: Series Nurburgring race two report

PSV VICTORY AT THE 'RING SETS UP ZOLDER SHOWDOWN WITH ANDERLECHT

PSV Eindhoven and RSC Anderlecht set up a perfect pre-Zolder showdown by finishing one-two in the second reverse grid Superleague Formula race at the Nurburgring today. Yelmer Buurman took the victory for PSV - the fourth club in four races to take a win in the new championship. Brit Craig Dolby took his second runner-up placing of the day for Anderlecht - an amazing performance after starting 16th in the reverse grid event.

Championship leader Beijing Guoan stretched its lead in the championship with Davide Rigon grabbing third place in the second race. After entering the Nurburgring weekend with a seven point lead in the Superleague Formula "premiership" - Rigon and Beijing Guoan have now streched their lead to 24 points. PSV Eindhoven and RSC Anderlecht are the two nearest clubs to the next venue on the Superleague Formula calendar - Zolder in Belgium.

AS Roma driver Enrico Toccocela was the unluckiest man on circuit today - leading every lap until suffering a gearbox issue with three laps remaining. Contact early in the race took out many other leading contenders. Al Ain (Andreas Zuber) and Tottenham Hotspur (Duncan Tappy) made contact in turn one on the opening lap with Spurs losing the front wing and the UAE club having to make an unscheduled stop.

On the final corner of the opening lap, Olympiacos (Kasper Andersen) made contact with the back of Flamengo (Tuka Rocha) - the impact causing both cars to retire. Two laps later Liverpool FC's Adrian Valles retired from second place with an electrical problem - five of the first six cars on the grid failing to take advantage of their starting positions at the front of the pack.

Young German Max Wissel aboard the FC Basel car again showed strong form after strarting eighth and moving up to second place. Unfortunately for the Swiss club, a throttle issue forced him out the race after 13th laps.

After the round of pit stops, Toccacelo remained at the front of the pack. The AS Roma car looked set to score an Italian double (after AC Milan's race one victory) before Rangers' James Walker spun with ten laps remaining - bringing out the safety car. On the restart, Robert Doornbos (AC Milan) started to move through the pack - passing Galatasaray. Roma still looked set to win, until the gearbox issue allowed PSV, Anderlecht and Beijing through to steal the podium positions.

Toccacelo held on to take fourth ahead of FC Porto's Tristan Gommendy who drove a steady race to finish fifth. The top ten were completed by Robert Doornbos (AC Milan); Alessandro Pier Guidi (Galatasaray), Borja Garcia (Sevilla FC), Andy Soucek (Atletico Madrid) and Antonio Pizzonia (Corinthians).

The next round of the Superleague Formula championship will be held at Zolder on October 4/5.

YELMER BUURMAN (PSV Eindhoven)

"It would be great if we can repeat this same result at Zolder again. It was a great day today. I had some bad luck in the first race during the pit stop because the clutch didn't fully engage and the wheels kept spinning. The engine stalled and I lost about 40 seconds.

"I still got the fastest race lap but if it wasn't for the pit problem, I might not have been here now.

"I'm really happy - it was a good race. I was right behind Enrico and was waiting my chances when he must have had a shifting issue and I could get through."

CRAIG DOLBY (RSC Anderlecht)

"I thought I would be a little more cautious this time around and hang to the inside and everyone did what I did in race one and charged down the outside.

"They all went wide and I cut down the inside, then went around Robert Doornbos (AC Milan) then inside the Rangers car. I was just flowing through them - I just had to do it at the start.

"My team did a great job at the pitstop and this is now a great result for RSC Anderlecht for the next race. We're in a good situation and right back up there and hopefully everyone will come out and see me at my home race in Zolder."

DAVIDE RIGON (Beijing Guoan)

"From yesteday I didn't believe I would end up on the podium today because we had a problem with the engine. Qualifying was completely destroyed for me but the guys worked very hard overnight to finsh at 2am this morning - a big thankyou to them.

"The car was good today and I got fifth in the first race but the set-up wasn't perfect. We didn't get a chance to make too many changes yesterday in practice.

"I pushed from the first lap in the second race. The guys did a great job on the stop and I think I am probably very lucky to be here."

-credit: sf