2009 Magny-Cours Superleague Formula round

2009 Magny-Cours Superleague Formula round Superleague Formula round France
Date	June 28, 2009
Location	Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, Magny-Cours, France
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.740 mi / 4.411 km
Laps	30 & 31
Pole position
Team	SC Corinthians	Antônio Pizzonia
Time	1:26.555
Podium (1st race)
First	Liverpool	Adrian Valles
Second	R.S.C. Anderlecht	Yelmer Buurman
Third	Tottenham Hotspur	Craig Dolby
Fastest lap (1st race)
Team	Tottenham Hotspur	Craig Dolby
Time	1:27.284 (on lap 12)
Podium (2nd race)
First	A.C. Milan	Giorgio Pantano
Second	Olympiacos CFP	Davide Rigon
Third	FC Basel 1893	Max Wissel
Fastest lap (2nd race)
Team	SC Corinthians	Antônio Pizzonia
Time	1:28.120 (on lap 12)

The 2009 Magny-Cours Superleague Formula round was the opening round of the 2009 Superleague Formula season, with the races taking place on 28 June 2009. Liverpool F.C. and A.C. Milan shared the two race wins, with Liverpool also being the Weekend Winner after winning the six-car Super Final. The supporting events were the Euroseries 3000 and the Mitjet Series.^[1]

Report

Qualifying

As always, the field was split into two groups for qualifying, with the fastest four qualifiers from each progressing into the knockout stages to decide places 1 to 8 on the grid. Davide Rigon and Max Wissel driving the cars of Olympiacos and FC Basel 1893 both recorded times faster than Group A fourth place, Enrique Bernoldi (CR Flamengo). In the knockout stages, an all-British battle was the highlight of round one, with Rangers' John Martin and Tottenham's Craig Dolby recording the two fastest times of the first round. However, it was Melton Mowbray's Dolby who was faster, by three tenths of a second. Dolby's run ended at the semi-final stage, after spinning during his lap.

Antônio Pizzonia of SC Corinthians put pay to his hope, and would face Adrián Vallés in the Liverpool machine in the final. Pizzonia would come out on top by 0.299 seconds, to take his team's first pole position in Superleague Formula. Post-qualifying, the car of debutants FC Midtjylland, driven by Kasper Andersen was sent to the back of the grid, for failing to complete a round one lap due to a blistered tyre.^[2]

Race 1

Pizzonia led away from the start, leading Vallés and Dolby before the safety car came out. Last year's champion driver Rigon attempted an over-optimistic passing move on F.C. Porto's Tristan Gommendy. The Italian ran into the back of the R.S.C. Anderlecht car of Yelmer Buurman, the drivers runner-up of last season, and spun at the Adelaide Hairpin. Gommendy and Martin also spun, while other cars had to drive through the gravel trap on the outside of the corner to avoid the hububb on track. Once the race got under away again, Pizzonia started to pull away from his two chasers, although Vallés started to re-catch the ex-Formula One driver, and by lap five had passed him in a similar move to his pass on Dolby on lap one.

Dolby then closed to the back of Pizzonia, before the Brazilian pitted at the end of lap nine. A sloppy stop cost him dearly, as Dolby, Buurman and reigning GP2 Series champion Giorgio Pantano, who was making his debut in the series, in the car of A.C. Milan. Vallés made his pit stop on lap five, and came out eight seconds to the good from Buurman, which he then extended to twelve seconds at one point. He did however back off towards the conclusion of the 45-minute race, and won by 6.5 seconds to give Liverpool their third win in Superleague Formula, tying the mark of Beijing Guoan for most wins. Buurman finished second, for Anderlecht's fourth second-place finish without success and Dolby finished third. Pantano had been all set to finish fourth, however a late spin saw him fall to twelfth. Pizzonia finished fourth ahead of Duncan Tappy (Galatasaray S.K.), Bernoldi, debutant Pedro Petiz (Sporting CP), Andersen, Miguel Molina (Al Ain) and Wissel rounded out the top ten. Gommendy, Martin and Rigon all retired, along with another debutant Jonathan Kennard in the car of A.S. Roma.^[3][4]

Race 2

In the reverse grid race, Rigon started from pole position after his first lap antics in race one. However, he was jumped at the start by the fast-starting Martin, with Kennard in third ahead of Pantano. The Italian would take Kennard on lap three, to move into third place. Further back, Dolby (who started 16th after his race one podium) was charging his way through the field, having passed six cars to make the top ten, in as many laps. Pantano closed in on both Martin and Rigon, with Rigon blinking first for the mandatory pit stop. Pantano followed Martin, who pitted on lap nine, but that turned into a calamity for the Australian.

