The 2008 Superleague Formula season was the inaugural Superleague Formula championship. The season started very late in 2008 with the first round being on August 31 at Donington Park. There were six rounds (twelve races) in total with the successful season finale at Circuito Permanente de Jerez on 23 November. In the 18 cars on the grid were established A1GP and GP2 drivers as well as two ex-Formula One race starters, Robert Doornbos and Antônio Pizzonia.

Beijing Guoan, run under former Formula One team Zakspeed with driver Davide Rigon, were eventually crowned the first ever champions at the last event of the season.

Teams and drivers All teams competed on Michelin tyres.

EntrantRace teamNo.Race driver(s)Rounds A.C. Milan Scuderia Playteam 3 Robert Doornbos All Galatasaray S.K. 4 Alessandro Pier Guidi All PSV Eindhoven Azerti MotorsportPSV Eindhoven article on official Superleague site 5 Yelmer Buurman All Al Ain 6 Andreas Zuber 1–2 Bertrand Baguette 3, 6 Paul Meijer 4 Dominick Muermans 5 CR Flamengo Team Astromega 7 Tuka Rocha All R.S.C. Anderlecht 8 Craig Dolby All Olympiacos CFP GU-Racing International 9 Kasper Andersen 1–4 Stamatis Katsimis 5–6 FC Basel 1893 10 Max Wissel All Borussia Dortmund Zakspeed 11 Nelson Philippe 1–2 Paul Meijer 3 Enrico Toccacelo 4–5 James Walker 6 Beijing Guoan 12 Davide Rigon All SC Corinthians EuroInternational 14 Andy Soucek 1 Antônio Pizzonia 2–6 Atlético Madrid 15 Andy Soucek 2–6 Rangers F.C. Alan Docking Racing 17 Ryan Dalziel 1, 3–6 James Walker 2 F.C. Porto16 Tristan Gommendy1–4 Hitech Junior Team5–6 Liverpool F.C.21 Adrián VallésAll Sevilla FC GTA Motor Competición 18 Borja García All Tottenham Hotspur 19 Duncan Tappy 1–3, 5–6 Dominik Jackson 4 A.S. Roma FMS International 22 Enrico Toccacelo 1–3 Franck Perera 4–6Sources:

No numbers 1 or 2 because it was the first season. Cars 16 and 17 were run by Team West-Tec during pre-season. Atlético Madrid did not enter until prior to round 2. FC Porto switched from Alan Docking Racing to Hitech Racing prior round 5.

Test/reserve drivers Driver Driver Jérôme d'Ambrosio Bruce Jouanny Jimmy Auby Robbie Kerr Zsolt Baumgartner Paolo Maria Nocera Enrique Bernoldi Giacomo Ricci Dan Clarke Daniel la Rosa Giambattista Giannoccaro Jason Tahincioglu Jan Heylen Nico Verdonck Jens Höing Andreas Wirth

2008 schedule

Race calendar and results Round Race Date Pole position Fastest lap Winning club Winning team Report 1 R1 Donington Park August 31 Beijing Guoan Beijing Guoan Beijing Guoan Zakspeed Report R2 PSV Eindhoven Sevilla FC GTA Motor Competición 2 R1 Nürburgring September 21 A.C. Milan PSV Eindhoven A.C. Milan Scuderia Playteam Report R2 SC Corinthians PSV Eindhoven Azerti Motorsport 3 R1 Zolder October 5 Borussia Dortmund Liverpool F.C. Liverpool F.C. Hitech Junior Team Report R2 Atlético Madrid Beijing Guoan Zakspeed 4 R1 Estoril October 19 A.S. Roma Atlético Madrid Liverpool F.C. Hitech Junior Team Report R2 Borussia Dortmund Al Ain Azerti Motorsport 5 R1 Vallelunga November 2 Liverpool F.C. Beijing Guoan Beijing Guoan Zakspeed Report R2 Atlético Madrid F.C. Porto Hitech Junior Team 6 R1 Jerez November 23 Liverpool F.C. R.S.C. Anderlecht A.C. Milan Scuderia Playteam Report R2 Beijing Guoan Borussia Dortmund ZakspeedSources:

Race 2 starts with reverse grid from finishing order of Race 1.

Test calendar and results The first group test was at Vallelunga, Italy and ran from August 6–8. Scuderia Playteam were the fastest team on all three days with drivers Robert Doornbos and Alessandro Pier Guidi putting in the fast laps, for the clubs they would later go on to race for. Prior to the opening round, two test sessions at Donington Park, UK on August 21 and 28 further helped the cars and it was the combination of FMS International and Enrico Toccacelo for A.S. Roma who were fastest on both occasions.

Championship standings Pos Entrant Drivers DON NÜR ZOL EST VAL JER PtsR1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2 1 Beijing Guoan Davide Rigon 1 6 5 3 17 1 5 5 1 5 9 3 413 2 PSV Eindhoven Yelmer Buurman 4 8 10 1 7 3 9 8 10 3 8 9 337 3 A.C. Milan Robert Doornbos 17 DN 1 6 18 4 2 2 2 17 1 10 335 4 Liverpool F.C. Adrián Vallés 5 3 14 14 1 6 1 12 9 4 7 15 325 5 A.S. Roma Enrico Toccacelo 2 10 17 4 13 7 307 Franck Perera 3 16 15 2 5 5 6 R.S.C. Anderlecht Craig Dolby 14 16 2 2 2 16 14 9 7 6 4 8 303 7 F.C. Porto Tristan Gommendy 7 9 8 5 6 15 16 DN 8 1 2 12 277 8 Galatasaray S.K. Alessandro Pier Guidi 13 13 3 7 14 12 7 3 3 11 18 4 277 9 SC Corinthians Andy Soucek 11 12 264 Antônio Pizzonia 7 10 10 18 4 4 6 16 12 2 10 Sevilla FC Borja García 10 1 6 8 16 8 8 7 17 13 6 11 262 11 Tottenham Hotspur Duncan Tappy 3 5 13 17 12 2 11 10 3 14 257 Dominik Jackson 15 11 12 Al Ain Andreas Zuber 6 15 11 11 244 Bertrand Baguette 11 10 10 7 Paul Meijer 12 1 Dominick Muermans 14 8 13 Rangers F.C. Ryan Dalziel 8 14 8 17 13 15 5 7 15 6 227 James Walker 4 12 14 Borussia Dortmund Nelson Philippe 15 4 15 DN 218 Paul Meijer 3 11 Enrico Toccacelo 17 6 18 14 James Walker 14 1 15 FC Basel 1893 Max Wissel 9 7 9 13 4 5 18 14 12 15 11 17 205 16 CR Flamengo Tuka Rocha 16 2 16 16 9 14 11 10 4 18 17 13 189 17 Olympiacos CFP Kasper Andersen 12 11 12 15 15 9 10 13 161 Stamatis Katsimis 13 9 13 16 18 Atlético Madrid Andy Soucek DN 9 5 13 6 17 16 12 16 18 132 Pos Entrant DriversR1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2 Pts DON NÜR ZOL EST VAL JERSources:NOTE – R2 startswith reverse grid

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

References

External links

V12 Racing: Independent Superleague Formula Fansite Magazine