeds of over 300kph.  Beginning in Assen, the championship takes a really global perspective with races in Russia, Brazil, China, the Middle East and New Zealand.The cars look stunning, liveried in the national flag of the competing drivers, with the drivers racing not just for themselves and their teams but also for the honour of their home countries. All of the cars are technically identical, so it all comes down to the racing skill of the drivers on the track &ndash; that and a bit of racing luck!Last season&acute;s runner-up, British driver Craig Dolby, will again be amongst the favourites to take the chequered flag in the SF England &ndash; Tottenham Hotspur car.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Also lining up on the grid are drivers from Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Netherlands, Luxembourg and Switzerland, amongst others.The Superleague Formula gets underway on Friday, with Free Practice providing the teams and drivers with a chance to put their winter testing into practice.&nbsp; At 19:00 the cars will then put on a street show in Assen city, followed by the all important Qualifying Draw. The action continues on Saturday with the Qualifying session, where the drivers split into two groups as per Friday&acute;s draw. They will face a straight shoot-out to decide grid position for Sunday&acute;s Race One.Sunday sees two races of 40 minutes each. Race One grid positions are decided on the result of Saturday qualifying, while Race Two sees a completely reversed grid of the finishing order of Race One, putting the fastest cars at the back to ensure excitement right throughout the day.The top eight points-scorers over the weekend then go forward to the Super Final which takes place almost immediately after Race Two. It is a five lap dash for cash. The winning driver receives the cheque for &euro;100,000, the runner-up &euro;50,000 and down to &euro;10,000 for sixth place.Craig Dolby SF England - Tottenham Hotspur:&ldquo;I certainly have unfinished business in Superleague Formula coming so close to the title in the last two seasons. I have one goal for 2011 and that&acute;s to be on the top-step of the podium at the end of the season. We have a great team here and we all know that it will take a lot of hard work, but I know that every single member of the team will give it their all to achieve this.&rdquo;John Martin, SF Australia:"I can't wait to get back in the car and hear the roar of the V12, I ended last season on a high with victory in Race One and the Super Final at Navarra and I have been training hard over the off season to build upon the form that saw me win six races, claim 10 podiums, take two poles and qualify on the front row six times in 2010. There is no doubt if I&acute;d started the season how I finished it, I would have been a championship contender. This year's calendar is pretty exciting with the visits to Russia, China, Brazil and the Middle East. Most of all though I'm really looking forward to racing so close to home in New Zealand at the end of the season. Aussies and Kiwis have always enjoyed a close relationship and I know a lot of my friends and supporters in Australia are making the trip across the Tasman to support me. Hopefully I can make it a weekend to remember for us all by winning the championship. It&acute;s not often as a driver that you get to carry the national flag on your car and to represent the country, and this will make it all the more special.&rdquo;Fr&eacute;d&eacute;ric Vervisch, SF Luxembourg:&ldquo;I am really happy to have secured a deal to race with Atech Reid GP to race in the Superleague Formula for the full series this year. Even though I only raced in selected rounds at the end of the 2010 season, we still managed to finish in the top 10 in the championship, take 3 race podiums and a Super Final win. This year I will have the chance to race from round one and I am sure there will be more podiums to celebrate!&rdquo;]]></description><category/><pubDate>Jun 1, 2011 12:21:03 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Superleague Formula announce Frédéric Vervisch is the latest driver to join for 2011]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/superleague-formula-announce-frdric-vervisch-is-the-latest-driver-to-join-for-2011</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/superleague-formula-announce-frdric-vervisch-is-the-latest-driver-to-join-for-2011</guid><description><![CDATA[Superleague Formula today confirmed that Fr&eacute;d&eacute;ric Vervisch will return to the 2011 championship, after re-signing with the Welsh based team Atech Reid GP. The 24 year old Belgian represented Liverpool FC in the second half of the 2010 series and has today confirmed his return to race in the global eight round Superleague Formula. Vervisch will showcase the Luxembourg national colours during 2011 after an impressive first stint in Superleague Formula in 2010. Fr&eacute;d&eacute;ric will be a strong championship contender.Winning an impressive &euro;160,000 during the 2010 Superleague Formula season, Vervisch secured 3 race podiums together with one Super Final win and is positive that he can make an impact on the 2011 series.&lsquo;I am really happy to have secured a deal to race with Atech Reid GP to race in the Superleague Formula for the full series this year. Even though I only raced in selected rounds at the end of the 2010 season, we still managed to finish in the top 10 in the championship, take 3 race podiums and a Super Final win. This year I will have the chance to race from round one and I am sure there will be more podiums to celebrate!&rsquo;Team Principals Anthony Reid &amp; David Hayle commented on the signing this afternoon.&lsquo;We are anticipating a positive start to the 2011 Superleague Formula season and are really excited to have re-signed Fr&eacute;d&eacute;ric. He is a real talent and we enjoyed working with him last year&rsquo;, Anthony Reid stated.David Hayle added: 'Everyone in the team have been working really hard over the winter months to prepare the cars ready for round one and we are pleased that Fr&eacute;d&eacute;ric will be with us in Assen'.]]></description><category/><pubDate>May 31, 2011 4:06:28 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Neel Jani the latest driver to commit to Superleague Formula]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/neel-jani-the-latest-driver-to-commit-to-superleague-formula</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/neel-jani-the-latest-driver-to-commit-to-superleague-formula</guid><description><![CDATA[Swiss driver Neel Jani yesterday confirmed that he will race in the 2011 Superleague Formula. Jani will step into the championship winning seat of Davide Rigon in the Belgium -RSC Anderlecht car run by Azerti.
 &ldquo;I'm really happy to compete in Superleague Formula with Azerti&rdquo;, said Jani. &ldquo;I drove in a couple of races last year and the Superleague Formula car is a fantastic car to race. The level of competition of teams and drivers is very high and I'm looking forward to getting the season underway at Assen. I will certainly try to defend the championship crown and match the success Davide Rigon.&rdquo;

Wim Coekelbergs, team boss of Azerti, was clearly delighted to have reached agreement with Jani. &ldquo;It's fantastic news that we have been able to make a deal with Neel. I have complete confidence in the season ahead, because together with Yelmer Buurman (Netherlands &ndash; PSV Eindhoven) we once again have a great line-up. I would also like to thank Neels manager Nigel Gordon Stewart for his cooperation.&rdquo;

Jani was the championship winner of the 2008 A1GP series and has also driven in Champ Cars, GP2 and was an F1 test driver for Toro Rosso.

The Superleague Formula gets underway at Assen on June 4/5 before racing at Zolder in July before races in Russia, China, Brazil, the Middle East and New Zealand.
]]></description><category/><pubDate>May 30, 2011 3:33:41 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Buurman returns for Superleague Formula action]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/buurman-returns-for-superleague-formula-action</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/buurman-returns-for-superleague-formula-action</guid><description><![CDATA[Dutch driver Yelmer Buurman (24 years old) will return to Superleague Formula action in 2011 as he takes the wheel of the Netherlands &ndash; PSV Eindhoven car. &nbsp;He was announced today at Zolder, in Belgium. Buurman drove for PSV in the inaugural Superleague Formula series back in 2008, when he finished the season as runner up.&nbsp; 
Buurman was able to take the newly re-liveried car out onto the circuit for a number of flying laps.

&nbsp;&ldquo;It was great fun getting out on track to put in a few laps, it certainly blows away a few cobwebs!&rdquo; he commented afterwards.

&ldquo;It&acute;s good to be back in Superleague Formula for 2011, especially as we have a great calendar for this year.&rdquo; says Buurman, &ldquo;The V12 engines make for some spectacular racing and it will be good getting back in the car for real. The Superleague Formula car is thrilling to race in and as we have seen last year the championship is very competitive."
&nbsp;
&ldquo;Assen is a great place to start the series, it&acute;s always good to race on home soil, it would be a great place to start with a win. I&acute;m sure that we will put on a pretty spectacular show for all the Dutch race fans who come to watch us next weekend&rdquo;.

Another driver to return to the Superleague Formula fold today is fellow Robert Doornbos. The Dutchman, who is backed by ERU Prestige, will drive the Atech Reid prepared, Netherlands car. It completes a very strong Dutch line-up in the championship.&nbsp;

