Victory for FC Porto while Liverpool FC extends Superleague Formula lead 08.09.2009: Hitech-run FC Porto took victory in the second of three Superleague Formula races at Estoril on Sunday while second and ninth place for Liverpool FC extends its lead at the top of the tables. New signing Alvaro Parente

Hitech-run FC Porto took victory in the second of three Superleague Formula races at Estoril on Sunday while second and ninth place for Liverpool FC extends its lead at the top of the tables. New signing Alvaro Parente, making a one-off appearance for the squad in the FC Porto car, recovered from being forced out of the opening race with a convincing victory in the second.
 
 With rapid Spaniard Adrian Vallés at the wheel, the Liverpool FC team, which also finished third in the Superfinal moves 58 points clear of series rivals Tottenham Hotspur with two rounds remaining.

For FC Midtjylland, the weekend got off to a good start, Kasper Andersen posting the sixth quickest time in his group. However the young Dane was unable to repeat the performance that netted him his maiden pole in Zolder, into a podium finish.

The Silverstone-based team also got off to a good start with FC Porto who was quickest in its group and Liverpool FC third in its session. Going through into the quarter finals, FC Porto was pitched against championship rivals FC Basel, with the experienced Max Wissel at the wheel just getting the verdict. For Vallés running against RSC Anderlecht, the series leader quickly showed the way, going through into the semi finals in which he’d face Olympiacos.

At the end Vallés just missed out, to take a second row start for race one, with FC Porto lining up eighth and FC Midtjylland just behind on row six.

At the start, Liverpool FC held position, running behind Olympiacos and Corinthians but a superb pit stop allowed the championship leader to jump the pair and take the lead on lap eight. Over the closing stages of the race, Vallés held a slender lead over Olympiacos. But with his tyres beginning to wear and his brakes fading, the 23 year-old wisely allowed the charging Esteban Guerrieri through to take victory, with second place for Vallés extending his lead over FC Basel, who was forced out even before the start with gearbox problems.

Behind, FC Porto fell victim to a spin by Atlético Madrid, which clipped the front of the unfortunate Parente’s car and forced him off into the gravel, while FC Midtjylland, after an engine failure one lap from home, ended his race in the pits.

Race two allowed the Portuguese debutant to make amends however. Starting from the front row, Parente got the jump on pole-sitter Galatasary but was beaten into the first corner by Flamengo to slot into second place. Another superb pit stop for the FC Porto driver allowed him to take the lead and despite coming under pressure over the remaining laps, he held his nerve to take the club’s second win of the season. 

Vallés drove a solid race from 16th on the fully reversed grid to take ninth place. Despite a sterling job by the Hitech team to replace the FC Midtjylland car’s engine between races in just one and a half hours, Andersen was forced into retirement with a faulty alternator.

Liverpool FC has extended its lead at the top of the points table, with Tottenham Hotspur moving ahead of FC Basel for second.  FC Porto maintains sixth with FC Midtjylland slipping to eighth place. The team now heads to the ultra-fast Monza circuit in Italy for the penultimate rounds of the series, rounds nine and ten, over the weekend of 3/4 October.

Championship positions after eight rounds: 1. Liverpool FC 282, 2. Tottenham Hotspurs 224, 3. FC Basel 223, 4. AC Milan 212, 5. Corinthians 211, 6. FC Porto 203, 7. RSC Anderlecht 189, 8. Olympiacos 189, 9. Rangers FC 189, =10. AS Roma 150 & Flamengo 150, 12. FC Midtjylland 137.


- Cathy Metcalfe-  also photo