The 2009 Superleague Formula season was the second Superleague Formula championship. The series was rebranded the "Superleague Formula by Sonangol" for this season and also 2010 with the Angolan oil company becoming the title sponsor. It began on June 28 at Magny-Cours and finished on November 8 at Jarama.
The field remained at 18 clubs for the 2009 season but Beijing Guoan did not return to try to retain the title which they won with Davide Rigon in 2008, however Rigon did return in the car of Olympiacos CFP despite GP2 commitments. In Estoril, María de Villota became the first woman to race in the series and Sébastien Bourdais became the most successful racing driver to enter the series having been dropped by Scuderia Toro Rosso just weeks earlier. Bourdais described Superleague as "the best alternative to F1".
Liverpool F.C., run under Hitech Junior Team with driver Adrián Vallés, were crowned series champions for the first time at the last event of the season.
Teams and drivers All teams competed on Michelin tyres.
EntrantRace teamNo.Race driver(s)Rounds Sporting CP Zakspeed 2 Pedro Petiz All A.C. Milan Azerti Motorsport3 Giorgio PantanoAll Galatasaray S.K. Ultimate Motorsport Reid Motorsport4 Duncan Tappy1–2 Scott Mansell3 Ho-Pin Tung4–6 PSV Eindhoven Azerti Motorsport5 Dominick Muermans1–3 Carlo van Dam 4–6 Al Ain Ultimate Motorsport Reid Motorsport6 Miguel Molina1 Esteban Guerrieri2 Sevilla FC183 Sébastien Bourdais4–6 CR Flamengo Delta Motorsport/ADR7 Enrique Bernoldi1–3 Azerti Motorsport4, 6 Jonathan Kennard5 R.S.C. Anderlecht Zakspeed 8 Yelmer Buurman All Olympiacos CFP GU-Racing International 9 Davide Rigon 1–3 Esteban Guerrieri 4–6 FC Basel 1893 GU-Racing International10 Max WisselAll SC Corinthians Alan Docking Racing 14 Antônio Pizzonia All Atlético Madrid Alan Docking Racing15 Ho-Pin Tung1–3 María de Villota4–6 F.C. Porto Hitech Junior Team16 Tristan Gommendy1–3, 5–6 Álvaro Parente4 Rangers F.C. Alan Docking Racing17 John MartinAll Tottenham Hotspur Alan Docking Racing19 Craig DolbyAll Liverpool F.C. Hitech Junior Team21 Adrián VallésAll A.S. Roma Azerti Motorsport 22 Jonathan Kennard 1–3 Alan Docking Racing Franck Perera 4 Julien Jousse 5–6 FC Midtjylland Hitech Junior Team 24 Kasper Andersen All Olympique Lyonnais Barazi-Epsilon69 Nelson Panciatici AllSources:
Giorgio Pantano had signed an official deal with Al Ain before the team announced they would not be able to compete in this season. A week later however, they changed their decision and entered the championship with drivers Miguel Molina and Esteban Guerrieri before having Sevilla FC take their place from round 3 at Donington Park. Beijing Guoan and Borussia Dortmund did not compete this year. FC Midtjylland, Olympique Lyonnais and Sporting CP made their debut in 2009. CR Flamengo and A.S. Roma swapped race teams prior to round 4 of the series, with Flamengo switching from ADR to Azerti and Roma going the other way. Reid Motorsport took over the cars of Galatasaray S.K. and Sevilla FC from Ultimate Motorsport prior to round 5 at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza.
Test/reserve drivers Driver Driver Marko Asmer Greg Mansell Carlos Gaitán Paul Meijer Bruce Jouanny Nelson Philippe Stamatis Katsimis Jacques Villeneuve
Driver changes Changed teams Yelmer Buurman: PSV Eindhoven → R.S.C. Anderlecht Craig Dolby: R.S.C. Anderlecht → Tottenham Hotspur Davide Rigon: Beijing Guoan → Olympiacos CFP Duncan Tappy: Tottenham Hotspur → Galatasaray S.K.