The 2011 Superleague Formula season gets underway at Assen on June 4/5 and will visit Belgium, Russia, China, Brazil, the Middle East and New Zealand with eight rounds in total.
Buurman and Doornbos join Craig Dolby, John Martin, Max Wissel and Filip Salaquarda who all have confirmed drives this season, with a number of drivers being announced in the next few days.
&nbsp;
]]></description><category/><pubDate>May 26, 2011 4:40:35 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[2011 Warm up: Interview with Alan Docking]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/all/2011-warm-up-interview-with-alan-docking</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/all/2011-warm-up-interview-with-alan-docking</guid><description><![CDATA[&ldquo;I&acute;ve always been nutty about sports cars, exciting cars and fast cars: fast cars particularly have always been the main attraction&rdquo; says Alan Docking, team owner of Alan Docking Racing on his attachment to motorsport. Alan Docking Racing has been one of the main race-teams in Superleague Formula since the series was launched. This year the team will field two cars, one car driven by Craig Dolby, the second car driven by Australia&acute;s John Martin.
A native of Melbourne, Alan came to Europe to further his early interest back in the 1970&acute;s. &ldquo;I raced a little bit in Australia as a complete amateur, built my own car and just raced it. I was keen to see what went on in motorsport over here. Back then there was no opportunity to work full time in motorsport in Australia.&rdquo;
He formed his own race team in 1975, which has been competing and wining in various series ever since, working with drivers of the caliber of Mark Webber, Steffan Johansson, Mika Salo and Robbie Kerr.
ADR has been with Superleague Formula since the very beginning. &ldquo;Even prior to their first year of racing&ldquo;, corrects Docking. &ldquo;We were testing while they were developing their car. The test-car was over here and the engine was under test and we supplied the crew to do the test work on that chassis.&rdquo;
&ldquo;In the first year, which was six events, we were providing a service to Superleague themselves rather than bringing drivers along. The second year we got more involved and brought John Martin over and took Craig Dolby on board. We ran with the same two drivers again last year and of course again this season. In our first year we also had Antonio Pizzonia, so we have always been at the sharp end with results.&rdquo;
Like many people close to the series, Docking is excited about the season ahead and the future of the championship. &ldquo;We&acute;ve watched it grow from a little beginning to where it is today. I love it. It now goes to some very good addresses. The cars are good to race and the racing format is interesting and very enjoyable.&rdquo;
Like many sports, while all attention is focused on the track, what happens in the pits can also be crucial to the result. And Alan Docking is a master of the art. &ldquo;From a technical point-of-view it&acute;s testing, and from a strategy point-of-view during the course of the race, you really have to be on the ball because it&rsquo;s constantly moving and changing.&rdquo;
]]></description><category/><pubDate>May 24, 2011 5:25:46 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Superleague Formula unveils first four drivers for 2011]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/superleague-formula-unveils-first-four-drivers-for-2011</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/superleague-formula-unveils-first-four-drivers-for-2011</guid><description><![CDATA[Superleague Formula today announced the first drivers who have signed in the&nbsp;2011 Superleague Formula.&nbsp; The championship gets underway at Assen in the Netherlands on June 4/5 and British driver Craig Dolby, who has finished as championship runner up in the past two seasons is amongst the first names to be announced.
&nbsp;&ldquo;I certainly have unfinished business in Superleague Formula coming so close to the title in the last two seasons.&rdquo; said Dolby, &ldquo;I have one goal for 2011, and that&acute;s to be on the top step of the podium at the end of the season.&rdquo;
&ldquo;One of the big decisions of the winter was to stay with Alan (Alan Docking Racing), we had some good offers but the team is more like a big family and it seemed the only place we could be.&nbsp; There is a real hunger throughout the team to win the championship, more than ever before, but is just seems that everyone is excited and positive and at the same time having fun, &nbsp;it&acute;s a great environment to work in.&rdquo;
John Martin is another to return for 2011 and like his team-mate Dolby, he is also bullish about his prospects this year."I can't wait to get back in the car and hear the roar of the V12.&rdquo; said the likeable Australian, &ldquo;I ended last season on a high with victory in race one and the Super Final at Navarra and I have been training hard over the off season to build upon the form that saw me win six races, claim 10 podiums, take two poles and qualify on the front row six times in 2010."  "There is no doubt if I&acute;d started the season how I finished it. I would have been a championship contender. This year's calendar is pretty exciting with the visits to Russia, China, Brazil and the Middle East. Most of all though I'm really looking forward to racing so close to home in New Zealand at the end of the season. Aussies and Kiwis have always enjoyed a close relationship and I know a lot of my friends and supporters in Australia are making the trip across the Tasman to support me. Hopefully I can make it a weekend to remember for us all by winning the championship."
Another former race winner German driver Max Wissel, who finished the 2009 season in third spot in the championship, is also returning for 2011.
New to Superleague Formula is Filip Salaquarda, the highly rated Czech driver joins the Atech Reid GP squad after a successful winter test.]]></description><category/><pubDate>May 16, 2011 10:58:05 AM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Superleague Formula announces 2011 Championship]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/superleague-formula-announces-2011-championship</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/superleague-formula-announces-2011-championship</guid><description><![CDATA[Superleague Formula today announced its full 2011 calendar, with races on four different continents this season. The championship, which is about to begin its fourth season of racing, will get underway at one of its traditional venues, Assen in the Netherlands on June 4/5, before heading to Zolder in Belgium in July.Superleague Formula will then make a piece of motorsport history by becoming the first major international single-seater championship to race in Russia, with the Superleague Formula Grand Prix of Russia at the Smolensk Ring.Beijing will then host the Superleague Formula Nations Cup, as the series returns to China for the second consecutive season.Brazil will then be the venue for two separate race weekends, as Superleague Formula visits South America for the first time ever, marking the third continent of the Superleague Formula Nations Cup calendar.The Middle East will be the next region to welcome the 2011 championship season.The fourth and final continent to be visited by Superleague Formula in 2011 will be Australasia, with the final race of the season taking place in New Zealand.&ldquo;Superleague Formula is now set to become a fully fledged global series, which has been high amongst our objectives even prior to our very first race,&rdquo; says Robin Webb, Superleague Formula Director of Competition, &ldquo;If someone had told me a year ago that we would be racing on four continents then I would have found it hard to believe. It makes me immensely proud of the championship, it&acute;s drivers, teams, sponsors and also those behind the scenes who have made this happen. It puts us in front of a huge global audience and gives us great foundations to build upon for 2012.&rdquo;]]></description><category/><pubDate>May 2, 2011 8:14:32 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Motors TV secures live Superleague Formula coverage for 2011]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/motors-tv-secures-live-superleague-formula-coverage-for-2011</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/motors-tv-secures-live-superleague-formula-coverage-for-2011</guid><description><![CDATA[Motors TV will become the new home of Superleague Formula this season with the &lsquo;High Speed Television&rsquo; channel screening live coverage of all 12 rounds throughout the year. Superleague Formula, which is about to begin its fourth season, has become one of the most exciting single-seater series in world motorsport since its launch in 2008. The championship has partnered with a number of the world&acute;s major football teams and uniquely brings those clubs&rsquo; colours to the race track.

Motors TV will be the place to catch live television coverage of the entire season with two and a half hours of as-it-happens action on Sundays from both 40-minute feature races &ndash; the second featuring a fully reversed grid &ndash; and unique six-car, five-lap Super Final where a prize total of &euro;280,000 will be up for grabs at every round.

Superleague Formula features top-flight drivers, powerful 4.2litre V12 single-seaters and unique race formats, which combine to create the sort of spectacular racing not found in any other championship.
Frederic Viger, Motors TV&rsquo;s Head of Programming and Acquisitions: &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve watched with interest over the past three years as Superleague Formula has grown into one of the most exciting racing series in the world. Its powerful cars, unique format and thrillingly unpredictable racing will make for some unmissable live television in 2011 so naturally we&rsquo;re delighted that it will become one of Motors TV&rsquo;s flagship programmes.&rdquo; &nbsp; &nbsp;
Robin Webb, Superleague Formula Competitions Director: &ldquo;Our aim with Superleague Formula has always been to bring more to race weekends and television screens than simply fast cars. Our race cars from the beginning have been designed to encourage and facilitate overtaking, which is something that our drivers revel in. Now we are bringing the live drama of what happens in the pit garages, in the 20 minutes between races, live to TV screens around the world. It is a place of frenetic energy and high emotion and we are uniquely in world motorsport giving viewers the whole story of every race weekend. Spreading awareness of Superleague Formula, our drivers and teams, is a key goal for 2011 and with Motors TV&rsquo;s unrivalled platform for live motorsport coverage we have found a fantastic broadcast partner to help us achieve that.&rdquo; &nbsp;
For more information on Superleague Formula, please visit www.superleagueformula.com or contact Mark Thursfield on +34 628 782 139 / mark.thursfield@superleagueformula.com
For full programme listings, please visit&nbsp;www.motorstv.com

Motors TV, the &lsquo;High Speed Television&rsquo; channel, provides the widest coverage of international motorsport, with exclusive events and more than 80 championships transmitted in 60 countries and close to 20 million households subscribing by satellite, cable and ADSL.
]]></description><category/><pubDate>Apr 6, 2011 1:38:55 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Get Ready for Super Action]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/get-ready-for-super-action</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/get-ready-for-super-action</guid><description><![CDATA[Now you can buy your tickets for Superleague Formula by Sonangol Round 2 Holland. Click here to buy your tickets]]></description><category/><pubDate>Mar 31, 2011 4:55:23 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Craig Dolby Q&A: “I certainly have unfinished business in Superleague Formula”]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/craig-dolby-qa-i-certainly-have-unfinished-business-in-superleague-formula</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/craig-dolby-qa-i-certainly-have-unfinished-business-in-superleague-formula</guid><description><![CDATA[In 2010 Craig Dolby, driving the Tottenham Hotspur car, finished the Superleague Formula Championship in runner-up spot, just two agonizing points adrift of series Champion Davide Rigon. We spoke to him about last year and his hopes for 2011. 1. What were the highlights for you of the 2010 Superleague Formula season?

The highlights of 2010 was winning the first round and also winning the Beijing round, although sadly that did not count for points. If it had...

2. What was your favorite track in 2010?

I have to say that my favorite track in 2010 was probably the Beijing Street Circuit. I had never driven on a street track before and it was cool.&nbsp;

3. What are the Superleague Formula cars like to drive as race cars?

The Superleague Formula cars are great fun to drive, they are quite heavy but with a lots and lots of power, so they can move around a lot which is great for the drivers and it gives us exciting racing which is also great for the fans.&nbsp;

4. What did you do over the winter break to (a) relax, and (b) to prepare for the new season?

What winter break! I carried on training and pushing hard for 2011, I want to be in the best condition that I can be in. I spent Christmas with my family and then flew to Spain on boxing day and spent some time out there over new year. I spent a week in Dubai which was also very cool. But now it&rsquo;s all training again.

5. Who was your biggest rival in 2010?

In 2010 I think the biggest rivals were most of the field, there are a lot of strong drivers in the championship, and all of the cars are very equal in performance, I think Yelmer, Max, Chris and Davide, we all had a good years, well at least before Chris went with the flying lessons! Seriously it is great to see him back.

6. Do you have a message for Superleague Formula fans?

I would just like to say thank you to all the support that I have had. The championship is growing quickly, so I hope that I can stay in 2011 and put on a great show for you all.&nbsp;

7. Which are your plans for 2011? Would you like to try again in Superleague Formula and get the title you missed out in 2009 and 2010?

I certainly have unfinished business in Superleague Formula, coming so close to the title the last two seasons. I have one goal for 2011 and that is to be on that top step of the podium at the end of the season.&nbsp;]]></description><category/><pubDate>Mar 3, 2011 1:07:32 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Davide Rigon Q&A: “Superleague Formula is one of the highest level categories of motorsport”]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/davide-rigon-qa-superleague-formula-is-one-of-the-highest-level-categories-of-motorsport</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/davide-rigon-qa-superleague-formula-is-one-of-the-highest-level-categories-of-motorsport</guid><description><![CDATA[2010 was a great year for 24 year old Italian racer Davide Rigon, he became the first driver to win the Superleague Formula title twice, walking away with a cool &euro;1.6m in the process, as he brought the R.S.C. Anderlecht car home ahead of his closest rival Craig Dolby. We spoke to him about his 2010 season. 
1. What were the highlights for you of the 2010 Superleague Formula season?

There were three major highlights for me last year, the best moments of the season were at Assen after my first win, and then afterwards at Portimao when I went first in the championship, but certainly the biggest moment was in Navarra for me and my whole team, &nbsp;when we managed to win the championship!

2. What was your favorite track in 2010?

I really liked Assen, it seemed to flow with my driving style.