Pantano gained the advantage after the pit stops, with an advantage of some five seconds over his fellow Italian Rigon. However, the current GP2 racer closed in on Pantano, getting the gap down to as low as 1.9 seconds, before making a crucial error at the Adelaide Hairpin. Pantano thus won the race in only his second race, by 2.2 seconds from Rigon. After Martin's crashing out, Wissel came to clinch third and a spot in the Super Final. Molina was fourth, ahead of Buurman (up from 17th), Vallés (up from 18th), Gommendy, Bernoldi, Pizzonia and Dolby (who lost drive on the final lap). Joining Martin on the retirements list were Kennard, Andersen, Petiz and Dominick Muermans (PSV Eindhoven).^[5][6]

Super Final

New for 2009, the "Super Final" race decides who will pick up a bonus of €100,000 and the title of "Weekend Winner". The top three cars from each race qualify for the event. Originally, the qualifiers were Liverpool, Anderlecht, Spurs, Milan, Olympiacos and Basel, but Spurs failed to take the start due to their sixth gear problem at the end of the second race. Therefore, Corinthians took their place on the six-car grid, for the eight-lap race.

Vallés took the lead from pole position, leading from Pantano, Buurman, Rigon, Pizzonia and Wissel. Pizzonia made the first attack, with a move on Rigon at Adelaide on lap one. He succeeded with the move, and set off after Buurman, passing him at the start of lap two. The Dutchman slipstreamed back to the Brazilian and tried to make a move on the Corinthians car, but failed to make it. Rigon had trouble at the start of lap three, dropping to last behind Wissel. Vallés continued his speed at the front, and unsurprisingly won the race, beating Pantano by close to five seconds. Pizzonia finished third, ahead of Buurman, Wissel and Rigon.^[6][7]

Results

Qualifying

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

Group A Pos. Team Driver Time 1 Liverpool F.C. Adrián Vallés 1:26.493 2 Tottenham Hotspur Craig Dolby 1:26.628 3 R.S.C. Anderlecht Yelmer Buurman 1:27.085 4 CR Flamengo Enrique Bernoldi 1:27.285 5 Atlético Madrid Ho-Pin Tung 1:27.574 6 Sporting CP Pedro Petiz 1:27.686 7 Al Ain Miguel Molina 1:27.909 8 Olympique Lyonnais Nelson Panciatici 1:28.129 9 A.S. Roma Jonathan Kennard 1:28.968

Group B Pos. Team Driver Time 1 SC Corinthians Antônio Pizzonia 1:26.391 2 F.C. Porto Tristan Gommendy 1:26.588 3 Rangers F.C. John Martin 1:26.674 4 FC Midtjylland Kasper Andersen 1:27.158 5 Olympiacos CFP Davide Rigon 1:27.191 6 FC Basel 1893 Max Wissel 1:27.223 7 Galatasaray S.K. Duncan Tappy 1:27.386 8 PSV Eindhoven Dominick Muermans 1:30.051 9 A.C. Milan Giorgio Pantano No time

Knockout stages

Grid

Pos.	Team	Driver	Time
1	SC Corinthians	Antônio Pizzonia	1:26.555
2	Liverpool F.C.	Adrián Vallés	1:26.854
3	R.S.C. Anderlecht	Yelmer Buurman	1:27.275
4	Tottenham Hotspur	Craig Dolby	1:47.696
5	Rangers F.C.	John Martin	1:26.982
6	F.C. Porto	Tristan Gommendy	No time
7	CR Flamengo	Enrique Bernoldi	1:28.909
8	Olympiacos CFP	Davide Rigon	1:27.191
9	Atlético Madrid	Ho-Pin Tung	1:27.574
10	FC Basel 1893	Max Wissel	1:27.223
11	Sporting CP	Pedro Petiz	1:27.686
12	Galatasaray S.K.	Duncan Tappy	1:27.386
13	Al Ain	Miguel Molina	1:27.909
14	PSV Eindhoven	Dominick Muermans	1:30.051
15	Olympique Lyonnais	Nelson Panciatici	1:28.129
16	A.C. Milan	Giorgio Pantano	No time
17	FC Midtjylland	Kasper Andersen	1:27.158*
18	A.S. Roma	Jonathan Kennard	1:28.968

• * Andersen sent to the back row of the grid, following his failure to complete a lap in the first round. He started 17th as he recorded a faster lap time than Kennard.^[2]

