New Beginnings

Well, after 16 months, 274 posts, 517 categories (see above for just a selection), over 2,000 comments and well over one million hits, the Superleague Formula blog is coming to an end, ready to be replaced by a shiny new website for ‘the beautiful race’.

We’re proud of this blog, though. Mainly because, when we launched it back in April 2007, we wanted to ensure that we could build interest and enthusiasm (slowly but surely), to make sure we published news on a regular basis (so that everyone could review our progress) and – most importantly – to listen to the views and opinions of both motor racing and football fans…

Also, as the home of Superleague Formula, this blog (alongside our associated apps like flickr, YouTube, twitter, etc.) has been able to document the birth and growth of a new, exciting sport, with ‘need to know’ information mixed in with news updates and more personal posts too.

Job done, I hope, on all fronts.

Now, as clubs pursue their desire to ‘go global’, to grow their exposure, fanbase and recognition around the world, Superleague Formula will give them a new and innovative way to do this, without impacting on their football activities.

The end? No, this is just the beginning…

Welcome to Superleague Formula.

SF Tickets Now On Sale

Football and motorsport fans can now purchase tickets for the opening round of the inaugural Superleague Formula championship at Britain’s Donington Park circuit.

The two-day event will be staged on August 30/31, and prices range from as low as £20 (24 euro) for a weekend pass, and a weekend advance purchase ticket for a family (two adults and two children) is only £70 (88 euro).

Tickets are available online from Donington Park or through Ticketcorner.

“After many years of planning and development and a very intensive past 12 months, we are delighted to open ticket sales for our first event,” says SF’s Alex Andreu. “We have had daily calls and emails enquiring about ticket sales from right across Europe. We have a lot of new fans to motorsport that are really looking forward to seeing their club colours in action at more than 300km/h.”

Each round of the SF championship will be staged as a two-day event with teams contesting two 50 minute races on Sunday – the first race will be staged at 11.00am with the second reverse grid event scheduled for 2.00pm.

Each race will feature a single pit stop for tyres, and teams will hit the track for the first time on Saturday with morning practice sessions before attacking the qualifying session at 12.30pm.

More Than A Race

The 2007 Aerobatic World Champion, Ramon Alonso, is set to thrill SF race fans by performing aerobatic displays three times over each Superleague Formula weekend – once on Saturday and twice on raceday.

Alonso is just a part of the full programme of fan activities (organised around a Central Stage area) on SF race weekends, aimed at providing a large range of family entertainment, including DJs, break-dancers, freestyle football displays, face-painters and prize-giving.

Fans will also be able to take the opportunity to have their photograph taken with team show cars, and to meet the drivers for autograph sessions, too.

Additional entertainment will include a Motorcycle Stunt-Show (featuring World Champion Streetbike Freestylers Chris Pfeiffer), Paramotors (six pilots performing beautifully coordinated flights aboard SF-branded paragliders, using pyrotechnic effects),

There will be a ‘Football Zone’ with giant human football table, penalty shoot-outs, radar shoot outs, XXL table football unit, a Karting Zone (with brand new 200cc karts) and special interactives that help to improve reaction, hand-eye coordination and stamina – just like SF drivers.

“Our plan from the start was to establish Superleague Formula as more than just a motor race – we want to provide an extensive array of entertainment options for the entire family,” says SF boss, Alex Andreu. “We think we have a great line up of entertainment – both on the ground and in the skies above.

“Superleague Formula will bring a host of new fans to the track who have never been to a motorsport event before and our goal is to be able to provide them with an excellent experience.”

Milan Hits The Road

Here are a few pictures from last weekend’s kick off of the “Milan Tour” at Piazza Duomo, in Milan – part of a national tour which the club is taking around Italy, with a fan interactive and a display of all the international titles that make “Il club Più titolato”, the club with the most international titles in the world.

It was certainly one of the most impressive locations SF has been at, that’s for sure!

The history of the Piazza combined with being part of one of the most important and oldest clubs in the world made it feel really special for us to be there – feeling part of history…

As you can see, the fantastic Milano weather ensured that the roadshow was packed on both Saturday and Sunday, with a lot of attention from the Milan fans, who were cheering and taking pictures with the car (if we had a penny for each picture)…

All in all, the weekend was a roaring success and everyone was very interested in ‘the beautiful race’. In fact, as more and more people recognized the car and SF, the AC Milan fans’ impatience for the competition to kick off in August was tangible. More pics here.

