2009 Superleague Formula season
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. It began on June 28 at Magny-Cours and finished on November 8 at Jarama.
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".
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.
Entrant | Race team | No. | Race driver | Rounds |
Sporting CP | Zakspeed | 2 | Pedro Petiz | All |
R.S.C. Anderlecht | Zakspeed | 8 | Yelmer Buurman | All |
A.C. Milan | Azerti Motorsport | 3 | Giorgio Pantano | All |
PSV Eindhoven | Azerti Motorsport | 5 | Dominick Muermans | 1–3 |
PSV Eindhoven | Azerti Motorsport | 5 | Carlo van Dam | 4–6 |
CR Flamengo | Azerti Motorsport | 7 | Enrique Bernoldi | 4, 6 |
CR Flamengo | Azerti Motorsport | 7 | Jonathan Kennard | 5 |
A.S. Roma | Azerti Motorsport | 22 | Jonathan Kennard | 1–3 |
Galatasaray S.K. | Ultimate Motorsport Reid Motorsport | 4 | Duncan Tappy | 1–2 |
Galatasaray S.K. | Ultimate Motorsport Reid Motorsport | 4 | Scott Mansell | 3 |
Galatasaray S.K. | Ultimate Motorsport Reid Motorsport | 4 | Ho-Pin Tung | 4–6 |
Al Ain | Ultimate Motorsport Reid Motorsport | 6 | Miguel Molina | 1 |
Al Ain | Ultimate Motorsport Reid Motorsport | 6 | Esteban Guerrieri | 2 |
Sevilla FC | Ultimate Motorsport Reid Motorsport | 18 | Esteban Guerrieri | 3 |
Sevilla FC | Ultimate Motorsport Reid Motorsport | 18 | Sébastien Bourdais | 4–6 |
CR Flamengo | Delta Motorsport/ADR | 7 | Enrique Bernoldi | 1–3 |
Olympiacos CFP | GU-Racing International | 9 | Davide Rigon | 1–3 |
Olympiacos CFP | GU-Racing International | 9 | Esteban Guerrieri | 4–6 |
FC Basel 1893 | GU-Racing International | 10 | Max Wissel | All |
SC Corinthians | Alan Docking Racing | 14 | Antônio Pizzonia | All |
Atlético Madrid | Alan Docking Racing | 15 | Ho-Pin Tung | 1–3 |
Atlético Madrid | Alan Docking Racing | 15 | María de Villota | 4–6 |
Rangers F.C. | Alan Docking Racing | 17 | John Martin | All |
Tottenham Hotspur | Alan Docking Racing | 19 | Craig Dolby | All |
A.S. Roma | Alan Docking Racing | 22 | Franck Perera | 4 |
A.S. Roma | Alan Docking Racing | 22 | Julien Jousse | 5–6 |
F.C. Porto | Hitech Junior Team | 16 | Tristan Gommendy | 1–3, 5–6 |
F.C. Porto | Hitech Junior Team | 16 | Álvaro Parente | 4 |
Liverpool F.C. | Hitech Junior Team | 21 | Adrián Vallés | All |
FC Midtjylland | Hitech Junior Team | 24 | Kasper Andersen | All |
Olympique Lyonnais | Barazi-Epsilon | 69 | Nelson Panciatici | All |
- Giorgio Pantano had signed an official deal with Al Ain before they announced they would not be able to compete in this season. A week later however, they changed their decision and entered the championship with drivers Miguel Molina and Esteban Guerrieri. However, Al Ain were replaced by Sevilla FC 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 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.
- Enrique Bernoldi: IndyCar Series → CR Flamengo
- Jonathan Kennard: Sabbatical → A.S. Roma
- John Martin: British Formula Three Championship → Rangers F.C.
- Miguel Molina: World Series by Renault → Al Ain
- Nelson Panciatici: Spanish Formula Three Championship → Olympique Lyonnais
- Giorgio Pantano: GP2 Series → A.C. Milan
- Pedro Petiz: Porsche Supercup → Sporting CP
- Ho-Pin Tung: GP2 Series → Atlético Madrid
- Bertrand Baguette: Al Ain → World Series by Renault
- Ryan Dalziel: Rangers F.C. → Rolex Sports Car Series
- Robert Doornbos: A.C. Milan → IndyCar Series
- Borja García: Sevilla FC → Atlantic Championship
- Stamatis Katsimis: Olympiacos CFP → Greek Rally Championship
- Alessandro Pier Guidi: Galatasaray S.K. → FIA GT Championship
- 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
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.
- 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. 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
- 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. 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.
Championship standings
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 |