Rangers F.C. (Superleague Formula team)

Rangers FC Superleague Formula team was the racing team of Rangers. The Rangers racing team competes in the Superleague Formula. It has been operated by Alan Docking Racing for all seasons, although Team West-Tec operated the Rangers team in 2008 pre-season. The car was revealed outside Ibrox Stadium with the Rangers first team present, including manager Walter Smith.[1] Rangers Football Club had a team in the Superleague Formula race car series. The Rangers F.C. team had been operated by Alan Docking Racing. In 2008 Ryan Dalziel drove for Rangers F.C. in the team's maiden season.[2] James Walker also drove for the team in one round of the 2008 season and posted their best result, a fourth-place finish.[3]

Rangers F.C. SF Racing Team
Founded 2008
Country  Scotland
Driver(s) Ryan Dalziel (2008)
James Walker (2008)
John Martin (2009)
First race 2008 Donington
Last race 2009 Jarama
Rounds 12
Ch'ships 0
Total points 468 (including Super Finals)
2010 position n/a (n/a pts)
Races Poles Wins Podiums F. Laps
24 0 0 2 0
NOTE - Data not including Super Finals
The Rangers car out on display (2008)
Ryan Dalziel on the grid during the 2008 Donington weekend.
Ryan Dalziel during race 2 on a wet Donington Park track in 2008.

2008 season

In 2008 Ryan Dalziel drove for Rangers F.C. in the team's maiden season finished overall in the mid table in 13th. It was only 1 of 3 teams that completed the whole season (a world record at the time) but did not get on to the podium.[2] James Walker also drove for the team in one round of the 2008 season and posted their best result, a fourth-place finish.[3]

2009 season

For the 2009 Superleague Formula season, John Martin was the driver.[4] For the first round of the season Rangers F.C. had a bad weekend. In race one Rangers got caught up in a mistake from Olympiacos CFP (Davide Rigon) eliminating them from the race. In race 2 Rangers F.C. led after lap 1 and built up a lead before the pitstop window opened. The car got stuck on the jack in the pits and lost 35 seconds coming out in 13th place.[5] After that driver John Martin made a small mistake putting Rangers F.C. out of the race.

At the Zolder round Rangers F.C. got to their first 'Pole Shoot Out' of qualifying and narrowly lost out on pole to FC Midtjylland (Kasper Andersen).[6] John Martin and Rangers F.C. followed this up with a debut podium finishing in 2nd place.[7] In the second race of the day at Circuit Zolder Rangers F.C. retired early with gearbox problems.[8]

At the Donington round Rangers F.C. and John Martin claimed their 2nd podium in Superleague Formula. They were in position to win race one before being impeded by PSV Eindhoven (Dominick Muermans) allowing FC Basel to get their first win. Rangers F.C. finished 2nd. In race two John Martin and Rangers F.C. crashed into A.C. Milan (Giorgio Pantano) ending both teams races. In the 6 car 'Super Final' Rangers F.C. and John Martin claimed their very first Superleague Formula win, passing FC Basel 1893 (Max Wissel) with 2 laps to go.

At the Estoril round it was the first time Rangers F.C. finished both races this season. They claimed a 5th place and an 8th place. During race two Rangers F.C. had an incident with Atlético Madrid (María de Villota) which sent both teams spinning and dropping a couple of places.

For the 2009 season, the team were much more successful with Australian driver John Martin posting three podium places including one win at Donington Park.[9][10]

The Rangers team did not compete in the 2010 Superleague Formula season as it was not named in the provisional entry list, which included which race teams might operate each car.[11]

Record

(key)

2008
Operator(s) Driver(s) 1 2 3 4 5 6 Points Rank
DON NÜR ZOL EST VAL JER
Alan Docking Racing Ryan Dalziel 8 14 8 17 13 15 5 7 15 6 227 13th
James Walker 4 12

2009
  • Super Final results in 2009 did not count for points towards the main championship.
Operator(s) Driver(s) 1 2 3 4 5 6 Points Rank
MAG ZOL DON EST MOZ JAR
Alan Docking Racing John Martin 17 16 X 2 15 – 2 16 1 5 8 X 11 12 – 10 9 X 241 10th

References
  1. "A Winning Formula". Rangers official site. Retrieved 20 June 2009.
  2. "Hometown boy Dalziel excited with Rangers drive". Andy Darley. britsonpole.com. 21 August 2008. Archived from the original on 15 August 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012. Lanarkshire's Ryan Dalziel says he's delighted and excited to have landed the chance to drive for Glasgow Rangers in Superleague Formula.
  3. "Walker enjoys superleague debut". BBC Sport. 23 September 2008. Archived from the original on 18 August 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012. Jersey racing driver James Walker has said he enjoyed his debut in motor racing's Superleague Formula event at Germany's Nurburgring at the weekend. Racing for the Glasgow Rangers team as a replacement for their regular driver Walker was fastest in practice.
  4. "Martin joins Rangers for Superleague". Autosport. Retrieved 20 June 2009.
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 12 October 2009. Retrieved 12 October 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. http://www.superleagueformula.com/Clubs/AS-Roma/News/FC-Midtjylland-wins-Qualifying-Shoot-Out-Final-in-Belgium
  7. http://www.rangers.premiumtv.co.uk/articles/martin-makes-his-mark-20090719_2254024_1727038%5B%5D
  8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 12 October 2009. Retrieved 12 October 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. "Martin joins Rangers for Superleague". Steven English. autosport.com. 27 May 2009. Archived from the original on 18 August 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012. A1GP racer John Martin his signed to race the Glasgow Rangers FC car in this season's Superleague Formula.
  10. "Rangers upholds home honour at Superleague Formula Donington round". f1sa.com. 2 August 2009. Archived from the original on 18 August 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012. Rangers’ Australian driving ace John Martin swept his high powered machine to second place in the opening 44 minutes + 1 lap race before scoring the Scottish Premier League club, and his own, maiden Superleague race by winning the €100,000 “Weekend Winner” title in the concluding Super Final
  11. "Superleague Formula by Sonangol selects nine racing teams for 2010". Superleague Formula. 26 February 2010. Archived from the original on 5 October 2010. Retrieved 26 February 2010.
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