SF at Zolder’s 45th

Better late than never… He are a couple of images from our presence at Zolder’s 45th anniversary celebrations last weekend.

As you can see, we had the PSV car on display which went down a storm and – while we were there – we also held a press conference for local media, with Astromega Race Team leader, Mikke Van Hool, the Zolder circuit director Roger Dejaeghere and Zolder Marketing Manager Walter Goossens (as well as SF’s Diego Barroso) all in attendance.

SF Hits The Streets

Superleague Formula’s prototype car was unleashed on to the city streets of Eindhoven yesterday.

Test driver Bruce Jouanny (in car above and below) took the 750 horsepower Superleague Formula development prototype – which has been undergoing testing across Europe in recent months – for a spin before a crowd of 50,000.

The run was part of a week-long ‘Pole Position in Technology’ event in the Dutch city of Eindhoven, the home of PSV (whose Superleague Formula car was also on display for fans to see).

A wide variety of machines from past, present and future including solar and hyrdogen-powered cars were also on display, as well as other race cars (including local heroes Mike Hezemans and Peter Kox aboard GT sportscar machines).

For all the images from the weekend, click here.

New AC Milan Car Livery

Here are some images of the new AC Milan car livery, designed by Ian Hutchinson. They were revealed to club representatives, sponsors and media at event in Villasimius on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia (May 08).

Click here for all the images we have (so far).

Zolder Weekender For SF

Race fans will get their first chance to see a Superleague Formula machine at Zolder this weekend, when the circuit celebrates its 45th anniversary.

While three participating SF clubs are closely located (RSC Anderlecht, PSV Eindhoven and Borussia Dortmund), PSV is actually the nearest club, located only 60km from the circuit despite the fact that RSC Anderlecht and Zolder are both Belgian!

With PSV Eindhoven’s showcar on site, fans will have the chance to get up close to the SF machine at a circuit which hosted the Belgian Grand Prix on 10 occasions in the 1970s and 80s, and which will now be staging Round Three of the inaugural Superleague Formula championship on October 4-5.

“We’re very happy to have Superleague Formula with us in October,” says Zolder Marketing Manger, Walter Goosens. “In our 45th year of existence, it is great to have this brand new championship on our track.

“The new approach of racing and football is quite teasing, and promises a thrilling event. Since Anderlecht will be our ‘home club’, we’re looking forward to seeing their team perform, but we’re close to Eindhoven as well, so their fans are more than welcome.

“We can even expect Borussia Dortmund, AC Milan and Galatasaray fans in October. Dortmund is only two hours drive, and there are huge Italian and Turkish communities living in our province.”

Sweet Success For Olympiacos and Flamengo

We’ve been talking at SFHQ about the lack of news updates regarding our Greek and Brazilian entries’ recent successes on the pitch… so now’s the time to make amends!

Yes, while we touched on Olympiacos’ title triumph a few weeks’ back, we thought it best to highlight the fact that the Greeks are Champions once again (images above and below, courtesy of Sports United).

In fact, SF’s Greek representatives actually won the double when they beat Aris 2-0 in the final of the Greek Cup… Respect is due!

Also, props to Flamengo who won the Rio State Championship (Carioca) title back on Sunday 4 May, beating rivals Botafogo – the first title Mengo has won in 2008. We’re hoping to get some images soon. Other news, Flamengo’s manager, Joel Santana, has now departed for South Africa, to be replaced by Caio Jr…

Apologies to all Flamengo fans for not reporting their triumph (or change of manager) earlier.

One Million and Counting…

We don’t tend to resort to this kind of self-regarding nonsense very often but, now and again, it’s good to take a step back, hands on hips, and consider how far we’ve gone…

Since we launched the blog back 13 months ago, we’ve welcomed over one million visitor to this, our digital home, and now the countdown has truly begun to the beginning of Year One.

So, thanks to all of you for helping us to build the sport from the ground up, for leaving your comments and ideas and for taking the time to tell us what you think.

Hopefully, we’ll be seeing you at the circuits later this year for the launch of Superleague Formula: more than a race…. the beautiful race.