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Saturday 31st July 2010
2008 - Superleague Formula - Portugal (Round 4)


2008 - Superleague Formula - Portugal (Round 4)
19th October, 2008
Following on from success in Zolder, Liverpool and Beijing were battling at the top of the championship standings as the season moved to Estoril. Warm sunny weather greeted the drivers in Portugal, in stark contrast to the damp conditions in Belgium during the previous round.

Enrico Toccacelo has moved from the AS Roma car to the Borussia Dortmund car, as youngster Franck Perera took his AS Roma seat. Liverpool 's Adrian Valles had qualified in fourth, but jumped to third from the start of the first race. Max Wissel in the FC Basel car retired early on, as did Dortmund's Enrico Toccacelo. Superleague Formula newcomer Franck Perera made a dream start as he led the race followed by Italian rivals AC Milan and Liverpool. Perera suffered a delay in his compulsory pit stop which dropped him down the order, but AC Milan and Liverpool had perfect pit stops. Milan pitted a lap later than Liverpool, and as Doornbos pulled out of the pit lane, he was immediately put under pressure from Valles who had warmed his tyres up over his out lap. Doornbos could offer no resistance to the pass, and Valles duly took first position and then drove to claim the race win. Milan took second, with AS Roma in third.

As well as driver changes for AS Roma and Borussia Dortmund, changes were also afoot at Al-Ain with Paul Meijer taking the race seat. He duly delivered with a spectacular second race. He started sixth, and by the first corner had moved into fourth. Enrico Toccacelo led for much of the race, but was robbed of a fantastic result, as a problem with oil pressure stripped him of his maiden victory with only four laps to go. Meijer closed out the race to take Al-Ain's first win of the Superleague Formula, and was followed by AC Milan and Alessandro Pier Guidi representing Galatasaray. Beijing finished fifth to secure yet more points in their quest to win the become the first ever champions of Superleague Formula.

The next round is from Vallelunga, near to Rome. This will be intriguing from a fans point of view, as well as on track with the bitter rivalry between AC Milan and AS Roma set to meet for the first time in Superleague Formula.

Final Race 1 Standings (Top 10):
    1.  Liverpool FC (A. Valles)
    2.  AC Milan (R. Doornbos)
    3.  AS Roma (F. Perera)
    4.  Corinthians (A. Pizzonia)
    5.  Beijing Guoan (D. Rigon)
    6.  Atletico de Madrid (A. Soucek)
    7.  Galatasaray SK (A. Pier Guidi)
    8.  Sevilla FC (B. Garcia)
    9.  PSV Eindhoven (Y. Buurman)
   10.  Olympiacos (K. Andersen)

Final Race 2 Standings (Top 10):
    1.  Al-Ain (P. Meijer)
    2.  AC Milan (R. Doornbos)
    3.  Galatasaray SK (A. Pier Guidi)
    4.  Corinthians (A. Pizzonia)
    5.  Beijing Guoan (D. Rigon)
    6.  BVB Borussia Dortmund FC (E. Toccacelo)
    7.  Sevilla FC (B. Garcia)
    8.  PSV Eindhoven (Y. Buurman)
    9.  RSC Anderlecht (C. Dolby)
   10.  Flamengo (T. Rocha)

Driver's Championship Standings (Top 10): 
    1.  Beijing Gu'aon       271 Pts
    2.  PSV Eindhoven        236 Pts
    3.  Liverpool FC         235 Pts
    4.  AC Milan             216 Pts
    5.  Sevilla FC           199 Pts
    6.  AS Roma              190 Pts
    7.  RSC Anderlecht       189 Pts
    8.  Galatasaray SK       180 Pts
    9.  Tottenham Hotspur    173 Pts
   10.  Corinthians          169 Pts