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‘Formula football’ prepares to kick off
20 August 2007 Superleague Formula plans to race 20 cars backed by different football teams. Trackside’s Keith Collantine has seen the same idea fail in the past - and questions if it can work this time. There’s nothing new about motor racing and football getting together. F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has been linked to a buyout of Arsenal, and Renault team boss Flavio Briatore is set to buy QPR. But now a new championship aims to bring motor racing and football together on the track. Superleague Formula has all the makings of an exciting new racing series. It promises to pit drivers against each other in identical cars, so racing skill should account for more than it does it in Formula 1. Each round will carry a €1m (£680,000) prize. Powered by 4.5 litre, 750bhp V12 engines, the cars should have plenty of grunt and the chassis looks good as well. The twist is this: each team will be backed by a European football squad and painted in their colours. The organisers hope to attract football fans from the pitches to the tracks. It’s not a new idea – the Premier 1 GP championship tried to do exactly the same thing in 2001. But hardly any teams showed an interest and the series never held a single race. Despite that, Superleague Formula has picked up the ball and run with it. It plans to start races in August next year and intends to hold 17 races in 2009.
But will football fans really take to motor racing just because of a few cars decked out in their teams’ strips? The two sports are totally different, and a football fan used to being able to see the entire pitch might be taken aback by only being able to see a couple of corners at a racing track. And instead of holding the series during the football off-season, the races will be competing with football matches for spectators. Not to mention the hostility of some motor racing fans who may resent seeing their sport used as a marketing exercise to get more money out of football supporters. Will Superleague Formula sink or swim? Tell us what you think. Trackside video The first British Touring Car race at Brands Hatch didn’t last very long. The race was stopped after this massive shunt blocked the track.
Mat Jackson’s spinning BMW triggered the crash. He was hit by Matt Neal’s Honda Civic who was in turn collected by Dave Pinkney’s Alfa Romeo. Neal and Pinkey were taken to hospital for checks. Fabrizio Giovanardi won the restarted race and added another win in race two, Colin Turkington triumphing in the third. Giovanardi has cut Jason Plato’s championship lead to four points. Auto Trader links Incredible 1,000 bhp rally car
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So far seven teams have shown interest: PSV Eindhoven (above), Borussia Dortmund (left), AC Milan, Anderlecht, Flamengo, FC Porto and Olympiakos.Page 1
