The sound of chatter and expectation as the crowds gather at the stadium to watch their beloved team, cheering and jeering as the line-ups are announced, and the referee's whistle engulfed in manic song. This idyllic description of football is about to be drowned out by the sound of a 750 brake horsepower V12 engine, housed in a sleek body shell donned in famous team colours. These cars will take the rivalries normally bound to the hallowed green turf, onto the solid black asphalt of motor racing venues worldwide, welcome to Superleague Formula.

This new racing series pulls together the excitement of football, and adds to it the intense atmosphere of open wheel racing. One of the primary aims of the series co-ordinators is to create an atmosphere and experience that is second to none, both for the fans that attend, and those watching at home. On track, all cars will feature the same chassis and sealed engine units, allowing only minimal changes to be made, in a move to encourage close racing. Off-track, race goers have access to the paddock, and get a chance to see the cars being prepared and worked on, and also enjoy theme-park style entertainment, featuring football and motor racing based activities for all the family to enjoy.

A typical meeting covers both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday’s will feature the free testing sessions to allow the drivers to find the optimum configuration for the car to suit the circuit and their own unique driving style. This is followed by the qualifying session, where the format has been designed to encompass the excitement of football cup competitions, as well as penalty shootouts. The twenty entrants are split by a random draw, into two groups of ten. Each group of ten has fifteen minutes on-track to set a time. At the end of the session the top four times from each group are placed into one group. They are sent out in pairs, in a head-to-head sudden death situation, where the fastest driver over one flying lap moves onto the next round. This continues until the pole position is determined. The tail end of the grid is made up of those drivers who didn’t make the shootout. They are placed in the order of their times from the initial part of qualifying. The weekend’s racing action is bolstered by the inclusion of other racing series in a support race programme.

The race weekend features two races run on the Sunday, both 45 minutes in length to further bring the football side of things in. The first race’s grid is determined from the qualifying session, and the second race featuring a reverse grid based on the finishing order from the first race. This format encourages overtaking by placing the fastest cars at the back of the field, gives slower cars chance to shine, and prevents any one team being a runaway winner across the entire series, thus keeping interest to the end.

The cars are single seater sealed-engine cars. The Menard Competition Technologies supplied engines are manufactured in Oxfordshire, and are supplied as-is. No modifications may be made to the engine units by the individual teams. The 4.2 litre V12 power plant produces some 750bhp at 11,750 rpm. The body is imported from the United States, and is produced by Elan Motorsport Technologies. The track of the car is 2 meters, and the length is estimated to be just over 4.5 meters, with a target weight is 675kg. The specifications and dimensions of the car are designed to make them fun to drive and exciting to watch. Michelin are the sole tyre provider to the series.

This exciting new racing series will host its first race weekend at Donington Park in the United Kingdom on the final weekend of August, with cars representing some of the most famous football teams from around the globe. Some of the first clubs to affiliate with Superleague Formula were Italian giants AC Milan, Dutch outfit PSV Eindhoven, FC Porto of Portugal and Olympiacos of Greece. Since then a real mixture of clubs from around the world have joined, Borussia Dortmund, RSC Anderlecht, Flamengo, FC Basel, Galatasaray SK, Sevilla FC, Corinthians, Rangers, Al Ain, Beijing Gouan FC, AS Roma, Tottenham Hotspur. The latest team to take the plunge into to the Superleague Formula are five time European champions, and the most successful British club team, Liverpool FC.

Superleague Formula is fully sanctioned under the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), and will feature a number of familiar racing drivers to those who follow the more prominent racing series’ such as Formula 1, and its supporting GP2 series. Yelmer Buurman will drive the PSV Eindhoven entry, the Dutchman has raced in many series', including Formula Renault, Formula 3 and GP2. The AC Milan car will be driven by Robert Doornbos, who has also driven in Formula 3, but made it into Formula 1 for two seasons, before moving across the Atlantic to take part in the Champ Car World Series last year, and now features as a test and demonstration driver for Formula 1. Adrián Vallés will pilot Liverpool FC car. The young GP2 star is the latest Spaniard to join the ranks at Liverpool, after his previous role as part of the Formula 1 setup, as a test driver for the Spyker F1 team in 2007.

Superleague Formula has something for everyone, regardless of whether you follow football, motor sport, both or neither. Give it a try; the whole thing may just take a hold of you, and never let go.