2005 Superfund Series

[Kicking-back]

Superfund Euro 3000 will have a new car for next year, and a new name to be announced at a later date.

Here's the calendar:

1 May Brno, Czech Republic
15 May (TBA) France
12 June Estoril, Portugal
26 June Monza, Italy
10 July Nürburgring, Germany
24 July Zandvoort, Netherlands
28 August Donington, Great Britain
18 September Zolder, Belgium
2 October Lausitzring, Germany
16 October Vallelunga, Italy
6 November Cagliari, Italy


I understand the Lausitzring race is on the full oval and will not count for points.


One unusual tweak - the top seven from qualifying will have a one lap race (starting in areverse order grid) for pole position during the Sunday morning warm-up session.

[Russfeld]

They're going to race for one lap sunday morning? Id rather start 7th than risk my car.

Not that id want to race in this series to begin with...

[Kicking-back]

I agree - it'll be the usual band of second raters and playboys.

[flor]

an oval race in october? will they also race if it rains ?

[jondownunder]

Originally posted by Kicking-back
One unusual tweak - the top seven from qualifying will have a one lap race (starting in areverse order grid) for pole position during the Sunday morning warm-up session.

Great, so your reward for being the quickest is to start 7th for a one-lap race? And exactly how much chance is there of getting from 7th to 1st in one lap? Granted, this could be entertaining for spectators (I think I'd want to be at turn 1 ), but it makes the racing a farce. Exactly the same reason I have no interest in series that use success ballast or reverse grids. It removes any notion of "sport" from such categories.

[Kicking-back]

I agree it's silly.

But Superfund know GP2 will be a better product so they're relying on gimmicks.

I'd sandbag in qualfying if I had the pace for pole - although it'd be difficult to judge being 6th/7th!

[Alfonso de Orleans]

I don't think it's a second rate championship. Have you been to any of the races this year? I have and they are very well organized, great television, although not all over Europe yet. Most important, not a high cost and quite a bit of prize money. I don't know, but it doesn't sound second rate to me.

[Mr Jinxx]

I think you might find the Superfund car will be a better car than GP2, and the championship may be better televised/promoted, and the financing arrangements offered to teams may be more attractive.

They know they are in direct competition with GP2, and they will major on publicity and excitement and TV and promotion of their series (including big hospitality arrangements), massive prize money, faster car - and, of course, they get the #1 slot of the weekend, including race times, garages, etc, where GP2 will major on it being an F1 support series. Both have their attractions.

I too have some reservations about "gimmicks", which are designed to make the racing more spectacular to the viewers, but run the risk of "degrading" the professionalism - I'm not convinced it has been fully thought out yet by Superfund.

I also think both series will need to attract top drivers - the sort of drivers others will want to measure themselves against. So far, a lot of people have said they are targeting GP2 (us included) but we need to see details of the Superfund alternative before we have anything to go to potential sponsors with, as the key thing for us is how sexy the championships will be for potential sponsors.

Superfund are apparently launching the car at the final Euro F3000 race meeting at Cagliari (no doubt in a razzamatazz fashion, as the meeting is said to attract thousands and thousands) and I'm sure the final details will be formalised then. I don't know when GP2 details/schedules/regs etc are to be announced - does anyone? Only when we can compare, will we know which series is the best to try and sell.

[Russfeld]

Why doesnt Superfund just do the same with GP2? why this desire to hurt both series by having a rival F3000 replacement? As a championship Superfund did seem better run than FIA F3000, but the entries were a bit on the **** side.

[Mathias]

... Alex Lloyd excepted, natch, Russ.

[gomick]

fair go, johnny reid has done ok

[Russfeld]

Lloyd's shown potential no doubt, but if he's the 'talent' of their series, it says a lot.

[Mr Jinxx]

Alex only entered the series to see if he could come to terms with the bigger cars by the end of the year, so we could judge whether he could be competitive in GP2.

It is easy to argue that Superfund have put the cat amongst the pigeons, but the reality, of course, is that they have been working towards this for some time. Running the Euro F3000 to get a feel for running a championship; sponsoring Minardi to get the bigger picture in terms of what sponsors want, all with the goal of having their own high-profile car and series.

They have put the cat amongst the pigeons, of course, because what was a simple choice (GP2) is now knocked back by a product which appears superior. The acid test for drivers, is which series will be easier to sell to sponsors, and until the details are released, we are hamstrung.

Hamstrung durch technik, you might say.

[Rob29]

Where did this info come from? I have never heard of a one lap 'race' I suspect what is meant is something like the 'superpole' that the DTM uses,ie top 7 do one flying lap.

[Kicking-back]

Not at all Rob29 - this came directly from the Superfund people.

[105octane]

Originally posted by Kicking-back
Not at all Rob29 - this came directly from the Superfund people.

What a joke! a 1 lap race lol.Thats pathetic.

[Kicking-back]

Just had confirmation the Lauzitsring date is non points and it is on the oval.

[Daisy]

From what I understand there will be no one-lap race on sunday morning, just the 7 quickest drivers from saterday get another chance, like superpole in DTM.

[Kicking-back]

Quote from Superfund:

"The top seven drivers from Saturday’s fifty minute session will race in reverse order for one lap during the Sunday morning Warm Up to determine pole position."

[littleman]

I think you'll find something got 'Lost In Translation'.The one lap race means a Super Pole shoot-out to the likes of you and me.

[bella]

i do hope so.

otherwise, were they expecting powerful single seaters to actually do some overtaking?!

[Rob29]

Originally posted by littleman
I think you'll find something got 'Lost In Translation'.The one lap race means a Super Pole shoot-out to the likes of you and me.

Thanks for confirming my theory.In french what we call a hill climb translates as'uphill race'Sking is also called racing,when they only go one at a time.
Calendar is rather dissapointing-where are the extra street races promised? Though the french'TBA' could be moved 2 weeks later and run at Pau in place of the declining F3?
Return of the Monza Lottery & Rome GP is something I supose.

[Kicking-back]

I could accept the "lost in translation" theory if it wasn't for the fact the series press officer is English!

[jondownunder]

Originally posted by Kicking-back
Quote from Superfund: "The top seven drivers from Saturday’s fifty minute session will race in reverse order for one lap during the Sunday morning Warm Up to determine pole position."

That's good, if it was just a case of "lost in translation" then a superpole style gimmick is far more tolerable than a one lap crashfest... Would still much prefer a traditional qualifying format though.

It will be interesting to see if the Superfund field has any strength in depth next year. With the current Renault V6 going there should be less dilution of talent, but there's still three series at a similar level (GP2, Superfund, new Renault V6), which is two series too many IMHO.

[Super Tourer]

Apologies if this has been covered before.

Autosport are reporting that the car used in the Superfund series in 2005 will be based on the stillborn Premier1 GP chassis.

You may remember that Reynard was comissioned to design the original car for the PGP1 series, which never came to fruition (not to many people's surprise...)

Apparently the chassis are now been 'facelifted' prior to the 2005 season.