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Superleague Formula - Two Great Sports, One Thrilling Championship |
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Monday, 02 April 2007 |
- The passion of football joins the excitement of motorsport
- Champion football clubs already confirmed
- V12-powered 200mph single-seater championship
- Kick off in 2008
- Major off-track entertainment package
- Championship partners with Havas Media Group for TV and Sponsorship initiatives, Imagination for branding and sponsorship activation and TBWA (Omnicom Group) for advertising
Today heralds the launch of a major new initiative that brings together two of the world’s most popular sports: football and motor racing.
Superleague Formula is a motorsport series for high-performance
single-seaters bearing the colours of leading football teams from all
over the world. The first race will take place in the summer of 2008.
Leading international clubs from Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and
Greece – AC Milan, PSV Eindhoven, FC Porto and Olympiacos have already
entered the Superleague Formula championship.
Series organisers are also negotiating with FC Barcelona, Valencia and
Real Madrid (Spain); Inter Milan (Italy); Olympique Lyonnais and
Olympique de Marseille (France); Borussia Dortmund and FC Schalke 04
(Germany); Basel (Switzerland); Galatasaray (Turkey); Anderlecht
(Belgium); Goteborg (Sweden); Moscow Lokomotiv (Russia); Boca Juniors
(Argentina); Flamengo (Brazil); Club America (Mexico); Shanghai Shenua
(China); and Samsung Bluewings (Korea) to take their place on the grid.
In addition, Superleague Formula organisers are also in discussion with
several clubs in the United Kingdom and the USA to complete a full 20
car field for the first race of the championship in August, next year.
The championship is spearheaded by Spaniard Alex Andreu, a sports
marketing specialist and business man who developed innovative and
sophisticated media/communications programmes for the Olympic Games,
World Skiing Championships, Spanish Professional Football league and
Spanish Football Federation and National Team, Fédération
Internationale de Natation (FINA) and FIFA/UEFA; and Englishman Robin
Webb, a former financial executive with many years of hands-on
motorsport experience.
"Extensive research shows that our concept will be embraced by fans of
both football and motorsport. We conducted focus group research
sessions with season ticket holders at 10 of the top clubs throughout
Europe," Andreu said.
"The objective was to evaluate whether there was interest in an idea
such as this and to see whether there were any negatives we ought to
consider, which there weren’t.
"We detected such interest that it convinced us that fans would embrace
the concept. Football fans are always incredibly passionate about their
teams and this is another form of engagement. The interest from the
motorsport fans will also be important given the technology and car
that will be used as well as an exciting competition format.”
The core of the new series, also revealed for the first time today, is
a dramatic-looking Elan/Panoz single-seater built by Élan Motorsport
Technologies in the United States. It will be powered by a 750bhp
4.2-litre V12 engine designed by US-owned Menard Competition
Technologies (MCT) in Leafield, England. All race teams will have
identical cars and engines with high performance specs, allowing the
drivers’ skills to be the determining factor.
“There is always great excitement when some of these teams meet on the
pitch, but such events happen only occasionally. With Superleague
Formula, fans will be able to watch their teams competing regularly for
the first time together against a whole grid of their traditional
rivals at every race weekend,” Andreu said.
There will be two Superleague Formula races per weekend,- the main
focal points in a packed programme that will be staged at the best
circuits around the world. One of the races will actually be run with a
completely reversed grid.
For each round, the race teams will battle for a weekend purse of more than 1 million euros in prize money.
“The initial plan is to have a grid of about 20 cars, although we could accommodate a few more in time," Webb said.
"In the first year we will run six races at high-profile tracks, all
within Europe. We want to expand gradually to a maximum of seventeen
races in future years (some outside of Europe) to take the championship
closer to all the club fans that are contesting the championship.
"The series will feature identical cars with true 'Champions League'
performance. We believe Superleague Formula will enable many young
stars of the future to gain considerable experience in a very
competitive championship.”
Along with the backing of some of the world's top football clubs,
Superleague Formula has already gained the official approval of the
Federation lnternationale de l’Automobile (FIA) – the controlling body
for international motorsport.
"I welcome the addition of Superleague Formula to the calendar. We
believe the championship will present motorsport to a new and extensive
audience who may not have followed the sport in the past," said
Gabrielle Cadringer, FIA (President Manufacturers’ Commission (Sport)).
While the on-track action between the world's fiercest football rivals
will be a major attraction, a key focus of Superleague Formula race
weekends will be off-track entertainment.
“We want to attract families, young people and a female audience, too,
and for that you need to have lots of different activities at the
circuit," Andreu said.
"That would add extra value to the admission ticket. We are working
with Imagination in London – one of the world's largest and most highly
regarded global brand consultancies – to develop a complete
entertainment package.
"Our focus will be to provide outstanding value - world class
motorsport entertainment at competitive prices. There will be some
tremendous racing and a whole range of other attractions, some of which
will be football themed. It won’t be like any other motorsport weekend.
"The basic philosophy of the championship will also be very unique. We
will have an open paddock for all fans, the rear of the garages will be
open for viewing by spectators and our teams and drivers will be very
focussed on providing access to the paying public."
The Superleague Formula concept has been warmly welcomed by some of the
biggest names in world football including AC Milan coach, Carlo
Ancelotti; club captain Paolo Maldini and PSV Eindhoven coach, Ronald
Koeman.
"Its extremely exciting for us to see the Milan brand and colours on
this fantastic car. It is also incredible to think that the top
football brands will be racing against each other at prestigious
international circuits,” Ancelotti said.
Ancelotti recently unveiled the AC Milan car with Maldini at the club’s
training ground. “The idea of uniting football fans passion with
motorsport is a winning combination that will definitely have the
following of millions of people worldwide,” said Maldini.
PSV’s Koeman believes his club's fans will warmly welcome upcoming on-track battle between football's traditional rivals.
“PSV is very proud to compete in major international competitions such
as the Champions League and the ability for the club to expand its
brand beyond football into Superleague Formula is a wonderful
opportunity,” Ronald Koeman said.
“We obviously enjoy the chance to play against our major rivals
throughout Europe and I am certain our fans will look forward to seeing
the PSV Superleague Formula car race against some of these same teams.
“Like many countries, football and motorsport are very popular in this
part of the world and I believe the Dutch fans will really look forward
to this.”
In preparing marketing and sales packages for the new championship,
Superleague Formula has partnered with the Havas/Media Planning Group –
one of the world's largest global advertising and communications groups.
"At Havas we believe the combination of the passion of the football and
the excitement of motorsport provides a unique marketing platform for
potential sponsors," Havas Media CEO, Alfonso Rodés said.
"Our role with Superleague Formula will be to assist the championship
to develop an attractive TV strategy and to present sales and marketing
opportunities to major consumer marketers across the globe."
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 03 April 2007 )
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