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2008 Zolder Superleague Formula round

Superleague Formula round Belgium The 2008 Zolder Superleague Formula round was the third round of the inaugural Superleague Formula championship, with the races taking place on October 5, 2008. Eighteen football teams were represented on the grid, the same number of teams as there was at the Nürburgring. There were three driver changes for this round of the championship: Ryan Dalziel returned to the Rangers F.C. car (replacing James Walker), after missing the previous round due to a clash with his Rolex Sports Car Series commitments at Miller Motorsports Park. Two drivers made their debuts, with Dutchman Paul Meijer replacing Nelson Philippe in the car representing Borussia Dortmund and Belgian Bertrand Baguette replaced Andreas Zuber in the Al Ain car. The meeting saw a first win for Liverpool F.C. and a second win for championship leaders Beijing Guoan. However, the championship lead for the Chinese side was cut to 14 points.

Report

Qualifying

After the random draw which split the eighteen-car field into two groups, the fastest four qualifiers from each progressed into the knockout stages to decide places 1 to 8 on the grid. For the third race in succession, drivers missed out on places in the knockout stages, despite setting a faster time than the fourth-placed qualifier in the slower group. On this occasion, three Group A drivers were eliminated despite setting times up to half a second faster than the fourth-placed qualifier of Group B. The unlucky drivers turned out to be Max Wissel (FC Basel 1893), Ryan Dalziel (Rangers F.C.) and Enrico Toccacelo (A.S. Roma), who were all quicker than Craig Dolby's R.S.C. Anderlecht machine, which made it through from Group B. A.C. Milan and Atlético Madrid topped their respective groups and were expected to face each other in the final, yet both teams were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Anderlecht and Paul Meijer's Borussia Dortmund machine. Sevilla FC and Liverpool F.C. were the other semi-finalists, yet neither would make the final as Meijer and Dolby sealed their places by beating the somewhat more experienced GP2 Series drivers Borja García and Adrián Vallés. In the final, Dolby would not set a time, thus giving Meijer a debut pole, becoming the third different polesitter in three races.

Race 1

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

Race 2

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

Results

Qualifying

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

Group A

Pos.	Team	Driver	Time
1	ITA A.C. Milan	NLD Robert Doornbos	1:17.309
2	ESP Sevilla FC	ESP Borja García	1:17.383
3	ENG Liverpool F.C.	ESP Adrián Vallés	1:17.587
4	DEU Borussia Dortmund	NED Paul Meijer	1:17.733
5	CHE FC Basel 1893	DEU Max Wissel	1:17.798
6	SCO Rangers F.C.	GBR Ryan Dalziel	1:17.839
7	ITA A.S. Roma	ITA Enrico Toccacelo	1:17.949
8	GRE Olympiacos CFP	DEN Kasper Andersen	1:18.812
9	NLD PSV Eindhoven	NLD Yelmer Buurman	1:19.285

Group B

Pos.	Team	Driver	Time
1	ESP Atlético Madrid	ESP Andy Soucek	1:16.969
2	POR F.C. Porto	FRA Tristan Gommendy	1:17.341
3	CHN Beijing Guoan	ITA Davide Rigon	1:18.131
4	BEL R.S.C. Anderlecht	GBR Craig Dolby	1:18.313
5	ENG Tottenham Hotspur	GBR Duncan Tappy	1:18.389
6	TUR Galatasaray S.K.	ITA Alessandro Pier Guidi	1:18.563
7	BRA CR Flamengo	BRA Tuka Rocha	1:18.981
8	BRA SC Corinthians	BRA Antônio Pizzonia	1:19.017
9	ARE Al Ain	BEL Bertrand Baguette	1:19.115