3. What did you do over the winter break to (a) relax, and (b) to prepare for the new season?

I continued working with my trainer to try to be in as good shape as can be, just in case the chance to drive in Formula 1 came along. But not just for that, it is really important to be in my best possible shape for the 2011 season.

The week before Christmas I was in the mountains with my girlfriend and friends to ski and relax a bit. It was great to unwind.

4. Who was your biggest rival in 2010?

To be honest everyone was very fast! But in the last races my biggest rivals were Craig Dolby, Yelmer Buurman and John Martin. It was a very close end to the season and ever point really counted.

5. Do you have a message for Superleague Formula fans?

Of course! Continue to follow this beautiful and spectacular series. This is one of the highest level categories of motorsport in the world now.

6. After winning the Championship in 2010 you signed as the Ferrari simulator driver. Is this what you were looking for 2011?

To be honest I have some time that I am available to Scuderia Ferrari for the development of their cars, mainly on the simulator. As an Italian, and a racing driver, it is good to work with Ferrari.
This year I'm looking at making the GP2 series but I still have not found all of the budget.]]></description><category/><pubDate>Feb 24, 2011 10:06:20 AM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[DRIVER-BOOK, the first social network specialized in motorsport]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/driver-book-the-first-social-network-specialized-in-motorsport</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/driver-book-the-first-social-network-specialized-in-motorsport</guid><description><![CDATA[www.driver-book.info, launched in December 2010, is the first networking site designed specifically for those involved in the world of motorsport. The news section is one of most consulted pages in the network. Here DRIVER-BOOK collates news feeds from GPUpdate, Autosport, Formula1, EspnF1, Grandprix and many other motorsport related sites in order to give our users all the up to date news on one easily accessible page.
Our Meeting Points allows for private or public groups to share information and documents in a convenient and centralised storage area. Documents like new regulations, bulletins, schedules can be located in one place where all Meeting Point members have easy access.
The Contact listing section allows members to add their business and personal contact details. This is a unique, member maintained directory that provides companies, organisations and individuals an easy to use, fully searchable contact database.
Created with suppliers in mind, but open to all members, the soon to be launched Online Store Service adds another useful feature to DRIVER-BOOK. All members will be able to offer and buy motorsport related products online through www.driver-book.info.
Access to the DRIVER-BOOK network is restricted to invited members only and Superleague Formula will invite their motorsport colleagues using their own unique invitation code.
Invitation code: a8cf803Website: www.driver-book.infoFor any further information, please contact info@driver-book.info.]]></description><category/><pubDate>Feb 18, 2011 1:08:55 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Superleague Formula Set To Announce 2011 Teams]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/superleague-formula-set-to-announce-2011-teams</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/superleague-formula-set-to-announce-2011-teams</guid><description><![CDATA[With the 2011 Superleague Formula by Sonangol set to get underway in eight weeks time, the series Competitions Director Robin Webb is about to open the entry list for the 11 race championship. &ldquo;There have been many teams that have approached us since the end of our last season, but there are 14 teams that have shown the most serious interest,&rdquo; said Webb. The final entry forms are being issued to all teams today (Thursday), who will have just 10 days to formally register their entries. &ldquo;Each team will run a minimum of two cars and while priority is being given to all existing teams that have already run with SF, we have some very interesting new inquiries.&rdquo; added Webb who will now assess all team entries.&ldquo;We have had a terrific response to the ballot for this season's franchise. We are now going into our fourth season of racing and this is clearly our strongest entry to date, with both returning teams and also potential new entrants who want to join us.&rdquo;&ldquo;We have a great calendar this season, with 11 races in total, seven in Europe, and five fly-aways in 4 different continents, with a prize fund of over 5,000,000 euros, it is a very attractive proposition for both teams and drivers. Several teams and drivers made a profit last year, while others managed to race for very small money due to the massive prize fund. New teams do not have to invest in purchasing the cars as these are all owned by Superleague Formula and we lend them to the teams free-of-charge so cost of entry is minimal&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &ldquo;We have also had direct interest from a number of top-line drivers who would be new to the series, as well as those who want to return.&rdquo;Webb is also due to announce in the next two weeks a number of new football teams who have requested an entry into the championship. &ldquo;The entry of new football clubs is obviously very key to us, especially as we are going into some new territories this season, and it is great to take some local flavour with us, although this is clearly not always possible. We are currently limited to a 20 car grid and if you look at the line-up, there is not a single one that you would not want to take with you into the new season, although there is always some repositioning possible.&rdquo;]]></description><category/><pubDate>Feb 17, 2011 3:10:35 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA["Superleague is the best F1 alternative"]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/superleague-is-the-best-f1-alternative</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/superleague-is-the-best-f1-alternative</guid><description><![CDATA[With Superleague Formula about to begin its fourth season we caught up with Competitions Director Robin Webb to get the lowdown on the Championship.

