2009 Magny-Cours Superleague Formula round

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]

2009 Magny-Cours Superleague Formula round
Superleague Formula round France
Circuit Map
Date28 June, 2009
Location Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, Magny-Cours, France
CoursePermanent racing facility
2.740 mi (4.410 km)
Laps30 & 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)

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 paid 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 hubbub 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.

Knockout stages

Quarter-Finals Semi-Finals Pole Shoot Out
B1 SC Corinthians 1:27.129
A4 CR Flamengo 1:28.909 B1 SC Corinthians 1:27.896
B3 Rangers F.C. 1:26.982 A2 Tottenham Hotspur 1:47.696
A2 Tottenham Hotspur 1:26.670 B1 SC Corinthians 1:26.555
B2 F.C. Porto No time[2] A1 Liverpool F.C. 1:26.854
A3 R.S.C. Anderlecht 1:36.913 A3 R.S.C. Anderlecht 1:27.275
B4 FC Midtjylland No time[2] A1 Liverpool F.C. 1:26.421
A1 Liverpool F.C. 1:36.417

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

PosNoTeamDriverLapsTime/RetiredGridPts.
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

PosNoTeamDriverLapsTime/RetiredGridPts.
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

PosNoTeamDriverLapsTime/RetiredGrid
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

  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 25 June 2009. Retrieved 28 December 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. Bradley, Charles (27 June 2009). "Andersen sent to back of grid". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 30 June 2009.
  3. Bradley, Charles (28 June 2009). "Valles wins opener for Liverpool". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 30 June 2009.
  4. "Liverpool FC with Adrian Valles wins Race 1 at Magny Cours". Superleague Formula. 28 June 2009. Archived from the original on 1 July 2009. Retrieved 30 June 2009.
  5. Bradley, Charles (28 June 2009). "Pantano wins for AC Milan in France". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 30 June 2009.
  6. "Liverpool Two Up After Opening French Races". Superleague Formula. 28 June 2009. Archived from the original on 1 July 2009. Retrieved 30 June 2009.
  7. Bradley, Charles (28 June 2009). "Valles wins super final for LFC". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 30 June 2009.

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