Championship leaders Liverpool FC set the early pace as the 2009 Superleague Formula by Sonangol revved up for this weekends showdowns at the Zolder circuit in Belgium. Fridays timetable provided the 18 famous soccer clubs contesting the football-themed series with three 30-minute Free Practice sessions in the build up to Saturdays all-important qualifying and Sundays two races.
Spanish striker Adrian Vallés put Liverpool on top of the combined time sheets by setting the fastest lap time in the third of todays sessions, Vallés was also quickest in the first session while Kasper Andersen was fastest in the second session for impressive Danish newcomers FC Midtjylland.
Vallés, who won one of the corresponding races at Zolder last year, commented: "I’m pleased with the start we have made at Zolder – of course it’s good to be fastest but I’m certain our rivals will be working hard on their cars overnight to close the gap."
Predictably, as the teams perfected the set-up on their V12 powered single-seater race cars, the final session saw the fastest times. Galatasaray (Duncan Tappy) and Al Ain (Esteban Guerrieri) were second and third fastest in the this session and overall. 
Though second in the overall points standings after two strong performances at Magny-Cours, local favourite RSC Anderlecht was down in 13th place. The Brussels-based club will be looking for a significant improvement overnight before the real action starts in the hunt for points and prizes.
Championship points awarded in the two dramatic 44+1 minute Superleague Formula showdowns will be added together with the highest overall scorer winning the 100,000 top prize, 70,000 will go to the second highest points scorer and 40,000 to the third.
As well as the pair of Superleague Formula highlights, Zolders spectacular weekend schedule features no fewer than 11 support races with rounds of the EuroBoss F1, Dutch Super Car and Formula Ford Benelux championships also in action. Following Superleague Formulas practice and qualifying sessions on the Saturday, great value is guaranteed adult entrance tickets for Sunday are priced at just 20 (children under 12 are free) and all admission includes access to the Superleague Formula paddock.
2009 Superleague Formula by Sonangol Free Practice (Zolder – 17 July, 2009)
1. Liverpool FC (Adrian Vallés): 1m 18.867s
2. Galatasaray (Duncan Tappy): 1m 19.689s
3. FC Midtjylland (Kasper Andersen): 1m 19.821s
4. Al-Ain (Esteban Guerrieri): 1m 19.830s
5. FC Porto (Tristan Gommendy): 1m 20.073s
6. AC Milan (Giorgio Pantano): 1m 20.685s
7. Tottenham Hotspur (Craig Dolby): 1m 21.022s
8. Sporting Clube de Portugal (Pedro Petiz): 1m 21.062s
9. Rangers FC (John Martin): 1m 21.301s
10. Olympique Lyonnais (Nelson Panciatici): 1m 21.431
11. Olympiacos (Davide Rigon): 1m 21.471s
12. FC Basel (Max Wissel): 1m 21.473s
13. RSC Anderlecht (Yelmer Buurman): 1m 21.695s
14. Corinthians (Antonio Pizzonia): 1m 21.936s
15. Flamengo (Enrique Bernoldi): 1m 22.197s
16. Athlético Madrid (Ho-Pin Tung): 1m 22.272s
17. AS Roma (Jonathan Kennard): 1m 22.388s
18. PSV Eindhoven (Dominick Muermans): no time