Entering/Re-Entering Superleague Formula Enrique Bernoldi: IndyCar Series (Conquest Racing) → CR Flamengo Jonathan Kennard: Sabbatical → A.S. Roma John Martin: British Formula Three Championship (Räikkönen Robertson Racing) → Rangers F.C. Miguel Molina: World Series by Renault (Prema Powerteam) → Al Ain Nelson Panciatici: Spanish Formula Three Championship (Hache International) → Olympique Lyonnais Giorgio Pantano: GP2 Series (Racing Engineering) → A.C. Milan Pedro Petiz: Porsche Supercup (Racing Team Jetstream) → Sporting CP Ho-Pin Tung: GP2 Series (Trident Racing) → Atlético Madrid
Leaving Superleague Formula Bertrand Baguette: Al Ain → World Series by Renault (Draco Racing) Ryan Dalziel: Rangers F.C. → Rolex Sports Car Series (Alegra Motorsports) Robert Doornbos: A.C. Milan → IndyCar Series (Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing) Borja García: Sevilla FC → Atlantic Championship (Condor Motorsports) Stamatis Katsimis: Olympiacos CFP → Greek Rally Championship (Mitsubishi Lancer) Alessandro Pier Guidi: Galatasaray S.K. → FIA GT Championship (Vitaphone Racing) Tuka Rocha: CR Flamengo → Sabbatical Andy Soucek: Atlético Madrid → FIA Formula Two Championship Enrico Toccacelo: Borussia Dortmund → Sabbatical James Walker: Borussia Dortmund → World Series by Renault (P1 Motorsport)
Mid-season changes Carlo van Dam replaced Dominick Muermans at PSV Eindhoven at the midway point of the season. Franck Perera replaced Jonathan Kennard at A.S. Roma also at the midway point of the season. Julien Jousse replaced Perera to complete the final two rounds for A.S. Roma. Enrique Bernoldi was replaced by Jonathan Kennard at CR Flamengo at the Monza round while Bernoldi was on FIA GT Championship duty. Duncan Tappy was replaced by Scott Mansell at Galatasaray S.K. at the Donington round. Ho-Pin Tung replaced Mansell after Donington and completed the rest of the season for Galatasaray. Miguel Molina was replaced by Esteban Guerrieri at Al Ain at the Zolder round. Al Ain left the series after the Zolder round. Guerrieri represented Sevilla FC at the Donington round. Sébastien Bourdais replaced Esteben Guerrieri at Sevilla FC from the Estoril round onwards to complete the season for Sevilla. Esteban Guerrieri replaced Davide Rigon at Olympiacos CFP from the Estoril round onwards to complete the season for Olympiacos. Ho-Pin Tung was replaced by María de Villota at Atlético Madrid at the Estoril round. María de Villota completed the season for Atlético Madrid. Álvaro Parente replaced the injured Tristan Gommendy at F.C. Porto at the Estoril round.
2009 schedule The calendar for the season was announced on January 29, 2009. Adding to last year's qualifying and race format, a third 'Super Final' race was added to 4 out of the 6 events for the top six points scorers from the weekend's first two races (although it was initially the top three finishers from the two races qualifying – it was changed prior to round 4 of the season). The six cars raced to decide a 'Weekend Winner' and to whom the top prize money would go but no points were awarded for this race. Official race commentary on the SF World Feed same from Ben Edwards and Bruce Jouanny for every round of the season. Jonathan Green and Martin Haven have also featured in the commentary box. Ben Constanduros and Warren Pole were the pitlane reporters and interviewers.
