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Portuguese race stars keen to see Porto score |
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Sunday, 13 January 2008 |
FC
Porto fans celebrated the unveiling of their Superleague Formula
car at Estádio do Dragão tonight with a stunning 4-0
victory over SC Braga.
The blue and white 750 horsepower V12-powered machine was revealed
at the "Dragon's den" by a group of young FC Porto junior
players.
Superleague Formula President and CEO Alex Andreu was also presented
with an FC Porto shirt by club President Pinto da Costa.
While the fans had their turn tonight, a couple of well know FC
Porto supporters had a sneak preview of the car at yesterday's media
launch.
Ex-Formula 1 driver and SEAT World Touring Car Championship star,
Tiago Monteiro and 2007 World Series by Renault championship winner
Alvaro Parente took the opportunity to try the car on for size.
They were joined by fellow Portuguese racers including Pedro Matos
Chaves, Ni Amorim, Tiago Petiz, Armindo Araújo, Miguel Ramalho
and Rui Martins.
A Formula One driver in 2005 and 06, Monteiro is an avid FC Porto
supporter and believes the Superleague Formula championship is a
great idea – particularly the plan of having the second race
as a reverse grid event.
"I think it’s a great concept. To join the fans and strength
of football with motorsport is a project that can only have success
because there are so many fans in those two sports. Bring them together
and it will be very popular," Monteiro said.
"I'm a professional driver and all these championships are
very interesting and it is a matter of looking closely at it. I
have a contract for 2008 with SEAT in the World Touring Car Championship
but you never know, maybe it is possible to do something.
"For the reverse grid concept, as a driver it is always frustrating
because you have done all the hard work and won the first race and
then have to start from the back. It is certainly hard, but I think
it is good for the show and at the end of the day you have to make
the fans happy – that's what they want to see, lots of passing."
Parente won the 2005 British Formula 3 Championship and backed up
that title winning success by earning himself a Renault Formula
1 test by claiming the 2007 World Series by Renault Championship.
"The concept is very good. To mix football - which is the biggest
sport - with car racing is really incredible," Parente said.
"Right now I am concentrating very heavily on advancing my
career and getting to Formula 1 and I have a test coming up very
soon which is my main priority However, the car certainly looks
very interesting and who knows, if the dates don't clash, you never
know.
"I am used to seeing FC Porto winning on the football pitch
and if we can see the same in Superleague Formula, that would be
brilliant."
While Monteiro and Parente are already keen FC Porto supporters,
Team West-Tec's Gavin Wills and John Miller are now also Dragons
fans after being selected as the race team for FC Porto.
The British duo attended tonight's clash with SC Braga in the President's
box and are now fully aware of the expectations of the fans and
the responsibility they have taken on.
Team West-Tec have an outstanding championship pedigree, winning
the British Formula Ford championship, the Formula Ford Festival,
the British Formula Renault Championship, twice a championship winner
of the UK "Days of Thunder" Stock Car Series, and this
year claiming the Spanish Formula 3 Cup title.
"What we find most attractive about Superleague Formula is
the opportunity to bring the racing to an entirely new audience,"
Wills said.
"Football has one of the biggest spectator bases in the world
and this is a excellent opportunity to introduce motorsport to new
fans and new sponsors - its great for the sport.
"We are very excited for Team West-Tec to be involved in Superleague
Formula. We are clearly aware of the huge fan base of FC Porto and
that brings an added level of responsibility for us to deliver to
those loyal supporters.
"We have been fortunate to have great success and won championships
in every class we have been involved with but this is a new challenge
and we certainly are not underestimated what is going to be involved."
FC Porto will be part of a 20 strong grid when the championship
kicks off at Donington Park in the UK on August 30/31 this year.
So far, they will be joined by AC Milan, Olympiacos, PSV Eindhoven,
Borussia Dortmund, RSC Anderlecht, Flamengo, FC Basel and Galatasaray
SK.
An additional club announcement is expected this week with the grid
now starting to fill fast. At each of the six championship rounds,
teams will compete for prize pool of 1 million euro at each race
meeting.
The Elan Motorsport Technologies, Panoz-built Superleague Formula
car is now nearing completion and is expected to hit the track in
early March. The Menard Competition Technologies V12 engine will
run on the dyno for the first time this month.
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