Super! - SuperLeague that Is
As one open wheel series gets buried this week a new one gets it’s first on track testing. Superleague Formula racing was announced in 2005, receiving the full approval of the FIA in December of 2005. The league will introduce team sponsorship by major European football clubs.
The car has been built by Panoz under the
This has ‘cynical marketing exercise’ written all over it. What we need is better promotion of existing racing series that get too little coverage, like GP2 and the Renault World Series. Not weird hybrids of two sports designed to squeeze money from football fans.
Keith’s last blog post..Wickens goes from hero to zero in A1GP crash-fest
Keith, I have serious doubts about the effort myself, the most serious being the amount of open wheel series’ that are already in existence.
Just how much is enough?
Then there’s the matter of running a 12 cylinder engine, it’s a stupid move that adds unnecessary potential for breakdowns. Just when other series are cutting engines size or switching to a more “earth-friendly” fuel these idiots decide on 12 cylinders. They’re begging for the ecco-wennies to come down hard on them
Guess we’ll find out soon enough if the idea flys, or not.
Yeah somehow I can’t see this bird flying. Unlike A1GP where countryman can cheer for their nation’s car - everybody like supporting their flag in sports - the whole football tie-in is lost on me. Further, the previous venture failed to sign up clubs by the truckload.
IMHO, if you were serious about setting up a single seater class you should copy the format that the Spanish took with the launch of Telefonica World Series by Nissan (now morphed into WSbR). They made it very attractive to teams & sponsors, with prize funds & TV coverage guaranteed, this led to drivers being hired on merit not budget. For example Justin Wilson, walked straight into a paid ride after taking the F3000 title, the series prospered with a quality field producing good racing.Even now (merged with the defunct Renault V6 series, as WSbR) it is the best value category outside of GP2. Only problem is? Does Europe need another one make class? Let alone the existence of A1GP.
If this venture were to succeed it will have more to do with the quality of the pilot then the livery on the car.