Race calendar and results Round Race Date Pole position Fastest lap Winning club Winning team Weekend winner Report 1 R1 Magny-Cours June 28 SC Corinthians Tottenham Hotspur Liverpool F.C. Hitech Junior Team Liverpool F.C.(from Race 3 result) Report R2 SC Corinthians A.C. Milan Azerti Motorsport 2 R1 Zolder July 19 FC Midtjylland FC Basel 1893 Tottenham Hotspur Alan Docking Racing Liverpool F.C.(from total points) Report R2 Tottenham Hotspur Al Ain Ultimate Motorsport 3 R1 Donington Park August 2 SC Corinthians FC Basel 1893 FC Basel 1893 GU-Racing International Rangers F.C.(from Race 3 result) Report R2 SC Corinthians F.C. Porto Hitech Junior Team 4 R1 Estoril September 6 SC Corinthians R.S.C. Anderlecht Olympiacos CFP GU-Racing International Sevilla FC(from Race 3 result) Report R2 FC Basel 1893 F.C. Porto Hitech Junior Team 5 R1 Monza October 4 Olympiacos CFP SC Corinthians Sevilla FC Reid Motorsport Sevilla FC(from total points) Report R2 Olympiacos CFP Sporting CP Zakspeed 6 R1 Jarama November 8 Sevilla FC R.S.C. Anderlecht R.S.C. Anderlecht Zakspeed R.S.C. Anderlecht(from Race 3 result) Report R2 F.C. Porto Galatasaray S.K. Reid MotorsportSources:
Race 2 starts with reverse grid from finishing order of Race 1.
Test calendar and results There was an initial shakedown of the new car at Magny-Cours, France on April 28, 2009 by the Alan Docking Racing team. Australian John Martin completed laps of the circuit in the updated Rangers F.C. car, before signing up to drive for them. There were further tests at Zolder, Belgium from June 17–18 in which no real pacesetter was obvious, although Dominick Muermans and John Martin put in solid runs to go quickest. Prior to the opening round, most cars tested at Magny-Cours on June 26 in which Adrián Vallés for Liverpool F.C. and Hitech Junior Team was ultimately fastest.
Championship standings Pos Entrant Drivers MAG ZOL DON EST MOZ JAR PtsR1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2 1 Liverpool F.C. Adrián Vallés 1 6 3 3 6 6 2 9 4 5 7 4 412 2 Tottenham Hotspur Craig Dolby 3 10 1 9 5 4 8 18 5 2 4 2 382 3 FC Basel 1893 Max Wissel 10 3 4 8 1 3 DN 11 9 14 5 8 308 4 R.S.C. Anderlecht Yelmer Buurman 2 5 8 14 16 DN 4 4 6 6 1 15 305 5 F.C. Porto Tristan Gommendy 16 7 12 7 8 1 7 13 6 5 302 Álvaro Parente 16 1 6 Olympiacos CFP Davide Rigon 18 2 10 4 17 15 300 Esteban Guerrieri 1 14 2 4 8 10 7 A.C. Milan Giorgio Pantano 12 1 5 11 4 17 6 6 15 11 3 14 286 8 SC Corinthians Antônio Pizzonia 4 9 17 12 3 8 3 5 10 9 14 18 264 9 Sevilla FC Esteban Guerrieri 11 13 253 Sébastien Bourdais 11 2 1 3 2 6 10 Rangers F.C. John Martin 17 16 2 15 2 16 5 8 11 12 10 9 241 11 Galatasaray S.K. Duncan Tappy 5 11 9 16 239 Scott Mansell 13 12 Ho-Pin Tung 17 7 8 7 16 1 12 Sporting CP Pedro Petiz 7 17 16 13 12 2 9 17 18 1 13 13 215 13 A.S. Roma Jonathan Kennard 15 14 11 5 7 10 211 Franck Perera 7 12 Julien Jousse 3 17 15 16 14 FC Midtjylland Kasper Andersen 8 15 13 6 10 5 15 16 12 16 18 3 203 15 Atlético Madrid Ho-Pin Tung 14 12 18 2 9 7 202 María de Villota 14 13 14 10 17 7 16 CR Flamengo Enrique Bernoldi 6 8 7 18 18 14 13 3 11 12 191 Jonathan Kennard 17 18 17 Olympique Lyonnais Nelson Panciatici 13 13 14 10 14 9 12 15 13 15 9 11 160 18 PSV Eindhoven Dominick Muermans 11 18 15 17 15 11 145 Carlo van Dam 10 10 16 8 12 17 19 Al Ain Miguel Molina 9 4 135 Esteban Guerrieri 6 1 WD Pos Entrant DriversR1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2 Pts MAG ZOL DON EST MOZ JARSources: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