Knockout stages

Grid

Pos.	Team	Driver	Time
1	DEU Borussia Dortmund	NED Paul Meijer	1:20.826
2	BEL R.S.C. Anderlecht	GBR Craig Dolby	no time
3	ENG Liverpool F.C.	ESP Adrián Vallés	1:19.006
4	ESP Sevilla FC	ESP Borja García	1:17.423
5	CHN Beijing Guoan	ITA Davide Rigon	1:17.901
6	POR F.C. Porto	FRA Tristan Gommendy	1:18.657
7	ITA A.C. Milan	NLD Robert Doornbos	1:18.169
8	ESP Atlético Madrid	ESP Andy Soucek	1:17.772
9	ENG Tottenham Hotspur	GBR Duncan Tappy	1:18.389
10	CHE FC Basel 1893	DEU Max Wissel	1:17.798
11	TUR Galatasaray S.K.	ITA Alessandro Pier Guidi	1:18.563
12	SCO Rangers F.C.	GBR Ryan Dalziel	1:17.839
13	BRA CR Flamengo	BRA Tuka Rocha	1:18.981
14	ITA A.S. Roma	ITA Enrico Toccacelo	1:17.949
15	BRA SC Corinthians	BRA Antônio Pizzonia	1:19.017
16	GRE Olympiacos CFP	DEN Kasper Andersen	1:18.812
17	ARE Al Ain	BEL Bertrand Baguette	1:19.115
18	NLD PSV Eindhoven	NLD Yelmer Buurman	1:19.285

Race 1

Pos	No	Team	Driver	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid
21	ENG Liverpool F.C.	ESP Adrián Vallés	24	45:51.628	3	50
8	BEL R.S.C. Anderlecht	GBR Craig Dolby	24	+2.257	2	45
11	DEU Borussia Dortmund	NED Paul Meijer	24	+4.045	1	40
10	CHE FC Basel 1893	DEU Max Wissel	24	+5.928	10	36
15	ESP Atlético Madrid	ESP Andy Soucek	24	+8.201	8	32
16	POR F.C. Porto	FRA Tristan Gommendy	24	+9.111	6	29
5	NLD PSV Eindhoven	NLD Yelmer Buurman	24	+11.435	18	26
17	SCO Rangers F.C.	GBR Ryan Dalziel	24	+11.601	12	23
7	BRA CR Flamengo	BRA Tuka Rocha	24	+12.784	13	20
14	BRA SC Corinthians	BRA Antônio Pizzonia	24	+13.650	15	18
6	ARE Al Ain	BEL Bertrand Baguette	24	+14.482	17	16
19	ENG Tottenham Hotspur	GBR Duncan Tappy	23	+1 Lap	9	14
22	ITA A.S. Roma	ITA Enrico Toccacelo	18	Spin	14	12
4	TUR Galatasaray S.K.	ITA Alessandro Pier Guidi	18	Spin	11	10
9	GRE Olympiacos CFP	DEN Kasper Andersen	17	Spin	16	8
18	ESP Sevilla FC	ESP Borja García	3	Accident	4	7
12	CHN Beijing Guoan	ITA Davide Rigon	1	Accident	5	6
3	ITA A.C. Milan	NLD Robert Doornbos	0	Accident	7	5
Fastest lap: Adrián Vallés (Liverpool F.C.) 1:38.031 (91.526 mph)

Race 2

Pos	No	Team	Driver	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid
12	CHN Beijing Guoan	ITA Davide Rigon	26	47:23.624	2	50
19	ENG Tottenham Hotspur	GBR Duncan Tappy	26	+23.436	7	45
5	NLD PSV Eindhoven	NLD Yelmer Buurman	26	+24.504	12	40
3	ITA A.C. Milan	NLD Robert Doornbos	26	+26.176	1	36
10	CHE FC Basel 1893	DEU Max Wissel	26	+29.097	15	32
21	ENG Liverpool F.C.	ESP Adrián Vallés	26	+31.260	18	29
22	ITA A.S. Roma	ITA Enrico Toccacelo	26	+34.194	6	26
18	ESP Sevilla FC	ESP Borja García	26	+34.270	3	23
9	GRE Olympiacos CFP	DEN Kasper Andersen	26	+34.742	4	20
6	ARE Al Ain	BEL Bertrand Baguette	26	+50.926	8	18
11	DEU Borussia Dortmund	NED Paul Meijer	26	+50.948	16	16
4	TUR Galatasaray S.K.	ITA Alessandro Pier Guidi	26	+51.286	5	14
15	ESP Atlético Madrid	ESP Andy Soucek	26	+55.993	14	12
7	BRA CR Flamengo	BRA Tuka Rocha	26	+1:13.191	10	10
16	POR F.C. Porto	FRA Tristan Gommendy	26	+1:21.368	13	8
8	BEL R.S.C. Anderlecht	GBR Craig Dolby	18	Transmission	17	7
17	SCO Rangers F.C.	GBR Ryan Dalziel	1	Suspension	11	6
14	BRA SC Corinthians	BRA Antônio Pizzonia	0	Accident	9	5
Fastest lap: Andy Soucek (Atlético Madrid) 1:37.370 (92.147 mph)

References

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