2011 Superleague Formula season

2011 Superleague Formula season
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The 2011 Superleague Formula season was the fourth Superleague Formula championship. The series reverted to being known simply as "Superleague Formula", with 2009's two-year sponsorship deal with Sonangol also having expired.^[1] The first race of the season was held on 5 June at Assen and was due to finish at a venue in New Zealand after 8 race weekends.

After three seasons in which the cars were run in club team colours, the 2011 season saw drivers competing in the colours of their nation,^[2] with countries adorning team names as had been set out by Team China in 2010, thus beginning a severing of the strong links the series had attempted to make by linking each team entry with a football club. As many as eight of the announced fourteen entries no longer had links with football teams.

The season ended after just two of the scheduled rounds after a number of complications, which saw tracks not being ready in time for the series,^[3] and disagreements with race organisers.^[4]

Teams and drivers

• All teams are again competing on Michelin tyres for the fourth season in a row.^[5]

Entrant	Race team	No.	Race driver(s)	Rounds
Belgium – R.S.C. Anderlecht[6]	Azerti Motorsport	1	Neel Jani[7]	All
Netherlands – PSV Eindhoven[8]		2	Yelmer Buurman[9]	All
France – Girondins de Bordeaux[10]		3	Tristan Gommendy[11]	All
Czech Republic – AC Sparta Prague[12]	Atech Reid Grand Prix[13][14]	4	Filip Salaquarda[15]	All
Luxembourg[2]		5	Frédéric Vervisch[2]	All
New Zealand[12]		6	Earl Bamber[11]	1
			Chris van der Drift[16]	2
Japan[11]		7	Duncan Tappy[11]	1
			Robert Doornbos[9][17]	2
Netherlands[9]		8		1
Russia[18]		17	Mikhail Aleshin[18]	2
Spain – Atlético de Madrid[11]	EmiliodeVillota Motorsport[11]	9	María de Villota[11]	1
			Andy Soucek[11][19]	2
Turkey – Galatasaray S.K.[11]		10		1
			Duncan Tappy[19]	2
China[12]		11	Ho-Pin Tung[11]	1
South Korea[12]		19	Max Wissel[20]	2
Brazil[11]	Alan Docking Racing[21]	14	Antônio Pizzonia[22]	All
Australia[2]		24	John Martin[21]	All
England[2]		31	Craig Dolby[21]	All

Driver changes

Entering/Re-Entering Superleague Formula

• After racing the 2010 season in Stock Car Brasil, Antônio Pizzonia returns to Superleague Formula with the Brazil entrant.
• Formula Renault 3.5 Series driver Filip Salaquarda will join new Superleague Formula club, AC Sparta Prague, supported by Atech Reid Grand Prix.

Leaving Superleague Formula

• Adderly Fong and Hywel Lloyd will both move back to British Formula 3 in 2011 with Sino Vision Racing,^[23] as will Bruno Méndez, racing for Hitech Racing.^[24]
• Having contested the final race of the 2010 season with PSV Eindhoven, Esteban Guerrieri will move into Firestone Indy Lights with Sam Schmidt Motorsports.^[25]
• Máximo Cortés, Julien Jousse and James Walker will race in the Le Mans Series in 2011, having raced in Superleague Formula on different occasions in 2010.^[26][27]
• Narain Karthikeyan, who raced for PSV Eindhoven during much of 2010, will return to Formula One with Hispania Racing following a five-year absence from the series.^[28]
• Celso Míguez will race in the Spanish GT Championship in 2011 with Aurora Racing Team having competed in Superleague Formula at two events during 2010.^[29]
• Last year's Superleague Formula champion Davide Rigon will make the step up to the GP2 Series in 2011 with team Scuderia Coloni.^[30]

Mid-season changes

• Chris van der Drift switched to the Formula Renault 3.5 Series for the start of 2011 but returned to Superleague Formula for round two in Zolder.^[31] Max Wissel rejoined the series with new entrant South Korea, and Mikhail Aleshin joined the other new entrant, Russia, racing in Superleague Formula for the first time.^[32] Robert Doornbos took over from Duncan Tappy in the championship-leading Japan car,^[17] with Tappy moving to the Galatasaray car to replace Andy Soucek, who in turn replaces María de Villota at Atlético de Madrid.

2011 Schedule

• Superleague Formula announced its full 2011 calendar on May 2, which saw the championship embark on a "Nations Cup", with races on four different continents this season in 8 rounds. For the first time, races were scheduled to be held in Russia, Brazil (two races), the Middle East and New Zealand.^[33] The Russian round, due to be held at the newly built Smolensk Ring, was later cancelled.^[34] The Middle East round was later replaced by a round in South Korea and a second round in China was added to replace the Russian round. The two rounds in Brazil were cancelled after apparent issues with the track in Goiânia.^[3] The series finale in New Zealand was later cancelled. The "Nations Cup" branding also had to be abandoned due to issues with naming rights which the series was still looking to resolve.^[35]
• With the announcement of the calendar, it was confirmed that each round was known as a 'Grand Prix'.^[33]
• The SF World Feed commentators at Zolder were Andrew Coley and Earl Bamber.

