2001 Superleague season

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2001 Superleague season
2001 CVRT.jpg
Competition Superleague
Title Sponsor N/A
Platform Used GP4 icon.png GP3
Rounds 3
Mod base
Carshape base
Engine Supplier(s) Multiple
Tyre Supplier(s) Bridgestone, Michelin
Drivers 23
Teams 11
Drivers' Champion Germany Christian Neumann
Teams' Champion England BA Racing
Superleague Seasons
2000 · 2001 · 2002 · 2003 · 2004 · 2005 · 2006 · 2007 · 2008 · 2009 · 2010 · 2011 · 2012 · 2013 · 2014 · 2015 · 2016 · 2017 · 2018 · 2019 · 2020 · 2021 · 2022 · 2023 · 2024
GPVWC series in 2001
Career Ladder

Superleague

The 2001 Superleague season was the second GPVWC Superleague season. It used Geoff Crammond's Grand Prix 3 and saved qualifying and race files were submitted to the league for checking and classification. The season holds the record for the shortest GPVWC season since it ended prematurely after just three rounds.

Format

The qualifying, race and in-season testing sessions were all driven off-line and the saved game files were then submitted to the GPVWC for validation and classification in accordance with set deadlines. Saving the game at any point (for the session to be continued) was unrestricted.

The top eleven finishers scored points in the race, plus a single point bonus was available for both pole position and fastest lap.

Report

The season got off to a promising start with no less than 16 teams launching entry bids which were reduced to just 11 in a series of pre-season test races. Things were looking promising as the teams set off for the first race in Australia, but there was trouble ahead. Tensions started to build as several drivers fell foul of the 2001 rules over issues such as corner cutting and driver aids leading to a bitter rift between some drivers and the league administration.

On track reigning champion Jason Endean took a win in the opening race in Melbourne but missed the next two rounds. In his absence German driver Christian Neumann edged out rivals Ton Hoek and Dan Pyrik to win in both Malaysia and Brazil, meaning he took the championship lead.

However things came to a head after the third round in Brazil and as a result the decision was made to suspend the league with GPVWC organizer Dan Lawrence citing issues relating to managers' attitudes, as well as issues in his personal life. Consequently Neumann and BA Racing were crowned as champions. By the end of the year the situation within the league had been reconciled, but the organizers elected to focus on 2002 rather than completing the 2001 season.

Teams and drivers

Team Base Constructor Chassis Engine Tyre No. Race Drivers Rounds Test/Reserve Driver(s)
England BA Racing BA Racing Ferrari B 0 England Richard Dickson 2
1 New Zealand Jason Endean 1
2 United States Dan Pyrik 1-3
Australia Connolly Virtual Racing Team CVRT CVRT-01 BMW B 3 Germany Christian Neumann 1-3
4 England Darren White 1-2
England Red Arrows Red Arrows Ferrari B 5 Australia Ian McMah 1-3
6 Belgium Luc Lissens 1-2
England Dan Lawrence Racing DL Racing BMW B 7 Australia Jason Smith 1-3
8 Canada Scott Smith 1-3
England Team Racebase Racebase Mugen-Honda B 9 Netherlands Peter Visscher 1-3
10 Canada Larry Karam 1-3
England TBA Racing TBA Racing AMT B 11 Sweden Jonas Lindberg 1-3
12 Ireland Stephen Wilson 1-3
England Hawkeye Racing Hawkeye Audi M 14 Australia Ben Connolly 2-3
15 Australia Blair Disley 2-3
Netherlands Roaldo Racing Roaldo AMT - Asiatech B 16 Netherlands Ton Hoek 1-3
17 Portugal Bruno Moreira 1-3
Australia Arela Grand Prix Engineering Australia Perth, Australia Arela GP JG01 Audi B 18 Australia Rob Hagarty 1-3
19 Portugal Marco Rosas 1-3
England Dan Prescott International DPI Cosworth B 20 England Alan Wilson 1
England Richard Dickson 3
21 England Tim Green 1
England Andrew Dickson 3
Belgium XanF1 Racing XanF1 Mugen-Honda M 22 Wales Shaun Marshall 3

Other Entrants

The following constructors also launched entries at the start of the 2001 Superleague season, but never competed:

  • Feilerfuf
  • Goffin Racing
  • Autobots
  • Repsol Ferrari Racing
  • Swiss Car

New entries

There were several new entries for 2001, but through a series of pre-season trials only 4 of them made it into the official lineup. The new teams were Dutch team Roaldo Racing, Australian team Arela GP, British team Dan Prescott International and Belgian team XanF1.

Team changes

The biggest team change in the offseason revolved around reigning Constructors' Champions A-Racing. Having launched the car and signed drivers, team manager Andrew Dickson dramatically announced the team's withdraw in February following the news that lead driver Richard Dickson was no longer able to contest the 2001 season. Within days a rescue deal had been agreed with team press officer Chris Connolly and the team was rebranded as Connolly Virtual Racing Team.