 Read the whole interview in the following link:http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/featured-news/2011/qa-with-robin-webb]]></description><category/><pubDate>Feb 14, 2011 10:33:20 AM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Atech Reid GP confirm Filip Salaquarda]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/atech-reid-gp-confirm-filip-salaquarda</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/atech-reid-gp-confirm-filip-salaquarda</guid><description><![CDATA[The Wales based Superleague Formula team, Atech Reid GP, today announced that after a successful test, they had signed highly rated Czech driver Filip Salaquarda for the 2011 Superleague season. The Monaco based driver has raced in a number of single-seater series including World Series by Renault, A1GP, F3 and Formula BMW.
Atech Reid Team Principal, David Hayle is looking forward to working with the Czech pilot. "We are very excited to announce that Filip has signed with Atech Reid GP. Filip has good experience gained from other categories similar in power to Superleague Formula cars, and we look forward to working with Filip and sharing in his success over the course of the year ahead."
"We are excited about the coming season and our aim is to win the championship again this year. Our driver line-up will emulate this and we are very much looking forward to Filip being part of the team. We anticipate the remaining drivers to be announced within the next week."
"Superleague Formula is an extremely powerful car, with a sensational feeling to drive," said Salaquarda. "During our tests in Spain I immediately understood that this was the right decision. I cannot wait to start to prepare for the championship."
&nbsp;]]></description><category/><pubDate>Feb 9, 2011 6:40:42 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Superleague Formula enjoys successful week at AUTOSPORT International]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/superleague-formula-enjoys-successful-week-at-autosport-international</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/superleague-formula-enjoys-successful-week-at-autosport-international</guid><description><![CDATA[Superleague Formula by Sonangol's impressive stand proved one of the highlights at last weekend's AUTOSPORT International Show in Birmingham, UK, where the build-up to 2011 traditionally kicks off. The motorsport industry's annual pre-season gathering offered fans the chance to learn more about the football-themed series which will enter its fourth year in 201. And just like its racing, Superleague Formula provided a spectacular backdrop at which to promote the upcoming campaign.
Last year's runner-up and home favourite Craig Dolby was on hand to sign autographs throughout Saturday next to the Tottenham Hotspur car that took him to within just two points of the championship, as well as &euro;860,000 in prize money. Spurs' hi-tech pit wall perch was also on display, along with the bespoke V12, 750bhp engine fitted to all of the championship's single seaters.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
Dutch championship contender Yelmer Buurman dropped by on Thursday to help promote his home round at Assen on June 4/5, while the Superleague Formula race centre also welcomed a number of high-profile drivers through its doors across the four days as plans for 2011 begin to gather pace. &nbsp;]]></description><category/><pubDate>Jan 17, 2011 4:33:42 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Superleague Formula at AUTOSPORT International]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/superleague-formula-at-autosport-international</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2011/superleague-formula-at-autosport-international</guid><description><![CDATA[Superleague Formula by Sonangol will be at Birmingham's NEC from 13-16 January 2011 for the AUTOSPORT International Racing Car Show. This annual event is the largest of its kind in Europe and a pre-season must for fans hoping to learn more about what's in store over the upcoming 12 months in motorsport.
For the second consecutive year Superleague Formula will be in attendance ahead of another exciting season that is due to kick off on 16/17 April at Monza in Italy, before continuing its worldwide expansion plans by taking in no less than five flyway rounds, including a return to China.&nbsp;
Superleague's stand this year features the Tottenham Hotspur single seater that helped Craig Dolby finish within two points of the 2010 crown, while the man himself - one of the UK's brightest young prospects - will be signing autographs throughout Saturday and Sunday.
Another of last season's title contenders, Yelmer Buurman, will be in attendance throughout Thursday while fans will also be able to get up close to the championship's bespoke 750bhp V12 engine and AC Milan pit wall perch. There's also an opportunity to learn about BEN, the UK's only charity for those who work, or have worked, in the automotive and related industries, as well as their dependants. &nbsp;&nbsp;]]></description><category/><pubDate>Jan 11, 2011 9:50:46 AM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[New Nokia app puts Superleague Formula in the palm of your hand]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2010/new-nokia-app-puts-superleague-formula-in-the-palm-of-your-hand</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2010/new-nokia-app-puts-superleague-formula-in-the-palm-of-your-hand</guid><description><![CDATA[Superleague Formula by Sonangol's new mobile application allows users to follow every twist and turn of the football-themed series from the palm of their hand. Live race streaming and timing from each round ensures fans won't ever miss a moment of drama from the world's most exciting single seater championship, wherever they are in the world.And when the racing's done with, there's still plenty of multimedia content to keep you entertained, with the best videos and images, as well as info on the championship's teams and circuits instantly available at your fingertips.  The free app, available from Nokia's Ovi Store, is currently compatible with the company's N8 and C7 models, but will be available on other Symbian^3-configured devices in the near future. Click here to get the app.]]></description><category/><pubDate>Dec 9, 2010 5:10:37 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Atech Reid GP set for Monteblanco test]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2010/atech-reid-gp-set-for-monteblanco-test</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2010/atech-reid-gp-set-for-monteblanco-test</guid><description><![CDATA[Leading Superleague Formula by Sonangol team Atech Reid GP will undertake a pre-season test at Circuito Monteblanco on Thursday and Friday (9 and 10 December) as they assess possible drivers for the 2011 season. The Welsh-based squad, which ran cars for several clubs in the football-themed series this year, will field both the AC Milan and Liverpool V12-powered 750bhp machines at the circuit in Southern Spain, running Czech star Filip Salaquarda and British racer Oliver Oakes.
The 26-year-old Salaquarda is one of the Czech Republic's brightest single-seater stars and would be the first driver from his country to race in Superleague Formula should he make the grid in 2011. This year, he raced in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series, scoring two pole positions and a pair of podium finishes, and also has experience racing in International Formula Master and the F3 Euro Series.
The 23-year-old Oakes was a World Champion in karting before graduating to single-seaters in 2005. The following year he won his first-ever race in the Formula BMW UK Series on his way to sixth in the final standings. Oakes then moved on to compete in the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup and the British F3 International Series, and last season raced with Atech Reid's sister squad in the new GP3 Series.
Atech Reid enjoyed a strong season in 2010 and is looking to build on that success next year. As well as helping Yelmer Buurman (AC Milan) to fifth in the final Superleague Formula standings, the team won 11 races in total with Buurman, Alvaro Parente (FC Porto), Frederic Vervisch (Liverpool FC), Earl Bamber (PSV Eindhoven / FC Porto) and Narain Karthikeyan (PSV Eindhoven). The squad's drivers also won an impressive total of &euro;790,000 in prize money during the campaign.
Anthony Reid, Atech Reid GP Team Principal: "After our successful first year campaign in the Superleague Formula Championship in 2010, Atech Reid GP is looking at running between two and four cars next year. Many drivers, including Oliver and Filip, have already shown an interest."]]></description><category/><pubDate>Dec 9, 2010 11:43:11 AM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[The year that was: Part 4]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2010/the-year-that-was-part-4</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2010/the-year-that-was-part-4</guid><description><![CDATA[Just three rounds remained of Superleague Formula 2010 when the entire championship packed its bags and headed east for the Chinese double header in early October, before travelling back to motorsport's traditional European heartland for the season finale at Navarra in Spain. And, with the same four drivers - Davide Rigon, Craig Dolby, Max Wissel and Yelmer Buurman - plus Ben Hanley subbing for the injured Chris van der Drift, still in title contention, what a final quarter it would turn out to be. Round 10, Ordos: Wissel stakes his claimWith just one win to his name all season prior to Ordos, Wissel's (FC Basel) title challenge owed as much to consistency as it did speed. And so it proved again in Inner Mongolia where 91 points plundered over one weekend helped him close to within just seven of the championship lead. Hanley, back in the Olympiacos car after missing Portimao, scooped his maiden victory from pole position after three of the leading contenders were eliminated before the lights even went out. Wissel finished a close second ahead of Earl Bamber (FC Porto), who originally travelled to China expecting to commentate, while Dolby (Tottenham Hotspur) clawed back a couple of precious points from championship leader Rigon (RSC Anderlecht), the pair finishing fourth and fifth. Buurman (AC Milan) was sixth.   Race two produced some of the best action of the season. Andy Soucek (Flamengo) blew his chance of a first victory after he spun away the lead and gifted Frederic Vervisch (Liverpool FC) his maiden series triumph. The stars of the show were Wissel and Hanley however, both drivers carving their way through from the tail of the reverse grid to finish second and fourth respectively.Buurman and Rigon finished seventh and eighth while Dolby recovered from a spin in avoidance of Adrian Valles (Sporting Lisbon) to end up 10th.Hanley might have been one of the weekend's brightest stars, but blotted his copybook in the worst possible fashion in the Super Final. Starting second, he rammed into the back of &lsquo;team-mate' Wissel leaving the pair beached in the turn one gravel. That at least paved the way for perhaps the greatest race in series history, featuring Bamber, Buurman and Franck Perera (Bordeaux). All three swapped places repeatedly over the next five laps until Perera eventually took the chequered flag, only to then be stripped of his win post-race thanks to a start line infringement.That handed Bamber a fairytale first victory despite needing to beg, steal and borrow gloves, overalls, boots and helmet from fellow drivers! Perera was classified second ahead of Rigon and Buurman, who dropped back with a slow puncture.
