2009 Superleague Formula season

"Sf 2009" redirects here. For the video game, see Superleague Formula 2009: The Game.

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.^[1] It began on June 28 at Magny-Cours and finished on November 8 at Jarama.

2009 Superleague Formula season

Previous

2008

Next

2010

Olympiacos CFP (Davide Rigon) at Superleague Formula Round 3

Galatasaray S.K. (Scott Mansell) car retrieved during third practice at Superleague Formula Round 3

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".^[2]

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.^[3]

Entrant	Race team	No.	Race driver(s)	Rounds
Sporting CP[4]	Zakspeed	2	Pedro Petiz[5]	All
R.S.C. Anderlecht		8	Yelmer Buurman[6]	All
A.C. Milan	Azerti Motorsport	3	Giorgio Pantano[7]	All
PSV Eindhoven		5	Dominick Muermans[8]	1–3
			Carlo van Dam[9]	4–6
CR Flamengo		7	Enrique Bernoldi[10]	4, 6
			Jonathan Kennard[11][12]	5
A.S. Roma		22		1–3
Galatasaray S.K.	Ultimate Motorsport Reid Motorsport[12][13]	4	Duncan Tappy	1–2
			Scott Mansell[14]	3
			Ho-Pin Tung[15]	4–6
Al Ain		6	Miguel Molina	1
			Esteban Guerrieri[16]	2
Sevilla FC		18		3
			Sébastien Bourdais[17]	4–6
CR Flamengo	Delta Motorsport/ADR	7	Enrique Bernoldi[10]	1–3
Olympiacos CFP	GU-Racing International	9	Davide Rigon[18]	1–3
			Esteban Guerrieri[19]	4–6
FC Basel 1893		10	Max Wissel[20]	All
SC Corinthians	Alan Docking Racing	14	Antônio Pizzonia[21]	All
Atlético Madrid		15	Ho-Pin Tung[22]	1–3
			María de Villota[23]	4–6
Rangers F.C.		17	John Martin[24]	All
Tottenham Hotspur		19	Craig Dolby[25]	All
A.S. Roma		22	Franck Perera[26]	4
			Julien Jousse[12]	5–6
F.C. Porto	Hitech Junior Team	16	Tristan Gommendy[27]	1–3, 5–6
			Álvaro Parente[28]	4
Liverpool F.C.		21	Adrián Vallés[29]	All
FC Midtjylland[30]		24	Kasper Andersen[30]	All
Olympique Lyonnais[31]	Barazi-Epsilon	69	Nelson Panciatici[32]	All

• Giorgio Pantano had signed an official deal with Al Ain before the team announced they would not be able to compete in this season.^[33] 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[34]
Carlos Gaitán[35]	Paul Meijer
Bruce Jouanny	Nelson Philippe[36]
Stamatis Katsimis[37]	Jacques Villeneuve[38]

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.^[39]
• 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 Motorsport

• 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.^[40][41] 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.^[42]

Championship standings

Pos Entrant Drivers MAG ZOL DON EST MOZ JAR Pts R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 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 Drivers R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 Pts MAG ZOL DON EST MOZ JAR

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Finished Purple Did not finish Red Did not qualify (X) Black Disqualified (DQ) White Did not start (DN) Race cancelled (C) Blank Excluded (EX) Withdrew (WD) Bold Pole position Italics Fastest lap NOTE – R2 starts with 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
Points	50	45	40	36	32	29	26	23	20	18	16	14	12	10	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1	0