The2008 Estoril Superleague Formula round was the fourth round of theinauguralSuperleague Formula championship, with the races taking place on October 19, 2008. Eighteen football teams were represented on the grid, the same number of teams as there was at the previous two rounds. There were four driver changes for this round of the championship:Franck Perera joinedA.S. Roma replacingEnrico Toccacelo,[1] with Toccacelo moving to theBorussia Dortmund car, replacingPaul Meijer as original driverNelson Philippe was onGP2 Asia Series duty inShanghai.[1] Meijer also stayed in the series, moving to theAl Ain car, as both of their previous driversAndreas Zuber (also in Shanghai) andBertrand Baguette (inBarcelona for the final World Series by Renault round of the season) were unavailable.[1] Just like Baguette,Duncan Tappy was unavailable to drive theTottenham Hotspur car, and was replaced byDominik Jackson.[1] The meeting saw a second win forLiverpool F.C. and a first win forAl Ain.Beijing Guoan extended their championship lead to 35 points, thanks to a pair of fifths forDavide Rigon.
After the random draw which split the eighteen-car field into two groups, the fastest four qualifiers from each progressed into the knockout stages to decide places 1 to 8 on the grid. For the first time in Superleague Formula, the eight knockout qualifiers were the eight fastest drivers out of the two groups. As fastest drivers in their groups,Franck Perera (A.S. Roma) and Kasper Andersen (Olympiacos CFP) were expected to meet in the final, howeverRobert Doornbos'A.C. Milan machine knocked out theDane in the semis. In the final itself, Perera recorded the fastest lap to become the fourth different polesitter in four races.
From the start, Perera led away from Doornbos,Adrián Vallés (Liverpool F.C.) andTristan Gommendy (F.C. Porto), with Andersen being delayed from third on the grid. Lower down the field, tenth-placedMax Wissel (FC Basel 1893) collided with seventh-placedEnrico Toccacelo (Borussia Dortmund) collided at Curva 1, with Wissel retiring on the spot and Toccacelo retiring at the end of the lap, with front wing damage from the accident. It stayed that way until the mandatory stops, withDavide Rigon (Beijing Guoan) joining in on the fun also. Lap 10 saw Perera pitting with a four-second lead, closely followed by Vallés. A fumble by a rear tyre changer cost theFrench driver time and the place to Vallés. Doornbos came in to pit next time around with Rigon which put Gommendy into the lead, for home side Porto. He would lead for a couple of laps, before pitting which allowedAntônio Pizzonia (SC Corinthians) to lead for a lap. When all the stops cycled through, Liverpool led from Milan, Roma and Beijing with Pizzonia up to fifth. Pizzonia would pass Rigon for fourth towards the end of the race as theItalian was nursing an ailing car home with only fourth through sixth gears, and closed to a second behind Perera at the finish. Gommendy's strong run was ended by a water pump failure on lap 26, ruling that car out for the rest of the day. So, Vallés won his second Superleague race by 0.948 seconds from Doornbos, and then followed by Perera, Pizzonia, Rigon,Andy Soucek (Atlético Madrid),Alessandro Pier Guidi (Galatasaray S.K.),Borja García (Sevilla FC),Yelmer Buurman (PSV Eindhoven), Andersen,Tuka Rocha (CR Flamengo),Paul Meijer (Al Ain),Ryan Dalziel (Rangers F.C.),Craig Dolby (R.S.C. Anderlecht) and debutantDominik Jackson rounding out the field forTottenham Hotspur in 15th.
Rigon started from the pit lane, following a gearbox change after race one. From the start, polesitter Wissel led from Toccacelo and Jackson with action towards the back with Soucek's engine blowing. Jackson moved up to second, passing Toccacelo around the back of the circuit and closed up on Wissel down the front straight, and at Curva 1, Jackson would take the lead for a couple of laps. On lap 4, Toccacelo came up to the back of theEnglishman's car, having already disposed of Wissel and did the same to Jackson. Towards the back, Perera and Vallés would collide at turn six, with Perera spinning into the gravel and retirement and Vallés retreating to the pits for a new nosecone. Dalziel also had a moment, and spun into retirement as well, with unrepairable accident damage. Out front, Toccacelo was establishing a healthy lead before his pit-stop on lap 14. Andersen then led for three laps before his pitstop, handing the lead back to Toccacelo, with Meijer now in tow, thanks to an early pitstop on lap 10. Wissel and Andersen would both retire in the late stages with mechanical problems and with three laps to go, gremlins would strike Toccacelo. Fading oil pressure switched the engine's ECU into safety mode, and was helpless in stopping Meijer through to the lead. After recording his first pole atZolder, Meijer recorded his first win by nearly two seconds from Doornbos (up from 17th) with Pier Guidi, Pizzonia and Rigon further deposing Toccacelo before the flag. García, Buurman, Dolby, Rocha, Jackson and Vallés completed the finishers. Healthy finishes for Rigon allowed Beijing to head to the penultimate round atVallelunga with a 35-point lead from PSV, with Liverpool now in third just a point further back. With a maximum of 200 points available, the championship is still wide open.
- In each group, the top four qualify for the quarter-finals.
Autódromo do Estoril,Estoril,Portugal
A.S. Roma
Franck Perera
Beijing Guoan
Borussia Dortmund
R.S.C. Anderlecht
Craig Dolby
Atlético Madrid
PSV Eindhoven
Galatasaray S.K.
Al Ain
Olympiacos CFP
Kasper Andersen
Liverpool F.C.
SC Corinthians
FC Basel 1893
Rangers F.C.