Round 11, Beijing: Dolby's return to form goes unrewarded With the penultimate round of the season designated a non-points event, a number of the title protagonists opted to avoid driving on the limit in the hope of preserving their cars around Beijing's unforgiving city streets.Not so Dolby who, despite having never raced on a road course before, took to it like a duck to water. &nbsp;Victory in race one was his first since the Silverstone Super Final at the season's opening round, and he tiptoed his way through the rain of race two on his way to eighth from the tail of the field.Buurman was the only other of this year's championship contenders to push hard on his way to seventh and third, while Hanley, Wissel and Rigon all recorded DNFs.&nbsp;Race two in fact provided one of the encounters of the season thanks to the treacherous mix of smog, fading light and rain. Although it started dry, the subsequent wet weather made for a fascinating race eventually won by Parente, despite the Portuguese causing a race stoppage, before the action resumed for a final five-minute sprint.&nbsp;With the conditions closing in, a decision was made not to run the Super Final and instead award prize money to the top six &lsquo;points' scorers in that order. Incredibly that meant, for the second round running, Bamber, who'd pushed Parente all the way in race two, scooped the &euro;100,000 cheque ahead of Dolby, Vervisch and Buurman. Round 12, Navarra: Rigon at the lastAnd so five men arrived at the Spanish season finale with a mathematical chance of snatching the title. Wissel's excellent return to form at Ordos had seen him close to within just seven of Rigon's lead, while both Dolby and Hanley sat 19 points adrift of the Italian. Buurman's difficult second half to the campaign ensured he started 44 behind with a maximum 106 still up for grabs.Any thoughts that pressure might get the better of Rigon proved unfounded during qualifying as he swept to pole position ahead of John Martin (Beijing Guoan). Buurman and Dolby were also in contention starting third and fifth, but there was trouble for both Hanley and Wissel who could only muster 11th and 13th respectively.Martin's electric getaway helped him overhaul Rigon at the start of Sunday's opening race before the Australian sprinted clear for his fifth win of the season. That suited Rigon just fine though who maintained second to the finish ahead of Dolby, the Englishman battling through to third.Wissel's epic start helped him recover to take sixth while Hanley's charge was halted when he picked up a drive-through penalty for cutting the pit lane exit line. Unlike his four rivals though, Buurman's championship hopes ended in race one where a set of poor tyres was blamed for his lacklustre seventh place.  With a 24-point advantage, Rigon's championship lead was a healthy one ahead of the day's second race. But what was to unfold would, even by Superleague Formula standards, re-write the rule book on excitement!Realistically Rigon needed a non-finish for his rivals to have any chance and that very nearly happened after 10 minutes when he was tipped into a spin by Martin. But with his Anderlecht machine stalled, the Italian had the presence of mind to bump start the car back down the slope and re-join. The Safety Car appearing on the same lap then helped him re-catch the pack, while the lengthy delay would also play into his hands as it left Dolby - the only man realistically now capable of challenging after problems hit both Hanley and Wissel - just 15 minutes to improve his position.But that he duly did, making up spots in the pits and on-track before the final lap when one last move on Maxi Cortes (AS Roma) for fourth at least gave him a mathematical chance in the weekend-ending, and indeed season-closing, dash-for-cash.  And so to the Super Final, where the maths was simple. Just four points separated the pair meaning Dolby had to win and Rigon come sixth for the Italian to lose the championship at the last.For the first three laps it looked as though the impossible could become reality. Dolby's better start helped him leapfrog Martin while behind Parente was battling hard to relieve Rigon of fifth.On lap four though the momentum swung back the other way thanks to Martin re-taking the lead and Perera yielding to Rigon, allowing the Italian to take a second title in three years by just two points.Dolby, and Wissel for that matter, therefore finished in the same positions as 12 months ago with Olympiacos rebounding well from Chris van der Drift's Brands Hatch horror crash to claim a satisfactory fourth. Buurman meanwhile was left to rue what might have been, the championship leader at half time eventually finishing fifth. Final 2010 points table:Davide Rigon (AND):	 699 pointsCraig Dolby (TOT):	 697Max Wissel (BAS):	 667Chris van der Drift / Ben Hanley / Neel Jani (OLY):	653Yelmer Buurman (ACM): 					631]]></description><category/><pubDate>Dec 2, 2010 12:39:44 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[The year that was: Part 3]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2010/the-year-that-was-part-3</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2010/the-year-that-was-part-3</guid><description><![CDATA[At the half way stage of the 2010 title race, five drivers remained firmly in championship contention. Yelmer Buurman's (AC Milan) exploits over the previous two rounds had seen him overhaul Craig Dolby's (Tottenham) imposing lead, while Davide Rigon (RSC Anderlecht), Max Wissel (FC Basel) and Chris van der Drift (Olympiacos) also remained a threat. Round 7, Brands Hatch: Crash halts van der Drift's assault Britain's second Superleague Formula round would mark the end of one championship contender's 2010 title charge. That van der Drift's horrific accident didn't have even greater consequences though remains a miracle.The race two crash which launched his car over Julien Jousse's (AS Roma) right rear tyre and into the Pilgrims Drop Bridge was much more violent than any the series has experienced in its three year history. Fortunately, the car's strength ensured van der Drift escaped with his life, although he would not be back behind the wheel until the final round.Saturday saw Marcos Martinez (Sevilla) upset the form book with pole position despite having never raced at the former grand prix venue. Unfortunately for the Spaniard, John Martin (Beijing Guoan) is something of an old hand around Brands and, having assumed the lead at turn one, he duly disappeared for his second win of 2010.After his disastrous time at Zolder, Dolby re-took the championship top spot with second ahead of Andy Soucek (Sporting Lisbon) and erstwhile points leader Buurman. Wissel recorded another consistent finish in sixth, one place ahead of van der Drift, while Rigon could only manage 13th. Van der Drift's huge shunt then brought race two to a premature end, although no one could come close to denying Narain Karthikeyan (PSV Eindhoven) his first series win. Rigon rescued his weekend by finishing second ahead of Duncan Tappy (Flamengo), while van der Drift was classified sixth.&nbsp;Wissel, Buurman and Dolby finished line astern 11th to 13th.Tappy's consistency gave him pole for the Super Final only for a poor start to drop him back to third, allowing Martin and Rigon through. While the Australian stormed clear at the front, Dolby was trying to make fourth his own when he ran wide at the hairpin, pushed Alvaro Parente (FC Porto) off and allowed Buurman through.       That ensured the Dutchman left Brands Hatch with his championship lead restored, albeit by only two points from Dolby.Round 8, Adria: Rigon rules supreme at homeWhile Rigon set about re-establishing his championship challenge at Adria, Buurman and Dolby's rivalry took on a more personal edge.Not even a slow pit stop could deny the Italian on home soil. The pole-sitter had been clear of Martin before the stops, only to find himself behind the Beijing machine after taking on fresh rubber. Fortunately he had the pace to depose the Australian on track before cruising to victory.Further back, Dolby passed Buurman in the opening laps before the Dutchman tried a lunge back at the first corner, only to break his front wing against the Spurs car's subsequently punctured left rear tyre.With Ben Hanley - subbing for the injured van der Drift at Olympiacos - and Wissel completing the top four, Buurman and Dolby's 11th and 13th places helped bunch up the title race.Their second and fourth places in race two, behind winner Martinez, did at least restore some of their championship advantage, although neither would qualify for the Super Final.Instead, seventh, eighth and tenth helped the other leading contenders make the five-lap dash-for cash where Rigon held off Wissel and Hanley to scoop &euro;100,000 and a second win of the weekend.Round 9, Portimao: All change at the topWith his title challenge fully ignited at Adria, Rigon would leave Portugal with the championship lead for the first time in 2010 after difficult weekends for both Buurman and Dolby, while a victory for Olympiacos and solid effort from Wissel kept things tight at the top.Martin once again proved a fly in the championship ointment, leading from lights to flag in the opener ahead of Rigon and Parente. Dolby salvaged fifth after a costly spin while chasing Buurman, whose race was compromised thanks to a dubious drive-through penalty for cutting the circuit too often. Wissel finished 10th.Olympiacos stand-in Neel Jani had a forgettable opening race, finishing down in 14th, but made up for it by winning the second in dominant fashion to keep the Greek side in contention. Tristan Gommendy (Olympique Lyonnais) and Robert Doornbos (Corinthians) completed the podium.While Wissel and Rigon kept the score board ticking over with fourth and ninth, the championship's top two both suffered disasters. Another quick getaway initially helped Dolby make inroads, before knocking his front wing off at the first corner and finishing 13th.Worse luck would befall Buurman though whose race was ended early with a gearbox problem.Frederic Vervisch (Liverpool FC) won the Super Final on only his second weekend in the series after a thrilling battle with Rigon, whose five points moved him further clear at the top of the league, and Martin. Wissel kept himself in contention with fourth.Two strong rounds had now catapulted Rigon from outsider to championship leader by 14 points from Dolby. Buurman's depressing weekend helped him drop from first to fourth behind Wissel, while the combination of Hanley and Jani had also kept Olympiacos in the thick of the action.So, with less than a victory now separating the top five, Superleague Formula's first races in China would prove crucial in deciding the destination of the 2010 crown.Championship table after round 9:Davide Rigon (AND):	 576 pointsCraig Dolby (TOT):	 562Max Wissel (BAS):	 537Yelmer Buurman (ACM):	 533Chris van der Drift / Ben Hanley / Neel Jani (OLY):	528]]></description><category/><pubDate>Dec 2, 2010 12:29:00 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[The year that was: Part 2]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2010/the-year-that-was-part-2</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2010/the-year-that-was-part-2</guid><description><![CDATA[With three rounds gone, Craig Dolby (Tottenham) was sitting pretty at the top of the Superleague Formula standings, 54 points clear of Yelmer Buurman (AC Milan). By half distance however, the title race would look very different. Round 4, Jarama: Fun in the sun
John Martin took his first pole position of the season at Jarama to ruffle the feathers of the four championship contenders lining up all around him. That was with the exception of Davide Rigon (Anderlecht) though who could manage no better than 15th.
With Dolby starting eighth, front row sitter Buurman seized his chance to cut the championship gap by finishing second despite a fierce battle with Martin throughout. At one stage it looked as though the Dutchman might pass, only for the door to be slammed shut at turn one.
Chris van der Drift (Olympiacos) again starred to come home third, ahead of Max Wissel (FC Basel) and Dolby who worked his way through to fifth. Rigon was tenth.
Race two saw a maiden win for Franck Montagny (Bordeaux) who caught and passed Julien Jousse (AS Roma) in the closing laps. Once again though it was Dolby who stormed through the field to claim the final podium spot ahead of James Walker, who recorded defending champions Liverpool's best result to date, and Robert Doornbos (Corinthians).
Rigon took sixth and Wissel seventh with Buurman and van der Drift 10th and 12th. The race will be best remembered though for Maria de Villota's bizarre crash with Sebastien Bourdais (Olympique Lyonnais) which ended both drivers' day early.
Only Rigon's poor weekend prevented all five title protagonists from making the Super Final. Dolby's top five double ensured he started from pole, but again any hope of the &euro;100,000 jackpot was lost when he out-braked himself into turn one and remained beached in the gravel.
Wissel and Jousse were also briefly in the kitty litter which allowed van der Drift to take the lead and ultimately a first Super Final win. Martin capped his excellent weekend with second ahead of Buurman, while Wissel recovered to take fourth. Round 5, Nurburgring: Van der Drift cashes in
Van der Drift cashed a second cheque for &euro;100,000 in less than a week at the Nurburgring, while Buurman reduced his championship arrears to Dolby who missed out on his first Super Final of the season.
It was Jousse who struck first with pole position on Saturday from Doornbos. Dolby meanwhile started dead last.
Not that it mattered much come race day. Second row pairing Buurman and Rigon charged through on the run down to turn one before bolting into the distance, the Dutchman up from fourth to lead at the end of lap one.
There he would stay until the chequered flag where a dominant third victory of the season awaited. Rigon was next up ahead of van der Drift, Wissel improved four places to eighth, and Dolby saved his bacon with 10th. While none of the title protagonists featured on the podium, race two produced a fantastic battle between Alvaro Parente (FC Porto) and Montagny who hounded the Portuguese throughout their second stints to no avail.
Tristan Gommendy (Galatasaray) completed the podium ahead of de Villota who put up a spirited defence against Dolby to score her best ever Superleague Formula result in fourth. With his tyres worn from the repeated attacks, Dolby was subsequently powerless to avoid slipping back into Wissel's clutches and eventually finished sixth.
Milan, Olympiacos and Anderlecht all secured their Super Final places with eighth, 11th and 12th.&nbsp;And it was the fast-starting van der Drift who again showed his rivals a clean pair of heels over the five laps to score a second dash-for-cash win in seven days. Rigon, Buurman and Wissel kept the pressure on Dolby by completing the top four.
Round 6, Zolder: Buurman hits the front
Superleague Formula left Zolder with its title fight finely poised after Dolby's disastrous weekend allowed Buurman to claim the championship lead.
It all began well enough on Saturday when the Briton out-qualified his closest challenger, the pair lining up sixth and seventh behind pole sitter van der Drift and fellow title protagonists Rigon  and Wissel, who were second and third.
Indeed as the lights went out he was up to fourth, only for Buurman to produce one of the moves of the season at the hairpin to demote Dolby to fifth. Up front, van der Drift's rich vein of form was confirmed with a fourth win of 2010. Rigon and Doornbos completed the podium while Wissel slipped to seventh.