Race calendar and results

Round		Grand Prix	Date	Pole Position	Fastest Lap	Winning Club	Winning Team	Weekend Winner	Report
1	R1	GP Assen – Holland	4–5 June	France – GDB	France – GDB	Netherlands – PSV	Azerti Motorsport	England	Report
	R2				Czech Republic – SPR	Japan	Atech Reid Grand Prix
2	R1	GP Zolder – Belgium	16–17 July	England	New Zealand	England	Alan Docking Racing	Luxembourg	Report
	R2				Australia	Australia	Alan Docking Racing

Cancelled races

Grand Prix	Date
GP Russia[34]	3–4 September
GP Goiânia – Brazil[3]	8–9 October
TBC[3]	15–16 October
GP Beijing – China[4]	29–30 October
GP Shanghai – China[4]	5–6 November
GP Seoul – South Korea[4]	12–13 November
TBC[36]	10–11 December

Test calendar and results

• There was a two-day pre-season test session at Spain's Circuito Monteblanco on 9–10 December 2010.^[37]
• The Circuito de Navarra in Spain was due to host a two-day test on 30–31 August 2011.^[38] However, the scheduled event got cancelled, without an explanatory announcement.^[39]

Championship standings

Pos Entrant Drivers ASS ZOL Pts R1 R2 S R1 R2 S 1 Australia John Martin 6 2 4 7 1 2 158 2 Japan Duncan Tappy 7 1 6 136 Robert Doornbos 5 7 6 3 Luxembourg Frédéric Vervisch 3 13 DN 3 4 1 134 4 Netherlands – PSV Eindhoven Yelmer Buurman 1 10 3 6 6 7 130 5 Belgium – RSC Anderlecht Neel Jani 4 9 7 2 9 3 125 6 England Craig Dolby 2 8 1 1 13 X 124 7 New Zealand Earl Bamber 9 5 X 113 Chris van der Drift 4 8 5 8 Brazil Antônio Pizzonia 8 3 2 9 12 X 102 9 Czech Republic – AC Sparta Praha Filip Salaquarda 5 6 5 12 10 X 95 10 Turkey – Galatasaray SK Andy Soucek 13 7 X 88 Duncan Tappy 10 5 X 11 South Korea Max Wissel 8 2 4 71 12 Russia Mikhail Aleshin 11 3 8 56 13 France – Girondins de Bordeaux Tristan Gommendy 14 4 X 14 11 X 52 14 China Ho-Pin Tung 10 11 X 34 15 Spain – Atlético de Madrid María de Villota 12 12 X 28 Andy Soucek 13 14 X 16 Netherlands Robert Doornbos 11 DN X 16 Pos Entrant Drivers R1 R2 S R1 R2 S Pts ASS ZOL

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 S = Super Final

Race 1 and 2 points

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	11th	12th	13th	14th	15th	16th	17th	18th	19th	20th	21st	22nd	DNF	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	0

Super Final points

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	DNQ	DNS
Points	6	5	4	3	2	1	0	0	0	0

• New for 2011 was the alteration that the top 8 points-scorers from the weekend would compete in the Super Final, in contrast to 2010 where only the top 6 would qualify.^[2]