Following a lack of attendances for the team XanF1 leader Gijs Herpers quit the team after the Malaysian Grand Prix. The team was taken over by Kim De Schutter but retained the XanF1 name for the remainder of 2001 for technical reasons. For 2002 the team became Kimpusoft Racing Belgium.

Driver changes

Given the short length of the 2001 season there was little scope for major driver changes, with only Richard Dickson switching teams during the season.

2001 Calendar

Round Race Title Grand Prix Circuit Date Time
Track time GMT
1 Australian Grand Prix Australian GP Australia Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne  ?th ???—5th Mar  ??? 23:59
2 Malaysian Grand Prix Malaysian GP Malaysia Sepang International Circuit, Selangor, Malaysia  ?th ???—19th Mar  ??? 23:59
3 Brazilian Grand Prix Brazilian GP Brazil Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo  ?nd ???—2nd Apr  ??? 23:59

Results and standings

Grands Prix

Rd. Grands Prix Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning constructor Report
1 Australia Australian Grand Prix Australia Jason Smith Germany Christian Neumann
(1:29.941)
New Zealand Jason Endean United Kingdom BA Racing-Ferrari Report
2 Malaysia Malaysian Grand Prix Germany Christian Neumann Netherlands Ton Hoek
(1:41.084)
Germany Christian Neumann Australia CVRT-BMW Report
3 Brazil Brazilian Grand Prix Netherlands Ton Hoek United States Dan Pyrik
(1:16.834)
Germany Christian Neumann Australia CVRT-BMW Report
4-17 <<<CANCELLED>>>

Scoring system

Points are awarded to the top 11 classified finishers.

Position  1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th   6th   7th   8th   9th   10th   11th   Pole Position   Fastest Lap 
Points 20 16 13 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1 1 1

Drivers standings

Pos Driver AUS
Australia
MAL
Malaysia
BRA
Brazil
Points
1 Germany Christian Neumann 4 1 1 52
2 United States Dan Pyrik 3 3 2 43
3 Netherlands Ton Hoek 8 2 3 35
4 Australia Jason Smith 2 5 5 33
5 New Zealand Jason Endean 1 20
6 England Richard Dickson 4 4 20
7 Canada Scott Smith 7 6 7 16
8 Sweden Jonas Lindberg 11 8 6 11
9 Australia Ian McMah 5 DNS DNS 8
10 Netherlands Peter Visscher 13 7 9 8
11 Ireland Stephen Wilson 6 DNS DNS 6
12 Portugal Marco Rosas 12 10 8 6
13 Canada Larry Karam 9 9 6
14 Portugal Bruno Moreira DSQ 11 10 3
15 Australia Rob Haggerty 10 DNS Ret 2
16 Australia Ben Connolly DNS 11 1
17 Belgium Luc Lissens 15 12 0
18 Australia Blair Disley DNS 12 0
19 England Tim Green 14 0
20 England Alan Wilson 16 0
21 England Darren White 17 DNS 0
22 Wales Shaun Marshall DNS 0
23 England Andrew Dickson DNS 0
Pos Driver AUS
Australia
MAL
Malaysia
BRA
Brazil
Points
Key
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Did not finish (Ret)
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Race cancelled (C)
Light blue Practiced only (PO)
Blank Did not participate (-)
Excluded (EX)
Withdrew entry before the event (WD)

Bold - Pole
Italics - Fastest lap

Drivers did not finish the Grand Prix, but were classified as they completed over 75% of the race distance.

Constructors standings

Pos Constructor Car
No.
AUS
Australia
MAL
Malaysia
BRA
Brazil
Points
1 United Kingdom BA Racing - Ferrari 0 - 4 - 73
1 1 - -
2 3 3 2
2 Australia CVRT-BMW 3 4 1 1 52
4 17 DNS -
3 United Kingdom DL Racing-BMW 7 2 5 5 49
8 7 6 7
4 Netherlands Roaldo-Asiatech 16 8 2 3 38
17 DSQ 11 10
5 United Kingdom TBA-AMT 11 11 8 6 17
12 6 DNS DNS
6 United Kingdom Racebase-Mugen-Honda 9 13 7 9 14
10 9 9 -
7 United Kingdom DPI-Cosworth 20 16 - 4 10
21 14 - DNS
8 United Kingdom Red Arrows-Ferrari 5 5 DNS DNS 8
6 15 12 -
9 Australia Arela-Audi 18 10 DNS Ret 8
19 12 10 8
10 United Kingdom Hawkeye-Audi 14 - DNS 11 1
15 - DNS 12
11 Belgium XanF1-Mugen-Honda 22 - - DNS 0
23 - - -
Pos Constructor Car
No.
AUS
Australia
MAL
Malaysia
BRA
Brazil
Points
Key
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Did not finish (Ret)
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Race cancelled (C)
Light blue Practiced only (PO)
Blank Did not participate (-)
Excluded (EX)
Withdrew entry before the event (WD)

Bold – Pole
Italics – Fastest Lap

Cars did not finish the Grand Prix, but were classified as they completed over 75% of the race distance.

Preceded by:
2000 Superleague season
2001 Superleague season
2001
Succeeded by:
2002 Superleague season