Dolby though will probably look back on the opening seconds of race two as those that ultimately cost him the crown.
As the pack floored the throttle at the start, Marcos Martinez was spat into the path of the Spurs car which had no time to react. His front wing lodged under the front wheels, Dolby had little control over his car tobogganing into the pit straight wall, the force of which also damaged his wrist.
Martinez' adventure wasn't over though, for his Sevilla car - bereft of a rear wing and downforce - arrived at the turn one braking zone too fast and collided with Doornbos who was sent rolling into retirement.
With Dolby's afternoon done, Buurman began to pick his way through the field and eventually finished fifth behind Wissel.
Up front, Jousse scored his first win of the season after almost hitting second placed Duncan Tappy (Flamengo), whose quick reactions saved them both, while Gommendy claimed third. Van der Drift and Rigon also made the Super Final thanks to eighth and ninth respectively.
Rigon's perfect start from third on the grid helped him take the lead at the first corner before powering away to victory over van der Drift. Jousse was third while Buurman's two points for fifth helped him pull eight clear of Dolby at the top of the standings. Wissel finished sixth.
Having worked hard over the first five rounds, Dolby's comfortable championship lead had been eroded in one weekend by Buurman who travelled to Brands Hatch at the beginning of August eight points clear of the Englishman. And with Rigon, Wissel and van der Drift all just over a victory away from the top spot, the second half of 2010 couldn't have been better poised.
Championship table after round 6:
Yelmer Buurman (ACM):	 410 pointsCraig Dolby (TOT):	 402	Davide Rigon (AND):	 365Max Wissel (BAS):	 360Chris van der Drift:	 351]]></description><category/><pubDate>Dec 2, 2010 12:15:10 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[The year that was: Part 1]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2010/the-year-that-was-part-1</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2010/the-year-that-was-part-1</guid><description><![CDATA[As the end of 2010 fast approaches, we take a trip down memory lane and remind ourselves what made this season's Superleague Formula campaign such a classic, when five clubs fought tooth and nail for the crown until the final round. Round 1, Silverstone: Dolby dominates
If ever there was a gauntlet thrown down by a driver for the campaign ahead, it was the one Craig Dolby emphatically delivered at the home of British motorsport on April 4.On home turf and in tricky conditions the Tottenham driver was unstoppable throughout race one, charging from fourth on the grid to lead by turn two, before disappearing into the distance to win comfortably from Yelmer Buurman (AC Milan) and Duncan Tappy (Flamengo).
Race two was again all about Dolby, who stormed through from 17th on the reverse grid to fourth. Up front meanwhile Sebastien Bourdais (Olympique Lyonnais) demonstrated why he had been tipped as favourite for the title with victory, ahead of impressive rookie Chris van der Drift (Olympiacos) and John Martin (Atletico Madrid).
Dolby completed his Silverstone rout in the Super Final where a memorable event was capped with victory, &euro;100,000 and a record weekend points tally of 92. Max Wissel (FC Basel) began his ultra-consistent season with second while van der Drift scooped &euro;50,000 on debut in third.
For eventual champion Davide Rigon, ninth and 10th place finishes would characterise his worst round of the season. But better days were just around the corner.
Round 2, Assen: Rigon to the fore
There was no stopping the Anderlecht driver at Assen where he returned to the sort of form that helped clinch the 2008 title.
Pole position by a mighty half second kicked things off nicely on Saturday before he dominated the opening race to top a podium completed by Franck Perera (Flamengo) and Wissel.
Van der Drift once again belied his lack of experience in the series to score a maiden victory in race two, albeit after a DNF in the opener helped improve his grid position no end. Dolby was up to his usual tricks again, adding second to his seventh in race one following another overtaking masterclass, while Franck Montagny (Bordeaux) sealed third.Rigon's 10th place was enough to give him second on the Super Final grid behind Dolby. The Spurs driver was soon relieved of another potential &euro;100,000 though after a poor start allowed the Italian and, briefly, Buurman past.
While Rigon pulled clear, Dolby and Buurman continued their fierce battle for second which eventually went the way of the Englishman. Buurman added third to his earlier fifth and seventh positions, with Wissel claiming &euro;15,000 for fifth after finishing race two 13th.
Round 3, Magny-Cours: Double top for Buurman
This time it was Buurman's turn to collect two victories in a single weekend, although another impressive round from Dolby helped keep him well clear at the top of the standings.
The pair continued their battle from the previous round in race one, Dolby initially jumping Buurman at the start to lead the opening five minutes before Buurman hit back and opened up an unassailable advantage.
Van der Drift survived hefty first corner contact with Wissel, whose race was ended there and then, to claim third while Rigon could only manage seventh.Wissel's early retirement gave him pole for the second race, which the German duly converted into a dominant victory. The crash-strewn encounter featured a number of incidents, but none more dramatic than Bourdais' airborne clash with fellow Frenchmen Perera and Montagny.
The resulting Safety Car period caused havoc in the pits as each team rushed their cars in with the hope of maintaining track position. Julien Jousse (AC Roma) eventually came out on top to score his best result of the season in second, with Rigon completing the rostrum. Dolby and Buurman's battling fourth and seventh places gave them the front row for the Super Final, only for the Briton to suffer a poor start and slip back behind Rigon, who would go on to finish second.
Wissel took third while Dolby could only manage sixth thanks to a suspected wheel problem. With the season's opening quarter done and dusted, Dolby stood head and shoulders above his rivals in the championship standings, 54 points clear of Buurman with Rigon, Wissel and van der Drift completing the top five.
How the tide would turn over the next three rounds...
Championship table after round 3:Craig Dolby (TOT):	 250 pointsYelmer Buurman (ACM):	 196Davide Rigon (AND):	 183Max Wissel (BAS):	 174Chris van der Drift:	 151]]></description><category/><pubDate>Dec 2, 2010 12:09:00 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[SF set for further global expansion in 2011]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2010/sf-set-for-further-global-expansion-in-2011</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2010/sf-set-for-further-global-expansion-in-2011</guid><description><![CDATA[Superleague Formula by Sonangol is planning further global expansion in 2011 and has targeted races in the Middle East, Australia and the Americas. 2010 saw the football-themed series hold events outside Europe for the first time with a double-header in China and, after the success of the races at the Ordos International Circuit and Beijing International Street Circuit, further flyaway rounds are planned for Superleague Formula's fourth season.
While a return to China for at least two races seems certain, talks are also being held with race promoters and circuits elsewhere in Asia, while new markets are also being targeted.
Several venues in Australia have already expressed their interest in bringing Superleague Formula to the Southern Hemisphere, while Brazil, which boasts two football clubs - Corinthians and Flamengo - in the series, is just one of several countries in South and Central America eager to see the series' V12-powered, 750bhp single-seater cars racing on their soil. Talks have also been held with at least one circuit in the USA.
Meanwhile, Superleague Formula remains committed to entertaining race fans in the motorsport heartland of Europe. Some of the continent's most iconic circuits will appear on next year's 12-round calendar when it is announced shortly, while each race weekend is also set to include more street shows and off-track entertainment in 2011.
Robin Webb, Competitions Director, Superleague Formula: "2010 was a hugely successful season for Superleague Formula. Not only did we expand our calendar to 12 rounds, but we also broke new ground with our hugely successful trips to two brand new venues in China. In addition the title race could hardly have been more exciting, going down to the last of 36 races. We want to build on that success for next season and the huge amount of interest we've received from all four corners of the globe points to another superb year."]]></description><category/><pubDate>Dec 1, 2010 3:51:28 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[5 million euro prize fund to stay in 2011]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2010/5-million-euro-prize-fund-to-stay-in-2011</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2010/5-million-euro-prize-fund-to-stay-in-2011</guid><description><![CDATA[Superleague Formula by Sonangol will continue to boast one of the biggest prize funds in world motorsport next season having handed out an incredible &euro;5,110,000 during a fascinating 2010 campaign. Drivers will again battle for &euro;280,000 at each of the series' 12 events in 2011 with &euro;100,000 up-for-grabs for the winner of the five-lap dash-for-cash Super Final in which the weekend's top six drivers all earn prize money.
A further &euro;1,750,000 will again lie in wait for the top three drivers in the final league table, the champion taking home &euro;1,000,000, runner-up netting &euro;500,000 and third placed driver bagging a healthy &euro;250,000 cheque.
The continued prize fund reinforces Superleague Formula's position as one of the only championships in world motorsport where drivers can earn prize money based solely on their on-track performance.
In 2010 champion Davide Rigon (RSC Anderlecht) topped the earnings table, the Italian supplementing his &euro;1,000,000 prize for winning the title with a further &euro;680,000 thanks to three victories and six other appearances in Super Finals.
Craig Dolby (Tottenham Hotspur) was next up, his cash pot reaching a massive &euro;860,000 after finishing second in the final standings, while third place Max Wissel (FC Basel) won a cool &euro;575,000 after adding his end-of-season prize to money to that earned in nine Super Final outings.
Of those not to finish in the top three overall, John Martin (Beijing Guoan) won the most cash from Super Final appearances alone. The Australian driver, who was out of title contention early on but then drove brilliantly in the second half of the season, won two Super Finals and collected a total prize fund of &euro;365,000, just &euro;30,000 more than Yelmer Buurman (AC Milan) whose season started well but ended with a string of bad luck.
Two young New Zealanders also cashed-in despite neither of them completing a full season.
Chris van der Drift (Olympiacos) had already amassed &euro;325,000 of prize money in his rookie year before his massive accident at Brands Hatch, while Earl Bamber stepped from the commentary box to the race seat in China to win &euro;200,000 in just seven days driving for FC Porto and PSV Eindhoven.
The other two drivers to see their prize funds reach six figures also didn't take part in the full season and could threaten to top the list if they return in 2011.
Frederic Vervisch (Liverpool) made an immediate impression on debut in Adria and the Belgian racer ended the year with &euro;160,000 banked, helped in no small part by a brilliant Super Final win on old tyres in Portimao.
Frenchman Franck Perera started the season with Brazilian club Flamengo but also represented Lyon and Bordeaux on his way to &euro;125,000. In total, 19 drivers shared the prize money in 2010.
Robin Webb, Competitions Director, Superleague Formula: "These days it's becoming increasingly difficult for talented drivers to earn money racing in single-seaters - but Superleague Formula now gives them that opportunity. Our cars are all equal so each driver wins money based solely on their own performances and the hard work they put in with their teams. We attracted some of the best professional racing drivers in the world this year and with the prize fund maintained for next season, we're expecting our best-ever grid in 2011."]]></description><category/><pubDate>Dec 1, 2010 3:23:06 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[How the returning Rigon reclaimed his crown]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2010/how-the-returning-rigon-reclaimed-his-crown</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2010/how-the-returning-rigon-reclaimed-his-crown</guid><description><![CDATA[After a disappointing part-season in 2009, Davide Rigon returned to Superleague Formula by Sonangol a determined man at the beginning of this year. Five wins from 12 rounds, 699 points and &euro;1.6million later, the Italian was champion for a second time.   Unlike in 2008 though, he was pushed all the way by four drivers equally eager to secure their first Superleague Formula titles. Of those, Tottenham's Craig Dolby would come closest to denying Rigon during a classic championship showdown at Navarra.