References

1. "Sonangol becomes Superleague Formula title sponsor for 2009 and 2010 seasons". superleagueformula.com. Superleague Formula. 24 June 2009. Archived from the original on 15 August 2009. Retrieved 1 December 2010.
2. "Superleague Formula gets underway in Assen". superleagueformula.com. Superleague Formula. 1 June 2011. Retrieved 2 June 2011.
3. "Ongoing track changes force cancelation of Superleague Formula Series' Brazil dates". superleagueformula.com. Superleague Formula. 14 September 2011. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
4. "Superleague Formula Series pulls out of Chinese rounds". superleagueformula.com. Superleague Formula. 13 October 2011. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
5. "Michelin extends exclusive deal". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. 24 March 2009. Retrieved 1 December 2010.
6. "Superleague Formula ook in 2011 naar Zolder". autosport.be. MDS Consult BVBA. 10 November 2010. Retrieved 1 December 2010.
7. O'Leary, Jamie (28 May 2011). "Jani gets Anderlecht drive". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
8. Blatter, Erwin (19 June 2009). "PSV verlengt verbintenis met Superleague Formula". ED (in Dutch). Wegener NieuwsMedia. Retrieved 1 December 2010.
9. "Buurman returns for Superleague Formula action". superleagueformula.com. Superleague Formula. 26 May 2011. Retrieved 26 May 2011.
10. "Interview Wim Coekelbergs (Azerti Team – Superleague Formula)". autosport.be. MDS Consult BVBA. 11 May 2011. Retrieved 11 May 2011.
11. "Superleague Formula announces full line-up". superleagueformula.com. Superleague Formula. 2 June 2011. Retrieved 2 June 2011.
12. IJzerman, Matthé (26 May 2011). "Superleague ondergaat een gedaantewisseling" [Superleague undergoes a metamorphosis]. Autosport NL. Fast Company. Retrieved 26 May 2011.
13. Evans, Rhodri (16 November 2010). "WAG supports motorsport team's relocation". Wales Online. Media Wales Ltd. Retrieved 1 December 2010.
14. "Atech GP and Atech Reid combine forces". Motorsport.com. GMM. 3 December 2010. Retrieved 5 December 2010.
15. "Salaquarda joins Superleague Formula for 2011". GPUpdate.net. GPUpdate. 4 February 2011. Retrieved 4 February 2011.
16. "Chris van der Drift returns to Superleague Formula". superleagueformula.com. Superleague Formula. 17 June 2011. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
17. "Doornbos gets the Japan seat in Zolder". superleagueformula.com. Superleague Formula. 14 July 2011. Retrieved 14 July 2011.
18. "Михаил Алешин дебютирует в серии Superleague Formula" [Mikhail Aleshin will debut in a series of Superleague Formula]. OpenRacing.ru. OpenRacing. BW Communication. 30 June 2011. Retrieved 30 June 2011.
19. "Jani puts Belgium car top on home soil". superleagueformula.com. Superleague Formula. 15 July 2011. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
20. "Max Wissel returns to Superleague Formula". superleagueformula.com. Superleague Formula. 27 June 2011. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
21. "Superleague Formula unveils first four drivers for 2011". superleagueformula.com. Superleague Formula. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
22. "Pizzonia vai defender o Corinthians na Superleague Formula" [Pizzonia will defend the Corinthians in Superleague Formula]. Terra Networks. Telefónica. 26 May 2011. Retrieved 26 May 2011.
23. Anderson, Ben (4 February 2011). "Fong returns to British F3". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 4 February 2011.
24. "It's an Italian job for British Formula 3…". British Formula 3 Championship. Stéphane Ratel Organisation. 8 April 2011. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
25. Sepulveda, Jose Luis (13 December 2010). "Esteban Guerrieri correrá en la Indy Lights y una fecha de la IndyCar en 2011". Racing5 (in Spanish). WordPress. Retrieved 14 December 2010.
26. "Julien Jousse chez Pescarolo Team". AUTOhebdo (in French). Groupe Hommell. 9 February 2011. Retrieved 9 February 2011.
27. Duffy, David (14 March 2011). "Walker to race new Ferrari". The Oxford Times. Newsquest. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
28. Noble, Jonathan (6 January 2011). "Karthikeyan signs race deal with HRT". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
29. "Celso Míguez firma con Aurora Racing Team". Sport Life Press (in Spanish). SLPmedia. 28 March 2011. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
30. "Rigon and Scuderia Coloni together in the GP2 Series". GP2 Series. GP2 Motorsport Limited. 30 April 2011. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
31. Mills, Peter (8 April 2011). "Mofaz signs van der Drift for FR3.5". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
32. "Superleague Formula set for Grand Prix of Belgium". superleagueformula.com. Superleague Formula. Retrieved 12 July 2011.
33. "Superleague Formula announces 2011". superleagueformula.com. Superleague Formula. 2 May 2011. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
34. "Smolensk Ring put Superleague Formula race date back to 2012". superleagueformula.com. Superleague Formula. 22 June 2011. Retrieved 22 June 2011.
35. Wilkinson, Andy (10 June 2011). "Superleague Formula seeking FIA clarification on 'Nations Cup'". motorstv.com. Motors TV. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
36. "Big motor racing formula for NZ in 2012". Scoop. Scoop Media. 29 July 2011. Retrieved 13 October 2011. High-powered international race cars from the Superleague Formula are set for New Zealand, although their debut has been delayed a year.
37. "Salaquarda and Oakes to Test With Atech Reid GP". atechreidgp.com. Atech Reid GP. 8 December 2010. Retrieved 8 December 2010.
38. "Superleague Formula set for mid season test at Navarra". superleagueformula.com. Superleague Formula. 17 August 2011. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
39. Rubino, Jacopo (29 August 2011). "Cancellate le due giornate di prove a Navarra" [Delete the two days of testing in Navarra]. StopandGo.TV (in Italian). Stop&Go. Retrieved 31 August 2011.

External links

• Superleague Formula Official Website
• V12 Racing: Independent Superleague Formula Fansite Magazine
• Superleague Formula at thenewsmarket.com