Thursday, October 9, 2008

Super League

Ever wonder where ex-Champ Car drivers go, who aren’t lucky enough to graduate to the new unified Indy Car World Series? As it seems that the newly created Super League has become a haven for many of the displaced foreign drivers...

What’s that? You say you’ve never heard of the Super League? Well, it’s a somewhat novel idea, very loosely framed upon the principle of the A1 GP, which bills itself as the Motorsports equivalent of World Cup Soccer, Err, Foosball... As the Super League is the cross pollination of worldwide Foosball clubs and Motorsports, with 17 Soccer Clubs racing against each other in identically prepared racecar’s...

And talk about your “Spec” racecar, as all of the single seaters are produced by Elan Motorsports Technologies and powered by Menard Competition Technologies (4.2 liter) V-12 lump’s producing 750+ bhp.

“While the chassis and components are constructed at Elan's base in Atlanta, Georgia in the USA, the final assembly is taking place at the headquarters of Norfolk headquarters for renowned Formula Ford constructor, Van Diemen - also an Elan owned company.”

The driver roll call sheet seems to be a combination of A1 GP, GP2 and ex-Champ Car stars, piloting such notable Soccer clubs machinery as Liverpool, Olympiacos and PSV Eindhoven.

While such notables as Ryan Dalziel, (Rangers) Robert Doornbos, (AC Milan) Tristan Gommendy (FC Porto) and Nelson Philippe, (Borussia Dortmund) which equates to approximately ¼ of the old Champ Car grid… OUCh!

The first round of the six race series was run at Donnington on August 31st, with victory going to Davide Rigon, driving for Beijing Guoan, with Enrico Toccacelo (AS Roma) runner-up and Duncan Tappy (Tottenham Hotspur) finishing third…

Correction
A very astute reader has caught me making another blunder… As I’d incorrectly assumed that the Rangers noted above equated to the Queens Parks Rangers of London, in which “Flavour Flav,” a.k.a. Flavio Briatore is part owner of. But, you know what happens when you ASS-Sume things, eh? And thus Open Wheel star Ryan Dalziel, was indeed behind the wheel of his Scottish Football Club’s entry, the Glasgow Rangers of Scotland and NOT driving for Briatore’s London based club…