A second title in three years must have seemed a distant hope at the Silverstone season curtain raiser however when, after suffering a dreadful qualifying session to line up only 16th, the RSC Anderlecht driver fought his way through to finish 10th and ninth in what would collectively prove his worst weekend of the campaign.
Indeed, the turnaround in fortune was clear for all to see at the following round in Assen where Rigon returned to winning ways, first converting pole position into a dominant race one victory and then scooping  &euro;100,000 in the five-lap, six-man weekend-ending Super Final.
A further two podiums at Magny-Cours, including second place in the Super Final, helped establish Rigon in the championship's top three behind Dolby - very much the star of the opening three rounds - and Yelmer Buurman (AC Milan) as the series prepared for its second quarter.
As at Silverstone, Jarama proved a testing weekend in which the Italian was fortunate to come away with 10th and sixth place finishes. At that stage Rigon found himself a massive 97 points adrift of Dolby, whose combination of speed and consistency had helped him build a commanding lead.
But although none of the championship contenders yet knew it, events post-Jarama would see the title begin to swing inexorably towards Rigon.
Dolby's downfall began just a week later at the Nurburgring where an engine problem condemned him to the back row. And despite a gutsy fight back, Rigon's runners-up spots in both the opener and Super Final helped him trim the gap.
Much more significant would be Dolby's retirement at the start of the second race at Zolder after being caught up in another incident. Rigon meanwhile chose a good time to rack up more solid points courtesy of a second, ninth and timely Super Final victory to reduce his arrears to just 45 behind new leader Buurman.
And after cutting his deficit still further by salvaging a potentially difficult weekend at Brands Hatch with two more podiums, Rigon was primed to pounce on home soil at Adria should his title rivals slip up.
Sure enough, that's exactly what happened when Buurman compromised both his and Dolby's weekends by clipping the back of the Englishman during an opening race dominated by none other than Rigon. Having briefly led the standings for the first time in 2010 after the opener, he ended the round just 12 adrift of Dolby despite also grabbing glory in the Super Final.
Buoyed by the sudden momentum shift, Rigon turned up the heat further next time out at Portimao where a pair of second places, including a fantastic Super Final scrap with Frederic Vervisch (Liverpool FC) and John Martin (Beijing Guoan), gave him the championship lead heading into the year's final quarter.
With the second of China's two flyaway events designated a non-championship round, Rigon knew that a solid result during the opening weekend in Ordos would leave him in pole position for the title at the Navarra finale.
And although his fifth, eighth and third positions looked like a strong enough result, especially given Dolby's race one tribulations, the performance of fellow title contenders Ben Hanley (Olympiacos) and, in particular Max Wissel (FC Basel), ensured the championship remained finely poised.
That no points were awarded in Beijing just seven days later admittedly proved a blessing for Rigon who recorded his first two non-finishes of the season, while Dolby went on to score a victory.
With Superleague Formula's Asian adventure at an end, all thoughts turned to the championship showdown at Navarra. Wissel, whose consistency had ensured he was never far off the championship pace throughout the year, lined up just seven points behind Rigon with Dolby and Hanley both sharing a 19-point deficit. Buurman's dreadfully unlucky second half to the campaign meanwhile meant he only harboured an outside chance.
Rigon took a giant step towards the title with pole position on Saturday, before settling for second come Sunday's race. That was still enough to extend his championship lead though thanks to Dolby's third, Wissel's sixth, Buurman's seventh and Hanley's 12th.
But having all-but sealed the crown, disaster very nearly struck in race two when Martin span the Anderlecht car around. Stalled, Rigon calmly rolled backwards in an effort to bump start the engine. Incredibly, it fired.
Having stared defeat in the face, the Italian was back in the hunt, although Dolby's overtaking cameo helped delay the destination of this year's title until the Super Final.
Just four points separated the pair as they lined up for the most important five laps of each man's careers, Rigon aware that fifth or better would guarantee him the title. For his part, Dolby had to win, which for the first three laps at least looked a distinct possibility after jumping Martin at the start.
Further back, Rigon eventually proved too strong for Franck Perera (Bordeaux), the Frenchman relinquishing fourth place to give Rigon the crown by just two points after Martin re-passed Dolby late on.
The Super Final proved a fitting end to a fantastically exciting season, one in which Rigon's pace and guile eventually prevailed. Consistency also proved a defining factor post-Silverstone, a fact illustrated perfectly by the &euro;680,000, plundered from nine of 12 Super Finals, to go with his &euro;1million prize for winning the title.]]></description><category/><pubDate>Dec 1, 2010 4:15:37 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Autosport.com: Force India to test Buurman]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2010/autosport-com-force-india-to-test-buurman</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2010/autosport-com-force-india-to-test-buurman</guid><description><![CDATA[Autosport.com is reporting that Yelmer Buurman&rsquo;s stellar Superleague Formula campaign has helped earn the AC Milan star a test with Force India at the end of this season. 
The Dutchman was one of the championship&rsquo;s top performers in 2010 and a title contender up until the final round, having taken three victories and a further five podium finishes.
He was the only man capable of battling with runaway early leader Craig Dolby in the opening rounds, before grabbing the championship lead for the first time at Zolder. But a string of poor results, largely down to poor luck, later in the year helped derail his championship hopes.
Indeed, Buurman has proven to be one of Superleague Formula&rsquo;s fastest and most consistent performers in its three year history after finishing second, fourth and fifth overall.
Force India will run the 23-year-old at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi following the championship&rsquo;s final round this weekend.
]]></description><category/><pubDate>Nov 10, 2010 3:39:40 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[RSC Anderlecht welcome home their returning hero Rigon]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2010/rsc-anderlecht-welcome-home-their-returning-hero-rigon</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2010/rsc-anderlecht-welcome-home-their-returning-hero-rigon</guid><description><![CDATA[Newly-crowned Superleague Formula by Sonangol champion Davide Rigon gave RSC Anderlecht fans something to shout about on Sunday when he paraded the series trophy around the Constant Vanden Stock Stadium. 
Rigon won a second title in dramatic fashion for the Belgian club at the Navarra season finale last month, narrowly defeating Craig Dolby (Tottenham Hotspur) after their year-long battle, which also included three other sides, was only decided on the Super Final&rsquo;s last lap.
The Italian was Anderlecht&rsquo;s guest of honour on Sunday for the home side&rsquo;s domestic clash with Club Bruges, one of the biggest and most anticipated fixtures in Belgian football.
&ldquo;It was fantastic that my first RSC Anderlecht match was against their great rivals Club Bruges,&rdquo; said Rigon. &ldquo;The atmosphere was incredible and the stadium packed with fans. Clearly it meant a lot. I met the club&rsquo;s chairman Roger Vanden Stock, the players and paraded the championship trophy around the ground, which everyone really enjoyed.
&ldquo;This weekend I started to realise and appreciate fully what winning a second title means, because I&rsquo;ve been on such a high since Navarra! The team worked so hard throughout the season. To win the Superleague Formula title is such an incredible achievement.&rdquo;
Anderlecht chairmanRoger Vanden Stock&nbsp;paid tribute to Rigon&rsquo;s consistency throughout the campaign.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to personally congratulate Davide for a fantastic season and for winning Anderlecht&rsquo;s first Superleague Formula championship, which continues the club&rsquo;s incredible run of success and silverware,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Seeing Anderlecht&rsquo;s colours out front and ahead of the world&rsquo;s top football teams race after race was particularly pleasing! Finishing first, fourth and sixth in the last three seasons proves that Anderlecht, just as in Belgian football, has become the team to beat in Superleague Formula.&rdquo;
Superleague Formula CEO Alfredo Brisac&nbsp;was also in attendance.
&ldquo;I would like to thank Superleague Formula 2010 champions RSC Anderlecht for inviting us to one of Belgium&rsquo;s biggest games. It&rsquo;s only when you attend matches like this, involving two clubs with such a fierce rivalry, that you can truly appreciate the extreme passion that exists in football. I&rsquo;m sure the RSCA fans will have been equally gripped by Davide&rsquo;s performances this year, especially at the final round in Spain where the tension was unbearable. Congratulations to him and Anderlecht on a fantastic season.&rdquo;
]]></description><category/><pubDate>Nov 10, 2010 3:35:50 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[So what did you think?]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2010/so-what-did-you-think</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2010/so-what-did-you-think</guid><description><![CDATA[By all accounts, Superleague Formula again proved this season why it&rsquo;s the most exciting, pulsating and gripping single seater series in world motorsport. 
With so many breathtaking overtaking moves, talking points, drama and a title race that went to the last lap of the season finale&rsquo;s Super Final, picking out particular moments is an impossible task. So we won&rsquo;t!
Instead, here&rsquo;s just a small selection of comments left by you, the fans, on our Facebook page following the dramatic scenes at Navarra where Davide Rigon held off not one, but four men, over the weekend&rsquo;s three races to clinch a second SF crown in three years and &euro;1,000,000.
&ldquo;Thank you for such a great season! I have huge respect for what the Superleague team do and I hope your good work continues for years to come! I also hope to be able to come to all the British races again next year and look forward to seeing even larger crowds. Well&nbsp;done!&rdquo;David McLennan
&ldquo;Hello fans! I really enjoyed the races and the super final!!! Beautiful cars and sounds!!! Great battles, and burn of John Martin (Beijing)! Congratulations to Davide Rigon and Craig Dolby for the show! See you in 2011, I hope in Navarra!&rdquo;Medhi Casaurang
&ldquo;Superleague Formula are the champions! This is way better than F1.Keep it real.&rdquo;Mark Bowen
&ldquo;Much of the same next season, it&rsquo;s been great.&rdquo;&nbsp;Glenn Lane
&ldquo;It was wonderful this season SF, it was magnificent today&rdquo;&nbsp;Bury Olivier
&ldquo; &lrm;...... Nail biter?? My poor heart couldn&rsquo;t take anymore!&rdquo;Darryl Oakden
&ldquo;Been a good season. Please make sure that the UK has 2 races again next season. I don't care where but went to both races and was very impressed. Do the same again please.&rdquo;&nbsp;Mark Lunnon
&ldquo;Absolutely fantastic racing and fantastic season&hellip; it's just a shame that Beijing wasn't a points scoring race otherwise Craig Dolby would have walked the championship &amp; it would have been well deserved! :-)) 2011 will be Craig's year!&rdquo;&nbsp;Giles MacKay
&ldquo;Without doubt the best single seater series around!&rdquo;Marcel Hundscheid
&ldquo;Fantastic finale! Superleague Formula delivered this season some of the greatest racing I've ever seen!&rdquo;Mathijs Haest
]]></description><category/><pubDate>Nov 10, 2010 3:14:58 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Rigon wins €1,000,000 in breathtaking season-finale]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2010/rigon-wins-1000000-in-breathtaking-season-finale</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2010/rigon-wins-1000000-in-breathtaking-season-finale</guid><description><![CDATA[Davide Rigon (RSC Anderlecht) held off an incredible challenge by Craig Dolby (Tottenham) to clinch the 2010 Superleague Formula by Sonangol title and a cheque for &euro;1,000,000 by just two points in an amazing season-finale at Navarra. 
Despite starting the final two races of the year 24 points behind the Italian, a brilliant charge through the field in race 2 saw Dolby close to within four of Rigon&rsquo;s lead heading into the weekend-ending Super Final where six points were up for grabs.Knowing he had to win, and hope Rigon finished sixth in the five lap dash-for-cash race, Dolby immediately beat John Martin (Beijing Guoan) off the line to take the lead.
While Rigon initially started strongly to go third, he soon slipped behind Esteban Guerrieri (PSV Eindhoven) and then Franck Perera (Bordeaux) before coming under pressure from Alvaro Parente (FC Porto) as his title hopes hung by a thread.