Race 1

Pos	No	Team	Driver	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Pts.
1	21	Liverpool F.C.	Adrián Vallés	30	45:57.400	2	50
2	8	R.S.C. Anderlecht	Yelmer Buurman	30	+ 6.298	3	45
3	19	Tottenham Hotspur	Craig Dolby	30	+ 7.237	4	40
4	14	SC Corinthians	Antônio Pizzonia	30	+ 16.968	1	36
5	4	Galatasaray S.K.	Duncan Tappy	30	+ 27.801	12	32
6	7	CR Flamengo	Enrique Bernoldi	30	+ 37.807	7	29
7	2	Sporting CP	Pedro Petiz	30	+ 44.178	11	26
8	24	FC Midtjylland	Kasper Andersen	30	+ 55.903	17	23
9	6	Al Ain	Miguel Molina	30	+ 1:03.281	13	20
10	10	FC Basel 1893	Max Wissel	30	+ 1:03.907	10	18
11	5	PSV Eindhoven	Dominick Muermans	30	+ 1:26.555	14	16
12	3	A.C. Milan	Giorgio Pantano	29	Spin	16	14
13	69	Olympique Lyonnais	Nelson Panciatici	29	+ 1 Lap	15	12
14	15	Atlético Madrid	Ho-Pin Tung	29	+ 1 Lap	9	10
15	22	A.S. Roma	Jonathan Kennard	17	Brakes	18	8
16	16	F.C. Porto	Tristan Gommendy	8	+ 22 Laps	6	7
17	17	Rangers F.C.	John Martin	1	Acc. Damage	5	6
18	9	Olympiacos CFP	Davide Rigon	0	Accident	8	5
Fastest lap: Craig Dolby (Tottenham Hotspur) 1:27.284 (113.046 mph)

Race 2

Pos	No	Team	Driver	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Pts.
1	3	A.C. Milan	Giorgio Pantano	31	46:57.511	7	50
2	9	Olympiacos CFP	Davide Rigon	31	+ 2.273	1	45
3	10	FC Basel 1893	Max Wissel	31	+ 11.372	9	40
4	6	Al Ain	Miguel Molina	31	+ 15.455	10	36
5	8	R.S.C. Anderlecht	Yelmer Buurman	31	+ 17.987	17	32
6	21	Liverpool F.C.	Adrián Vallés	31	+ 18.811	18	29
7	16	F.C. Porto	Tristan Gommendy	31	+ 19.759	3	26
8	7	CR Flamengo	Enrique Bernoldi	31	+ 21.740	13	23
9	14	SC Corinthians	Antônio Pizzonia	31	+ 21.998	15	20
10	19	Tottenham Hotspur	Craig Dolby	31	+ 23.594	16	18
11	4	Galatasaray S.K.	Duncan Tappy	31	+ 31.831	13	16
12	15	Atlético Madrid	Ho-Pin Tung	31	+ 1:08.911	5	14
13	69	Olympique Lyonnais	Nelson Panciatici	31	+ 1:26.911	6	12
14	22	A.S. Roma	Jonathan Kennard	28	Clutch	4	10
15	24	FC Midtjylland	Kasper Andersen	17	Mechanical	11	8
16	17	Rangers F.C.	John Martin	16	Accident	2	7
17	2	Sporting CP	Pedro Petiz	6	Accident	12	6
18	5	PSV Eindhoven	Dominick Muermans	0	Accident	8	5
Fastest lap: Antônio Pizzonia (SC Corinthians) 1:28.120 (111.974 mph)

Super Final

Pos	No	Team	Driver	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid
1	21	Liverpool F.C.	Adrián Vallés	8	11:49.172	1
2	3	A.C. Milan	Giorgio Pantano	8	+ 4.813	2
3	14	SC Corinthians*	Antônio Pizzonia	8	+ 6.774	5
4	8	R.S.C. Anderlecht	Yelmer Buurman	8	+ 9.402	3
5	10	FC Basel 1893	Max Wissel	8	+ 24.385	6
6	9	Olympiacos CFP	Davide Rigon	8	+ 26.246	4
Fastest lap: Adrián Vallés (Liverpool F.C.) 1:28.245 (111.815 mph)

• * Corinthians lined up in the super final, as Tottenham could not start due to their problems in race two.

Standings after the round

Pos	Team	Points
1	Liverpool F.C.	79
2	R.S.C. Anderlecht	77
3	A.C. Milan	64
4	Tottenham Hotspur	58
5	FC Basel 1893	58

References

External links

• Official results from the Superleague Formula website