With two laps to go however, Martin fought back to pass Dolby. Rigon then also moved ahead of Perera meaning the Italian crossed the line knowing he&rsquo;d won the title by the narrowest of margins despite Dolby&rsquo;s heroic effort.
Rigon, who won the inaugural Superleague Formula title with Beijing Guoan in 2008, now has a second trophy in his cabinet and leaves Spain &euro;1,000,000 richer, while his total prize money in 2010 is an incredible &euro;1.68 million! For the second year running Dolby finishes second overall winning &euro;500,000 while Max Wissel (FC Basel) pocketed &euro;250,000 for third.
Earlier, Dolby&rsquo;s drive in race 2 was one of the highlights of the season so far as he charged from 16th on the fully-reversed grid to finish fourth, pulling off a succession of stunning overtaking moves along the way, including a last-lap pass on Maxi Cortes (AS Roma), to keep his title hopes alive heading into the Super Final.
The race was interrupted for a lengthy period after a moment of high-drama which saw Wissel&rsquo;s slim title hopes evaporate when he was blocked by Adrian Valles (Sporting Lisbon) who had spun at the final corner. Moments later Rigon was tapped into a spin by Martin at turn 1 as cars scattered when Robert Doornbos (Corinthians) slowed dramatically. Rigon just managed to avoid stalling his engine and keep going, finishing 11th to hold on to his slender points lead heading into the Super Final.
After Valles&rsquo; car was cleared away a fantastic race resumed with Parente taking the win from Guerrieri and Marcos Martinez (Sevilla FC), who led after the stops but dropped back as he struggled for grip following a late shower.
Martin&rsquo;s Super Final win took his season&rsquo;s earnings to over &euro;350,000 as the Australian, who entered the weekend free from the constraints of fighting for the title, continued to shine, winning race 1 and then driving from the back of the 18-car grid to sixth in race 2. Dolby was second, while Guerrieri wrapped up an impressive return to the series in third.
Davide Rigon (RSC Anderlecht):&nbsp;&ldquo;This is unbelievable because it was very difficult to win the title this weekend. I was hit in race 2 by Beijing and the engine turned off. I had to switch it to manual and then put the car in reverse and it just started again. It was a very scary moment! Thank you to RSC Anderlecht, it has been a pleasure to drive for them this year and also thank you so much to the Azerti team. They have supported me all season and given everything. Superleague Formula is a very professional championship and today was a fantastic show for everybody.&rdquo;
Craig Dolby (Tottenham Hotspur):&nbsp;&ldquo;Everyone saw how much this meant to me this weekend. I gave it everything I&rsquo;ve got but it wasn&rsquo;t quite enough. It hurts like mad right now to finish second again. Maybe it will feel better in the morning but it doesn&rsquo;t feel good at the moment. Congratulations to Davide though. It has been a great year for Superleague Formula and I hope I&rsquo;ll be back to win it in 2011.&rdquo;
Max Wissel (FC Basel):&nbsp;&ldquo;We came here to win the championship but it hasn&rsquo;t quite worked out. We were three seconds behind Davide in free practice and although we improved we didn&rsquo;t have the pace to win and we don&rsquo;t know why. However the team did a great job this season. I haven&rsquo;t had a single car failure and I&rsquo;m quite happy with third. I don&rsquo;t think we could have done much differently.&rdquo;
]]></description><category/><pubDate>Nov 10, 2010 3:00:01 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Central Pamplona serves up intriguing qualifying draw]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2010/central-pamplona-serves-up-intriguing-qualifying-draw</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2010/central-pamplona-serves-up-intriguing-qualifying-draw</guid><description><![CDATA[Superleague Formula by Sonangol fans flocked to Pamplona&rsquo;s Plaza Del Castillo on Friday evening to witness an intriguing draw for tomorrow&rsquo;s all-important qualifying session ahead of this weekend&rsquo;s Navarra championship showdown. 
The massed crowds were treated to the brute power of a Superleague Formula single seater at close quarters when the sound of 750 brake horsepower bursting from Frederic Vervisch&rsquo;s Liverpool machine reverberated around the packed square.
There was also time for photos and autographs with the supporters&rsquo; favourite drivers, who took time out before the important final qualifying draw of the season was made on stage.
This season&rsquo;s epic title scrap, which sees five drivers enter the season finale still capable of claiming the 2010 crown and a &euro;1million prize, took another twist when Davide Rigon (RSC Anderlecht), Max Wissel (FC Basel), Ben Hanley (Olympiacos) and Yelmer Buurman (AC Milan) all selected Group A.
Although all four can theoretically progress to the quarter-finals, they will face fierce opposition from the likes of qualifying specialist John Martin (Beijing Guoan), an in-form Franck Perera (Bordeaux), the mercurial Tristan Gommendy (Olympique Lyonnais) and local favourites Marcos Martinez (Sevilla) and Maria de Villota (Atletico Madrid).
His championship rivals&rsquo; potential loss could be Craig Dolby&rsquo;s gain. The only one of the top five to escape the Group of Death, the Tottenham driver will hope to progress from a second half of the draw still containing plenty of talent.
Andy Soucek (Flamengo) for one is desperate to end his season on a high on home turf in Spain after seeing his speed go unrewarded since returning to the series. Frederic Vervisch (Liverpool) will also be a threat while returnees Esteban Guerrieri (PSV Eindhoven) and Chris van der Drift (Galatasaray) &ndash; the latter making his comeback from injuries sustained at Brands Hatch &ndash; could both spring a surprise.
Beijing race two winner Alvaro Parente (FC Porto), the ever dependable Robert Doornbos (Corinthians) as well as Spaniards Adrian Valles (Sporting Lisbon) and Maxi Cortes (AS Roma) complete the group.
Group AMarcos Martinez (Sevilla)Maria De Villota (Atletico Madrid)Davide Rigon (RSC Anderlecht)Max Wissel (FC Basel)Ben Hanley (Olympiacos)Yelmer Buurman (AC Milan)John Martin (Beijing Guoan)Franck Perera (Bordeaux)Tristan Gommendy (Olympique Lyonnais)
Group BCraig Dolby (Tottenham Hotspur)Andy Soucek (Flamengo)Frederic Vervisch (Liverpool)Maxi Cortes (AS Roma)Alvaro Parente (FC Porto)Robert Doornbos (Corinthians)Chris van der Drift (Galatasaray)Adrian Valles (Sporting Lisbon)Esteban Guerrieri (PSV Eindhoven)
]]></description><category/><pubDate>Nov 10, 2010 2:06:05 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Navarra: Five drivers, one Superleague Formula champion]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2010/navarra-five-drivers-one-superleague-formula-champion</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2010/navarra-five-drivers-one-superleague-formula-champion</guid><description><![CDATA[After 16 different winners from 11 rounds across seven months, it all comes down to this: the Superleague Formula by Sonangol season finale in Navarra where one man will walk away the 2010 series champion. 
The only question remaining is who will pick up the &euro;1million winner&rsquo;s cheque? Five drivers travel to the Spanish showdown still in with a chance of this year&rsquo;s crown, the top four of which are separated by just 19 points.
Catch me if you can &ndash; Davide Rigon, RSC Anderlecht (635 points):&nbsp;Experience of winning the series&rsquo; inaugural championship in 2008 should offer Rigon an edge at Navarra. That he&rsquo;s so far cashed nearly double the prize money of his nearest challenger also points to the sort of mistake-free, consistent performances that have helped him recover from a slow start to the season. Silverstone aside, the Italian has enjoyed a fairly trouble-free 2010 campaign but with only a seven-point cushion going into the final three races, even the slightest slip-up could prove costly.
The form man &ndash; Max Wissel, FC Basel (-7 points):&nbsp;No one has been more prolific during the last two championship rounds than Wissel whose staggering 91-point haul at Ordos helped him move to within touching distance of Rigon. That he&rsquo;s been a fixture in all-but two of this year&rsquo;s Super Finals is also testament to his consistency, although it&rsquo;s outright speed he&rsquo;ll need at Navarra if the German is to clinch the title he&rsquo;s been chasing for three years.
Mr Confidence &ndash; Craig Dolby, Tottenham Hotspur (-19 points):&nbsp;Quick out the blocks, Dolby amassed a 64-point advantage over his closest rival at the quarter-distance mark, only for mid-season mishaps to undo the early good work. He was a man reborn around Beijing&rsquo;s city streets though where he was the only one of this season&rsquo;s title contenders to really push the limits on his way to race one victory. Quick to learn new circuits and an eye for the audacious passing manoeuvre make the Briton a serious threat in Navarra.
Quiet but effective &ndash; Ben Hanley, Olympiacos (-19 points):&nbsp;When Chris van der Drift suffered his season-ending accident at Brands Hatch, most assumed the Greek club would slip out of the championship chase. Not a bit of it. In fact, under the guidance of Hanley and Neel Jani, Olympiacos has inched ever-closer to the top spot. And with two podiums and a victory under his belt already, the Briton should pose a significant threat again in Spain.
The outsider &ndash; Yelmer Buurman, AC Milan (-44 points):&nbsp;The only man capable of carrying the fight to Craig Dolby at the start of the year led the standings post-Adria before dreadful luck at both Portimao and Ordos saw him slip 46 points adrift of the summit. Mathematically still in with a chance, the rapid Dutchman needs others to slip up if he&rsquo;s to steal the title at the final whistle.
Aside from this weekend&rsquo;s title fight, a number of familiar faces will return to the paddock in Navarra, including 2009 race winner Esteban Guerrieri who makes a one-off appearance for PSV Eindhoven. Mar&iacute;a de Villota also stages her championship comeback on home turf with Atletico Madrid after recovering from a neck injury, Galatasaray will be in the capable hands of Celso M&iacute;guez, while Julien Jousse is replaced at AS Roma by Maxi Cortes.
Robin Webb, Competitions Director:&nbsp;&ldquo;It&rsquo;s looking quite interesting, isn&rsquo;t it?! Davide is cool, as always, but perhaps he&rsquo;s just started to get some of those little car problems Anderlecht has so far avoided and others have had. You can be sure the team will be pulling the car apart and rebuilding it by hand before Navarra. I think Craig is now back on fire after finding some settings on the car he likes. Maybe he drifted off and has come back. He&rsquo;s clearly good at new places and Navarra will be new for all of us, which might work in his favour. My tip though would be Max. He&rsquo;s got the momentum and is only seven points behind. Having said that there&rsquo;s 106 available so who knows, anything could happen.&rdquo;
Catch the championship showdown from Navarra live on the Superleague Formula website on Sunday 24 October from 12:40, 13:45 and 14:35 local time (GMT +02:00).
]]></description><category/><pubDate>Nov 10, 2010 1:56:42 PM</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Webb tips Superleague for Chinese return]]></title><link>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2010/webb-tips-superleague-for-chinese-return</link><guid>http://www.superleagueformula.com/news/news/2010/webb-tips-superleague-for-chinese-return</guid><description><![CDATA[It would be &ldquo;madness&rdquo; for Superleague Formula by Sonangol not to return to China next season after the country produced two of the most exciting rounds in championship history. 
That&rsquo;s the view of Competitions Director Robin Webb who oversaw the series&rsquo; first ever non-European races at the brand new Ordos circuit in Inner Mongolia, before moving on to the Beijing International Street Circuit the following weekend.
China had it all in terms of drama, excitement and entertainment with Ordos&rsquo; action-packed Super Final &ndash; won by debutant Earl Bamber (FC Porto) &ndash; just reward for the teams&rsquo;, drivers&rsquo; and organisers&rsquo; hard work involved in making the trans-continental trip.
And it&rsquo;s that success which has prompted Webb to hint at the championship&rsquo;s Eastern return in 2011.
&ldquo;They were two very different events at two very different places with two very different cultures!&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m really satisfied with the result. I think it&rsquo;s been incredible and hope it was a good television spectacle because the racing was so exciting. There was always something happening.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m confident we&rsquo;ll be back next year. When you start a partnership like this it would be madness to walk away because you build something together with the promoter, iron out the issues and work on the relationship in years to come. If this is a start, imagine it in five years time.&rdquo;
The championship returns to Europe next weekend for the season finale in Navarra, Spain, where five drivers &ndash; Davide Rigon (RSC Anderlecht), Max Wissel (FC Basel), Craig Dolby (Tottenham Hotspur), Ben Hanley (Olympiacos) and Yelmer Buurman (AC Milan) &ndash; will go head-to-head for the title.
]]></description><category/><pubDate>Nov 10, 2010 1:49:16 PM</pubDate></item></channel></rss>
